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Whenever I go hunting for photography tips, there’s always one resounding golden rule: use natural light! I agree that natural light is ideal, however 99% of my baking is done at night because I have a full-time day job. Snapping shadowy pictures in my kitchen had finally worked my last nerve – I needed another solution!
Enter, the light box. I made a quick trip to Home Depot and AC Moore, and I was ready to go. The entire project cost $30 and took me a little over 1 hour – it would’ve probably gone a lot quicker if I didn’t stop at every step to take pictures. I hope you have fun following along! Make sure you read this one til the end to see my cat’s version of the day…
Supplies Needed:
- Large cardboard box (preferably a perfect cube, but this one was free from the trash room at work)
- Three (3) utility lamps with clamp bottoms ($6.97/ea for 5.5″ diameter)
- Four-pack of soft white 100W light bulbs ($1.47)
- 6′ extension cord with 3 outlets ($1.47)
- White tissue paper ($1.50; not pictured here)
- Backdrop material ($3.00)
- Other supplies: ruler, marker, tape, scissors, serrated knife
Measure an even border around the top, front and side panels. I used a 1.5″ border.
Tip: make sure you use a washable marker so you don’t look like you got scratched up by a Smurf for the rest of the day.
This was probably the most time-consuming step; here is what your box should look like after all of the measurements are complete.
A serrated knife sawed through the cardboard so easily, taking only 5 minutes to cut out the top and front panels…
Ta da! Now on to the sides… these were a bit trickier.
The box’s inner flaps were making it really hard to cut through with the knife…
I measured off a border that was the width of the yard stick, and cut off the wider inside portion.
Removing that wider inner flap allows you to cut through only one piece of cardboard – much easier!
After removing the wider inner flaps, re-tape the ends back together to finish cutting out the panels.
Reinforce the seams of the box where it had to be taped together – no need to do this on the edges where the cardboard bends against itself – just where you had to tape it shut. Then cut out the remaining two end panels.
Ta da – you’re about halfway there… the remaining steps fly by pretty fast.
Cut out squares of white tissue paper for the top and side panels.
Screw in the light bulbs – an important step, haha…
And there you have it – a light box! The side lamps are clamped onto the backs of dinner table chairs. The top lamp is clamped to… well, um… ok its a toilet plunger – oh the shame! But in my defense, it is brand new/never used and this is a spare table in our den that we do not eat off of and it was the perfect height, lol.
I grabbed an assortment of paper with different colors, patterns and textures from the scrap booking section of AC Moore to use as backgrounds for my pictures. OK lets see what happens…
Voila! Wow – I am so excited how this turned out! Important to note: I did not do any editing to this picture whatsoever, this is the original photo.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes shot to show you what it all looks like set-up. I didn’t even tape the piece of background paper to the back panel… I just propped it up behind my cake pop stand.
And there you have it! Your very own light box!
Now, if you have a cat, beware! My cat, Grizzy, had an entirely different take on this project; here’s his version…
Source: I’ve seen a few DIY light boxes tutorials in prior searches, but they all seemed so complex, calling for certain types of fabric or cutting out weird shapes of cardboard. Finally, through some random clicking around, I came across this tutorial that looked so simple, I just had to try it… I’m so glad I did!
dustansept said:
Doesn’t look like the cat appreciated your hard work in the box…
Kendyll Nicole said:
This is great! I was literally just thinking about building one of these as I was falling asleep last night. Thanks for the directions!
Farozan (Cupcake Novelties) said:
Thanks for the step by step details!!
Dawn said:
I’m making mine now! Thanks!!
Jennifer Adkins said:
Okay I have to ask….did you take the pic of the cake pop in the light box on manual mode on an slr camera?
mykcbakes said:
Hi Jennifer – no, I did not use an SLR camera. I have a Nikon L120 and was using the “Food” setting which allows me to adjust the color setting manually. I hope that helps 🙂
Jeni Butler said:
Your instructions for the light box are great – as is the kitty photostory! One last request – can you do a step-by-step for the cake pop now, pretty please! 🙂
sugarandspiked said:
Reblogged this on Sugar and Spiked and commented:
My friends and family will tell you that I have a small obsession with capturing the best photo. I am guilty of “vetoing” more than my share of photos because I didn’t like the position of something or in most cases, just didn’t like my face and unfortunately it didn’t get any better when I started photographing my sweet treats, if anything, it got worse. My neurosis has reached an all time low and I’ve stalked countless blogs, websites and search engines to find the best and most economical way to take photos of my treats without A. hiring a full-time photographer or B. spending 2 Months rent on camera equipment because although I am a perfectionist, I am not, however, a millionaire, yet, I still understand that a picture is worth a thousand words.
At last, I stumbled upon the wonderfully talented and creative KC Bakes. Her tutorial on making a light box is not only genius but easy and economical too. If you are looking to improve your photography and need a way to capture your items using man-made “natural light” (especially us crazy bakers who tend to work through the night like sugar zombies) then her tutorial will be your jackpot.
And for those of you who don’t know, KC Bakes also makes some adorable cake pop stands…check them out!!
Teoakie said:
love the tutorial any suggestions on taking pics with cake. i do cake pops as well can you give any of your wisdom on how do you the same thing but with cakes than you very much
homegrownjoy said:
your cat makes me laugh 🙂 great tutorial!
Kate said:
Lol I built one of these earlier today and it turned out beautifully, and my Cat did exactly the same thing!!
Cleopatra said:
This is the best tutorial ever! I have been looking for one! Will be definitely making this over the weekend. Thanks so much for sharing!
Lydia said:
i love how u wrote about the cat. very funny! kinda like mine 🙂
mykcbakes said:
Haha, yea he is such a goof ball 🙂