this is either the best idea or the stupidest..

So I've always thought, "Wouldn't it be great if someone made a lightweight pop up tent in WHITE nylon, that could be used as a giant softbox for outdoor shooting?" But who would do that? A white tent is not very practical. then I was wandering the aisles of Ikea, lost in the marketplace wilderness, desperately trying to find my way out. What did I see in the children's section? A white tent! An igloo tent actually, and I thought, "Hmmm....I wonder if I could use that in some way?" So for $10, I figured the worst that could happen is nothing, and I'd give it to my 5 year old grandson.

So here I am, it's high noon in California and I'm testing out my natural light softbox. What do you think? I can see from preliminary testing that I'll have to be careful about what I use on the floor, as in this sample, it reflects lime green. A hot pink rug might be more flattering on white newborn skin. Since the floor itself is light blue, I will probably cut a square of white foamcore to fit, and see how it bounces the reflected light around. Again, I"m just doing preliminary testing here, but I'm thinking I might be on to something as far as an easy to make DIY lightbox goes. I don't NEED it to work, as I have real softboxes and strobes and whatnot, but people ask me all the time how to get good light for shooting their kids and they don't have gear. This is as simple as it gets. Setup is about 60 seconds, and if you position it so the sun is shining from behind, even a newbie can make a bright, white background. The "snow" pattern you see on the tent front is only on that one side. the other 3 sides are pure white.

My next step is to call a few kids over to the house to test it on humans. it will easily fit 2 small kids inside it.

These test shots were done using sunlight only. Thoughts?

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By the way, that monkey is newborn size and I use it when doing setups to show parents how to position the baby for me. It is not related to me biologically. ; )

Hmmmm you ARE onto something. I've bought that tent before as a gift! Only problem for me is, it's still -30 outside. However, I could test it in the summer. Would you have to cut out the igloo print side to give you some more freedom for angles and such?

I thought about cutting the opening larger as the floor should "anchor" things so that cutting the door wider or removing it, shouldn't matter. I'll give it whirl tomorrow and see what happens.

Not a bad idea there! I'm going to have to go buy me one of those too.

As long as you're not cutting too close to the supports you should be fine. If not... PFFFT, for $10 go get another one. That's a great price for what you're planning to do with it.

Sorry, but I'm like a dog on a bone once I get an idea. So I cut the fabric from the doorway to make a wider opening and it didn't affect the sturdiness of the tent. I cut a piece of white foamcore about 4'X4' to cover the blue floor to avoid the blue light cast and to add some white reflection there. This is the result. If the sun were higher overhead, the front of the bowl wouldn't be in shadow, but it is morning here. I suppose I could kick up some light with a reflector or another piece of foam core if I were so motivated....

I could be nuts, but for $10 and small bit of effort, I think I can use this for something. It isn't high noon in California, it is morning still, when these latest pics were taken. At high noon, the floor wouldn't be as dark. Im thinking this is a much easier way to shoot some things than busting out all my gear. It's a pretty easy way for people who like to shoot babies and kids on a white background, but don't have the gear to make the background go white. The light is nicely diffused and it is easy to do. Take it for what it is.

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Are you able to pack it away easily after the modifications? It looks like it should be pretty easy to close down.

Very interesting. We're at Ikea all the time. I'm going to have to pick one or 2 of these up. I do like the white foam core bottom.

Do you use a flash when shooting with a softbox, or in this case your tent?

I believe that's why she puts it outside. The sun is a natural lighting tool for this tent. The tent spreads the light around like a diffuser. Very ingenious idea.

phydoux wrote in post #11909167
Are you able to pack it away easily after the modifications? It looks like it should be pretty easy to close down.

it takes seconds to disassemble it. I pull out the foamcore, then the two supporting rods, which fold up, and roll up the tent. It's a very redneck "lightbox", but I think it can serve some purpose. Just thought I'd throw the idea out there, as a cheap, potential solution to people who don't have gear, but just want a nicely illuminated white background to shoot a baby or a kid on. It is quite large, 4X4X4.5 ish.

Rigby470 wrote in post #11909212
Do you use a flash when shooting with a softbox, or in this case your tent?

No, but I think an angled piece of foamcore just in front of it, would add some nice fill light and catchlights. If the sun is coming from overhead or behind it, it would be easy to catch some light with foamcore and kick it back in.

OMG - freakin' fascinating - especially once you cut the opening out. I think that would probably help as well in getting some nice light in - and reducing the heat in the tent depending on where it is and the time of year. Another great share! Thanks.
Jennifer

suecassidy wrote in post #11911217
it takes seconds to disassemble it. I pull out the foamcore, then the two supporting rods, which fold up, and roll up the tent. It's a very redneck "lightbox", but I think it can serve some purpose. Just thought I'd throw the idea out there, as a cheap, potential solution to people who don't have gear, but just want a nicely illuminated white background to shoot a baby or a kid on. It is quite large, 4X4X4.5 ish.

I'm sold. I'll be going to Ikea one of these days to get one.

suecassidy wrote in post #11900299
By the way, that monkey is newborn size and I use it when doing setups to show parents how to position the baby for me. It is not related to me biologically. ; )

Sorry to get off subject, but do you not handle the baby yourself? If not, why? Liability reasons?

Love the tent idea and the results... tragically, we don't have ikea here in Nashville