The finished lightbox

I know this has been done a million times but I made my lightbox today and it is awesome.

I had the lights already and they were about $5 per fixture and $6 for 4 bulbs. I am using the spiral screw in flourescent and the light and color is better than when I use standard incandescent bulbs. The foam board was $1.99 per sheet and since I did not have white masking tape I got a roll of 2" tape for about $2. I added an extension cord with 4 outlets for $6.
In total this cost me $44 and if wanted to save money I could have just used standard bulbs I had and extension cords and some artists tape. The down and dirty version would have been $30. Not too bad.

Here is the lightbox. Samples to follow.

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Thanks Robert, i had been searching through old threads just a couple hours ago looking for pics of homemade lightboxes. Any chance of a couple more pics with the "box lights" off and using external lights?

Sure thing. I am charging my batteries now and will take some pictures in a few hours that allow you to see the box clearly. This was a simple DIY. Someone recommended that I paint the outside black. I don't know how much it will do. I know it will contain more of the light and not allow it to be diffused through the foam board but I am wondering what it will do in terms of buying another stop or not. It might just be a very slight difference. I am not all that concerned because I chose to use 4 lights on my box instead of 2. I am glad I did. I think that 2 would have worked fine but be a bit underpowered. This is great. I did also place a piece of poster board inside and let it make the 'soft bend' at the rear joint. I can now shoot objects head on and don't have to worry about running out of depth when I am at full wide angle. This really opens up doors for me in many of the things I shoot.

Well here it is again without the lights on so you can see it a bit better.

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TMR Design wrote in post #2014437
Well here it is again without the lights on so you can see it a bit better.

Excellent! Makes it easier to see the overall project along with the "bend".

Thanks!

Can I ask what material you are using for the curved surface on the bottom? I've used 8.5x11 glossy photo paper before, but it's too small for a lot of objects.

Thanks!

drbenjamin wrote in post #2018307
Can I ask what material you are using for the curved surface on the bottom? I've used 8.5x11 glossy photo paper before, but it's too small for a lot of objects.

I was originally using the same paper and it worked great but was very limiting. When I was at the crafts store and got the foam board I saw what they were calling 'poster board' (very much like oaktag) and it is heavier than paper, flexible and not will not crease as easily as standard paper. They had sheets that are 22" x 28" in plain matte white so I got 2 to have a spare for when one gets dirty or marked. They work like a charm.
Others have told me that you can just buy a roll of photo paper (not sure of the exact name) and cut off a piece when you need a clean piece. It sounds like the thing to do. I just have not done so yet. I am going to add 2 clips at the top rear seam so I can hold the top of whatever I put inside without using tape or other sticky things, and itmakes it easy to swap out the paper for other things. Staples has some sheets of an oaktag-like stock and some have sky and clouds and other backgrounds that look like they might be nice behind certain things, especially when the lens is wide open and it blurs the background.

Awesome job!

Thanks Shawn. I am going to add some finishing touches to it and then I will creating a very comprehensive DIY for the lightbox and for the Diffusor panel and stand I am making now.