A mild tent is a very beneficial tool in images, mainly for product photographs, close-ups, and any time you need a steady white (or even colored) backdrop and even lighting fixtures. This article will provide an explanation for the simple steps in the back of developing your personal DIY Photography Light Tent, and, as an advantage, this version will fold flat for smooth storage.
Supplies for Your DIY Light Tent
You only need a few basic supplies for building your own light tent, and you may already have them all in your house. The most important thing you will need is a sturdy cardboard box, at least 12 inches square but a bit larger will work even better. The one I used was a 10 x 12 x 18 inch shipping box, scavenged out of the recycling bin.
The rest of the substances you need encompass tissue paper, a roll of delivery tape, scissors, and an x-acto or utility knife. A reducing board and clear ruler also are helpful. You can use duct tape, in case you wish, but I select the clear transport tape, as you do no longer ought to worry about it blocking off any of the light from your final product. After you have constructed your field, you will additionally want a sheet of bright white poster board (or any other colours you may want) to apply for the backdrop.
Supply Summary:
- Cardboard box, at least 12 inches square
- Tissue paper (2-3 sheets, more for larger boxes)
- Clear shipping tape
- Scissors
- X-acto or utility knife
- Sheet of white poster board
Useful however no longer required:
- Cutting mat
- Clear straight-edge ruler
- Pencil or marker for drawing out lines
- 2 small binder clips
- 2 posable light stands with lights
Building the Light Tent
The whole process of constructing the light tent should take you under a half an hour from start to finish. (Mine took significantly longer since I kept stopping at every step to take these pictures. But even with that, I was done in less than an hour.)
The first step is deciding on whether you need to use the flaps at the 'top' of the field to increase its depth. Since my field became most effective 10 inches deep, I selected to tape together the flaps on each the inside and outside, as shown. This gave me a very last intensity of sixteen inches. If you are the usage of a deeper box, you may pick to really reduce off the flaps.
The subsequent step is to determine which aspect may be the lowest of your light tent and then to measure in at the least one inch from all edges for the ultimate three facets of the field. (An inch will give sufficient room to preserve the tape with none tape displaying, however you can need to extend it to an inch and a half of for accelerated balance.)
Use the x-acto or software knife to cut out all 3 sides, being cautious not to reduce via to the other aspect of the box. I used a self-recovery craft reducing mat at this step to guard the underside of the field and a clear ruler to manual the knife. You can discard the cutout pieces.
At this point, you could stand the box up and feature a examine it. The original backside of the container will now be the again of your light tent. Do now not tape down the bottom/back just yet, in case you need so as to without problems re-flatten your light tent for smooth garage.
One different characteristic I decided to feature to my light tent became a slot for a binder clip. Use the x-acto or software knife to cut small slits out of the pinnacle of your light tent along the again side, one near each corner. This will let you clip the binder clip around the back of the light tent from the out of doors to the internal, as proven. You will then be capable of use these clips to hold up your poster board backdrops with no less than fuss. (Confused? Keep analyzing; this could make extra feel later while you may see them in movement.)
The subsequent step is reducing and taping down the tissue paper. Cut the tissue paper approximately a half-inch shorter on all aspects than the real container. This will provide you with a gap of cardboard to attach the tape to, as well as room to wrap the tape around the sides. If you have not yet taped collectively the returned of the light tent (previously the bottom of the container), then you could wrap the tape around and in the bottom flap only, as proven. This will will let you flatten and fold-down the container later for smooth storage.
You should have tissue paper around the two sides and the top. At this point you can lightly tape down the back of the light tent. (I recommend using a big piece of tape inside to hold it too.) Congratulations! You have just created your own Foldable DIY Light Tent!
The final step is to create the historical past on your seamless backdrop. Take a bit of white poster board and reduce it to the very last width of your box. Slide it up interior to the top, and use the two binder clips to maintain it securely to the container. (See how handy the ones were?) Push the poster board in until you've got a clean, even curve alongside the lower back, and keep away from bending or folding it in any way. You can either trim the board at this point to fit your container size (and fix at the lowest the usage of two more binder clips), or you could depart it extending from the container. As shown, I chose to leave mine extending out, so that you can supply a little extra of the white foreground to work with.
When you are finished the usage of the mild tent, all you need to do is gently slice thru the tape retaining the again of the container together, after which open the lower back flaps and lay the container closed as proven. The tape might be bendy sufficient to permit itself to be folded. Now you may without difficulty keep it somewhere out of the way, like under a bed or in the back of a ebook case.
Lighting Your Light Tent
You can use your light tent in daylight to diffuse incoming sunlight and eliminate harsh shadows. Simply place your light tent in a well-lit spot near a window, with the back of the tent toward the window and with both sides evenly lit.
Depending on the perspective which you want, you may relaxation your camera at once at the desk pinnacle or use a tripod to preserve it regular. This association will allow you to capture calmly-lit pictures, and the light through the top panel may even create an thrilling reflection, in case you are the use of bright poster board.
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| Nail polish photographed the use of the set up above exactly as proven. |
The alternative manner to mild your mild tent is to use lamps, one on every side of the field, if you want to stability every other out and create even lighting fixtures.
Pay attention to the style of mild bulb you're the use of, as many bulbs are designed to impart a "heat glow" to our interior lighting fixtures, however this warm glow can translate right into a yellow-ish hue in your shots (as visible above). Read the packaging of your mild bulbs cautiously, and also you should be capable of locate the shade temperature (in K for Kelvins) of the light. You can set the white balance on your camera to try to fit the temperature of the lighting fixtures, if known. (For example, the daylight white stability setting matches 5400K, fluorescent fits 3800K, and so forth.) If you shoot in RAW, you can modify your white balance in submit-processing.
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| Example of the equal shot, adjusting the white balance from the RAW report. |
Originally shot the use of compact fluorescent bulbs.
DIY Light Tent Summary
A light tent is an incredible useful tool for taking high quality photographs of smaller items and objects. It is particularly useful if you want crisp shots of products for sale and for instructional photographs on a blog or web site. If you want your creations to look their best, then use a light box.This post has blanketed the basics for growing your personal foldable mild tent out of everyday materials. The next posts on this series will cowl How to Use a Light Tent for Product Photography (extra distinctive recommendation and how to), a Face-Off: DIY Light Tent vs. Store-Bought, and a product review of the Square Perfect SP500 Platinum Light Tent Kit.
Have you built your very own light tent? Post a picture or remark under and percentage your results!
Want extra awesome ideas? Follow Boost Your Photography on Pinterest: Boost Your Photography
Not sure you need to go the DIY direction? Read the Product Review of the Square Perfect Light Tent for a package alternative.
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