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DIY Light Tent PDF Print E-mail
Thursday, 22 July 2010 10:42
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Canon EF-S 18-55. Not too bad for a non macro lens
Shortly I am going I am going to be shooting more and more macro shots and I wanted a light tent so that shooting small items would yield higher results in quality and presentation. Instead of going out and spending $100 on a light tent I decided that I could build my own for much less. In all the total cost of building this "tent" was about $20 and that's because I needed to buy a few lamps and decided to go with desk lights instead of a Home Depot style clamp on light.

 

 

Materials
- Scrap wood
- Desk Lamps
- Screws
- Wood Glue
- Posterboard of your choice of color
- White fabric (The thinner the better)

I've seen DIY light tents built with foam core, cardboard boxes and wire coat hangers, but I wanted something that was a little more stable and permanent so I decided to use some scrap lumber I had. Left over 1x4's were ripped down to 1x1.5's and screwed and glued into a box measuring 14"W x 14"D x 18"H. A white 200 thread sheet($6) was stapled to the frame, making sure that it was tight on the right and left sides. Poster board slides into the box and is used as the base for your subject. I picked up some white, but you can use other colors as well depending on your subject. 2 desk lamps provide light to fill the box. I had bought 60w Daylight bulbs but I am going to change these out for 100w Daylight bulbs, as well as add two more lights to better balance out the light in the box.

I've tried taking a few shots in the box and I am impressed so far with the results. Now the shots I have taken can significantly be improved, but most of the flaws so far are because I am just learning how to use the box and tweaking things such as lighting will require some experimenting. Also the fact that I am shooting with a Canon EF 18-55 basic lens because my Canon EF-S 60 USM Macro has not arrived yet is causing many of the issues. However the first results easily show the benefits of using the light tent. It also brings out your subjects flaws so check for dust!

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