Portable light box comes in handy for most product photography work. We did feature a cardboard light tent way back, but it was not collapsible. How can we say no to collapsible. With collapsibility in mind Kumaran Alagesan went and made a tent for $5.
Below are the stuff that I picked up at Wal-Mart and Dollar Tree.
Materials needed
- Collapsible Laundry bag = 3$
- Rectangular/circular White Table Cover = 1$
- White poster-board = 1$
- Other tools needed: Scissors, Staple gun, small plier
Step 1
Once you take the Collapsible Laundry bag and the table-cover out of the packing, sketch out the borders of the Laundry bag onto the table cover. Don’t have the table cover spread out completely to last layer, instead have it in two layer folds to give it a little strength.
Step 2
Use a pair of scissors to cut out 3 pieces of the shape from the table cover. The shape doesn’t have to be precise, leave the ends off both sides as in picture. This will help having more space later while stapling the shapes to the laundry bag.
Step 3
Remove the mesh fabric off the laundry bag from the sides. I left the mesh on the top as it is.
Step 4
Time to fit the white poster board inside the Laundry bag. Fit the poster board inside the laundry bag, marked and cut the excess sheet off. Staple the poster board inside the laundry bag’s top.
Step 5
Now is stapling time. Start stapling the shapes cut previously from the table cover onto the laundry bag sides and top. A bigger staple gun, the better and easier the job would be. Use pliers to tighten the staples if you couldn’t get a perfect fit.
Here is how the finished Macro Studio on the inside should look like.,
In action,
Obviously, this Macro Studio is limited to smaller items to shoot. This can also be build with laundry bag placed vertically for bigger items.
About The Author
Kumaran Alagesan is an amateur photographer and a Computer Engineer who never get tired of trying n learning new stuff especially in photography. You can watch more of his work on 500px and Flickr.
