Tutorial 1: How to Build a Lightbox Out of Materials You Already Have, And Why

What's a lightbox?

A lightbox is used to diffuse bright light and to give your pictures that little extra 'oomph'. It works best with small objects, but you could theoretically build the lightbox as big as you want. It's essentially a poor-mans photo studio. I'll give you some pictures to compare the results at the end of the tutorial.

The reason I chose this as the first tutorial is because I realised I needed to build a new lightbox to take better-quality pictures in (the last one got misplaced as trash when I moved apartments). I apologise for the lackluster quality of photos, I've got to work with what I have, and at the moment it's just my cell's camera which is sub-par at best.

What do I need?

- a cardboard box
- a pen or pencil
- a cutting instrument
- tape
- white or colored paper
- white toilet paper, tissue paper or wax paper.

1.

Find a cardboard box of any size. You'll need to be able to fit the things you want to shoot with the lightbox inside of it. For my purposes, I chose this box:

2.

Turn the box around and decide which face you want to take your photos from. This is your front. I decided to face the box like in the previous photo to accommodate larger objects inside the box.

Start marking the front, top, and sides of the box with a pen or pencil. Draw straight lines around the edges of each face, leaving around 1-2cm (or around half an inch) of space on each side.

Like so. These will be your guidelines for what to cut out.

3.

Cut along the lines. I usually cut and tape up one face of the box before moving to the next one to make the structure as sturdy as possible.

Always make sure you're using the right tools for the right job! Here I decided to use an X-acto blade as it's very sharp and a bit more maneuverable than a pair of scissors or a kitchen knife. For this project, anything you can cut straight with will get the job done.

4.

Taping up. When you've cut one side along the lines, tape everything down to place. Here I'm starting with the top of the box, taping up the longer sides first. I'm using duct tape for extra strength, but any tape you have will do.

I'm mainly doing this because I find the box sturdier and easier to use without any sharp cardboard edges showing.

When I'm done with the longer sides, I cut out four little slices from the leftover scraps of cardboard.

These are used to further strengthen the lightbox. You'll want to place these in each of the top four corners, like this:

After this is done, I move on to the sides and front of the box, carefully cutting and then taping up each side as I go.

You should end up with something like this:

5.

Now that the main structure is done, you'll need to add a background. I taped two white pieces of paper (size A4) together to illustrate how to add your background of choice. For inspiration, think about common photo backgrounds. Some look like rocks, others look like a jumble of muted colours, others are just plain gray or even black. The idea is that your background should not be there to attract attention.

Notice that I taped the background on a curve. This is intentional, as it creates the illusion of depth, as opposed to a background where you can clearly see a corner or "the floor".

6.

Diffusing light. Without this final step, your lightbox is just a taped up 3d frame. I added toilet paper as the diffuser, but that's just the cheapest option. You could use wax paper for slightly better results. The important thing is to try out which kind of diffusers work best for you. 

The way lightboxes work best is if you have a strong light placed on the top and sides of the it (all the sides with the diffusers in place). I only have one desktop lamp at the moment so I can't show this to you in its full glory, but even with one light it works better than having nothing at all!

And there you have it! Your very own DIY close-to-zero-budget lightbox! Now what does it do?

Some pictures, taken with a really poor cell camera

 The first two photos were taken inside the lightbox, the last two without it. Without the lightbox, you'll most likely run into problems with overexposure and flat colours. Here's a few more pics taken with the lightbox:

That's the end of this tutorial. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Now get out there and start creating!

Thanks for your time,
~Vel

That first post I've dreaded doing for too long

Hello you!

First off, thanks for checking this out. As you can probably tell, I'm fairly new to this whole blogging-thing. The basis of this particular blog is creation. I will (hopefully) create a whole bunch of different stuff in here. You'll most likely be seeing miniature art, contemporary art, creative writing, brain food for Dungeons & Dragons (especially for aspiring DMs!), household projects and the like. 

I haven't actually decided on what to do, so expect sporadic posts about a plethora of subjects.

Sometimes we all wonder if we could catch the moon if we tried hard enough.

Who, why, and what?

I am a Finnish man nearing 30 years of age. I have the best, most adorable, and smartest dog in the entire universe (truth be told, this is what every dog-owner tells themselves). I've always been a creator to some extent. I started painting miniatures back in 2001, and that started me on a lifelong journey of enjoying and hating creation. Painting miniatures was, for the longest time, my way of dealing with the pressures of the outside world. It helped me through the toughest times, through bullying, heartbreaks, and anxiety.

In the past few years I've started to expand my creativity. I've done one 3m x 2m indoor wall painting (unfortunately I couldn't find good-quality pics of it, and I've since moved out of the apartment). I sometimes dabble in other forms of art, but I'm always ashamed of what my artistic capabilities are outside of miniatures. That being said, I will always try to break these self-made limitations.

So, why did I decide to start this? I have no idea. Maybe to encourage other creators to get feedback, to try out new things, to push myself into creating more. Very recently, I had a 6-month hiatus from painting or creating anything because of personal issues (don't worry, I will tell you about these issues when I think it's time). 

These issues have not gone away, but somehow I mustered enough strength to actually start this off. It's scary and I have countless reasons to put writing this intro text off for another hour, another day, another week. Last week, I decided to stop putting this off. And here I am, rambling all over the place. 
Took five days but still.



What next?

I suppose I'd like to start off with a series of tutorials to make your journey of creation just that little bit more fun, exciting, and easy. I'm going to focus on miniatures first, but other forms of creating are just around the corner! And who says you can't use my insight and tips/tricks on other forms of art as well? Not me at least. I'll keep you posted, and again, thank you for your time.

Until next time,
~Vel

Her name is Ronja, and she's around 2,5yrs old. 3/4 siberian husky, 1/4 german shepherd - mix