Read all articles about building a nearly free lightbox.

In my first post on this subject I said the lightbox cost nothing to build. That is slightly misleading. The materials would have cost a few dollars, if I hadn't already had them all on-hand.

The lightbox was based on this article on Strobist.blogspot.com. That article is titled - How To: DIY $10 Macro Photo Studio.

I built mine from a 14 inch X 14 inch by 10 inch tall cardboard box. The sides are covered with a white wrapping paper similar to white butcher paper. One side of the paper has a shiny surface. I put that side on the inside. I may change this to a material that has a matte finish on both sides.

Almost any soft-white opaque material should work well for this project. Some likely materials include:

• White tissue paper used for wrapping, although I suspect it would be too fragile.
• Tyvek® packaging material would be super tough and less flammable than some other materials, however it might be too opaque.
• Parchment baking paper might work well.
• An old white sheet might also work well.

The paper I used seems to be working fine, but I can never leave well enough alone. I think I will try to find some Tyvek® envelopes that might be large enough to cover each side and then redo the lightbox.

The first picture below was immediately after I finished making the lightbox. I turned on the lights and set a custom white-balance. There were three lamps, one on each side and a drafting lamp shining through the top. The backing was the same wrapping paper used for the sides. The EXIF information is below the image.

F-stop: f/6.3
Shutter speed: 1/3 second
ISO: 50
White Balance: custom

The image was slightly underexposed. I adjusted the levels in Photoshop and cropped it slightly. I thought it was half-decent for a first attempt with a new setup.