It has been a while since I last Kontained as I have been relocating and trying to get the Internet installed which was a mission...Yes, I am in Paris :) and happy to be back Kontaining  This weekend was gloomy and wet outside and a perfect opportunity to have a go at some creative studio lighting DIY style while having a lot of fun! 

Mia has been taking some photos for an fashion agency here in Paris and for one of the projects we needed some better indoor studio lighting. After researching the price of studio softboxes we decided to do a DIY version for a lot cheaper and producing practically the same result.

I know there are a lot of budding photographers here on Kontain and elsewhere who cant splash out big bucks on expensive studio equipment, so I thought I would share what we did if anyone else fancied giving it a try or improving on it. The whole process was fun and we diddnt really start with any guidelines, it all kind of figures it self out as you go through it. 

I did also capture the entire process on video which is posted here. I made a time-lapse video of creating the softbox, so that will help you if the instructions are vague below and you want to try this out :)

Final Result

The Core Ingredients

We are living in Paris, so a store called BHV has pretty much all the supplies you will need to make this. For those in the US, a mix between Home Depot, Staples and Pearl Paints will do the trick and for our Swedish friends a store such as Beijer Bygg might have what you need.

So the core ingredients we used to make the softbox are as follows. This is just to create 1 softbox.

• 2 x pieces of white art board - 70cm x 100cm x 0.5cm  (I am not sure of exact name of this board but can be found in most art stores) - €7.50/each
• 1 x Staple Gun – This turned out to be a great buy to piece all the fabric onto the art board. - €5.50
• Glue - €2.00
• 1 x White Bed Sheet (For filter)
• 1 x Black Bed Sheet (For covering the art board – Aesthetic only)- €20.00 We managed to pick up a double-sided black and white duvet sheet. It was enough for making 2 x softboxes.
• Construction Light – We picked up a 500W fluorescent light which works great. It came with a stand too. €32.00
• Light Stand – If you find a light with clips then you may not need a stand.
• 200W Bulb – We bought a 200W bulb as 500W was too much power to start with. However as we have the 500W light, you have more flexibility to switch up the bulbs as you want.
• Clear Tape
• Sharp blade
• Cutting Board - Old piece of wood
• Scissors
• Paper & Pencil
• Ruler

First thing to do is to measure up the art board. The basic softbox shape you are looking for is quite easy to figure out, so it is a matter of trying to maximize the space you have depending on the size of the art board you got. You can really make it as big or small as you like. 

We first measured the size of the light we had, as we needed to make sure there was enough clearance at the end to get over it with some space to avoid touching the hot area (You can see from above that space worked out at 19cm). All of the rest of the dimensions pretty much fell into shape then if you work backward.

Above is a copy of the drawing I made with the dimensions we used. 

Step 2

Now cut the 2 pieces up into 4 equal parts. In our case 4 pieces of 50 x 70. Then you need to cut out the extra waste (Shaded in grey in the drawing) to get everything right. So you end up with 2 x rectangles (50cm x 55.5cm) and 2 x (50cm x 65cm)

Step 3

Once you have cut out all the 4 x pieces, start taping them together along the edges until you have your complete softbox shape. All the sides should match up nicely.

Step 4

You can skip this step if you don’t want to have your softbox covered in Fabric. The covering is purely for aesthetic reasons to hide the tape and give it more a profi look and feel.

Place the fabric on the ground in one big piece. Place your softbox on the fabric (start with the non-rectangular side) to cut the first piece and create around a 2cm-4cm boarder around the side of the piece you are working on. You will need this boarder to fold and staple later to make the attachment neat.

Once you cut out that piece, cut the exact same piece again for the corresponding side. Now cut out the 2 rectangles with the remaining fabric and remember to keep a 2cm-4cm boarder for folding later. 

Step 5

With all the pieces of fabric cut out you can now start to attach them. Start with the non-rectangular sides. You will need to have your staple gun handy for this part,  The finish will be better if you do a single or double fold on the fabric end before stapling. So you need to fold the fabric and then staple it to the inner side of the softbox (not the outer) on the open end. Once done, attach the opposite open end. Now you are left with the sides. You can go ahead and staple these sides on the outside of the softbox.

Once the 2 sides are done you can now attach the  rectangular pieces. However, only staple the open sides to the inner edge as you will glue the other parts.

Step 6

Ok, so this is again an aesthetic touch. You can either glue the remaining rectangular edges on the outside to complete the box. This basically hides the staples and looks nicer, or you can just go ahead and staple them from the outside. Choice is yours.

Step 7

Once all the fabric is attached you are basically done. To attach the light (Depends on what light you have) we just put a slot in the back of the softbox and inserted a light handle and attached it through the softbox. This helped keep the softbox away from all heated edges.

Completed Pics

Important: These are homemade, so they can get hot, pretty fast. Don’t leave any light unattended,, you DON’T want a fire starting. Try and create a gap between the lamp (hot area) and the white board to avoid heat transfer. You should also check them every now and then when using to see if getting hot.

Let me know if you need any more help creating your own DIY Softbox!