A few months ago I wanted to see if I could figure out a way to easily build a cheap light box for product photography. To be honest, I hadn't done much with product photography until then but I'm always up for a challenge! What I found was creating a light box was easier than I thought.


First off, what is a light box? It's an empty box with smooth white sides that helps provide consistency and good lighting for product photography. Using a light box makes your product photography look professional. You can even add some props to add touches of your personality or branding.


Alright, let's get to it. To create an affordable light box, all you need is:

  1. A source of natural light. I set up on our kitchen table which is near a large window.
  2. 3-4 pieces of white foam board. You can find this at any craft store, or my personal favorite, Target. These come in different sizes, but I found the larger sizes gave me more flexibility.


To set up your light box:

  1. Facing your light, prop up your foam board against each other. You can try tape to hold them together, but honestly I took random objects I had around the house to help keep the foam board up (who knew there were multiple uses for a wipes box). I only needed 3, but if you want a true light box, put one piece of foam board on your flat surface and prop the 3 remaining boards at its sides.
  2. Take your pics! You'll want to be mindful of shadows your natural light creates, which means you may need to experiment with taking photos at different times of the day or in different locations. For some products this might not be a big deal.


And there you have it! An easy (and more importantly, cheap 😂) light box.