New Lightbox - DIY!

remember that list i had of all the stuff i had to do before i could relaunch Toot Sweet!? well check this one off: i made a new lightbox!
it cost me:
$13 plastic bin
$.88 poster board
$9.84 x 2 clip lamps
$6.72 daylight lightbulbs
------------
$40.28 TOTAL

not bad! considering for the size i need to photograph my handbags, i was looking at $60-$100 just for the light tent - i'd still have had to purchase the lamps and bulbs on top of that!

here's the result:


i got the metal clip lamps, as the plastic ones have broken on my in the past. i like the fact that this is a translucent bin - it's solid so the kittens can tear it and i can prop or store it where ever i need to without ricking damage. plus it's opaque enough to where i don't need a sheet over it to diffuse the light.

and here is one of the awesome pictures i cant take in it:

all i had to do to adjust this picture was crop and hit "auto-contrast" in Picasa. to give a point of reference, usually, i have to adjust the fill-light, shadows, highlights, color temp (because normal lightbulbs make the pics very yellow), and sharpen the image*

*the reason i don't have the sharpen the image is because my camera is more steady due to the use of a tripod, which i bought off overstock.com for about $40 (you can get them cheaper, but i liked the reviews for the one i bought the best - always read reviews!)

hope this helps with you out there who need a lightbox alternative!

♥E