A light tent helps create photos that highlight focus on the subject within.
Small product photographs are often shot in light tents against a seamless white background, which can be easily stripped away for use of the photo in magazines or catalogs. The tent itself diffuses flash or incandescent lighting to give soft and flattering illumination to products placed within. White nylon is an excellent material to drape over a light tent frame to act as a diffuser, and a homemade frame made from plastic plumbing parts is simple and affordable.
Instructions
1. Choose a size for your light tent. A good, workable size for a desktop setup is about 24 inches square and 12 to 15 inches high. Think about the objects you expect to photograph and adjust dimensions accordingly. A tent that is a little larger than you need will be more practical than one that is smaller.
2. Cut four pieces of CPVC pipe of equal length for use to define the width and depth of your tent. Take two pieces and dry fit a tee on each end, using the middle opening on the tee. Lay these flat on a table, parallel to each other. Dry fit the remaining two pieces of pipe into the tees to join the crosspieces together. You will now have an approximate square with tee openings top and bottom. Remove each dry fit joint and glue it permanently with CPVC cement.
3. Glue the narrow end of each street elbow into the open end of each tee. Use the square to ensure that each elbow is perpendicular to the table surface, and thus the frame assembly as well.
4. Cut four pieces of pipe of equal length to serve as legs. These can be pressure fit into the elbows for portability or glued for permanence. Pressure fitting allows you to Interchange different lengths of legs for different jobs.
5. Tape the bristol board to the rear cross member of your tent frame. Form the board into a smooth curve and tape the front edge to your table to provide your seamless background. Drape the nylon fabric over the top and sides of the tent frame, leaving the front open for your camera. Place your flashes or other lighting sources outside the tent but pointed at it to illuminate through the nylon. Extra layers of fabric can be added to reduce the amount of light, if your sources are not adjustable.
Tips Warnings
If you are using incandescent or quartz-halogen light sources, be careful about proximity with the nylon tent, as these lamps can create sufficient heat to melt the fabric.
Tags: light, tent, nylon, fabric, light tent, tent frame, equal length, four pieces, pieces pipe, pipe equal, pipe equal length, your tent
