{"id":115,"date":"2008-08-04T19:08:33","date_gmt":"2008-08-05T02:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/?p=115"},"modified":"2022-12-27T17:59:57","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T01:59:57","slug":"diy-light-tent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/diy-light-tent\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Light Tent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2660403044_e64a1b9e1e.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Homebrew Light Tent\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I have always struggled to take decent macro photos of small objects to document my hobbies.\u00a0 I finally got fed up with poor lighting and blurry shots and decided to build my own light tent to solve the problem.\u00a0 There are <a href=\"http:\/\/strobist.blogspot.com\/2006\/07\/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html\">lots <\/a>and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbase.com\/wlhuber\/light_box_light_tent\">lots<\/a> of examples on the web showing how to build a DIY light tent.\u00a0 I wanted something cheap, small, and portable, so I merged ideas from a couple existing designs and used some scrap materials I had in the garage.\u00a0 In the end I managed to make a light tent for about $35.<\/p>\n<p>The major components are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Light. I bought two <a href=\"http:\/\/www.target.com\/Gooseneck-Task-Lamp-White\/dp\/B000N34ADC\/sr=1-5\/qid=1217730964\/ref=sr_1_5\/601-9307811-7304940?ie=UTF8&amp;index=target&amp;field-browse=1038576&amp;rank=price&amp;rh=k%3Adesk%20lamp&amp;page=1\">desk lamps<\/a> at Target for $9.99 ea.\u00a0 I bought <a href=\"http:\/\/www.homedepot.com\/webapp\/wcs\/stores\/servlet\/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&amp;langId=-1&amp;catalogId=10053&amp;productId=100527337&amp;N=10000003+90401\">100W CFL lights<\/a> from Home Depot to avoid the unwanted heat and energy usage of conventional light bulbs, $9 for two.\u00a0 I bought the color balanced type (3500K) which cost a little more but help accurate color reproduction in the photos.<\/li>\n<li>Frame.\u00a0 I used an old shoe rack, but almost anything can be made to work.<\/li>\n<li>Light diffuser.\u00a0 I tried bedsheets, which attenuated too much of the light.\u00a0 Instead I used tracing paper (vellum) that I had left over from another project.<\/li>\n<li>Background.\u00a0 I used poster board from Target.\u00a0 I bought one sheet each of 6 colors, for about $5.<\/li>\n<li>Tripod &#8211; I didn&#8217;t have one so I bought the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bestbuy.com\/site\/olspage.jsp?skuId=8657866&amp;st=tripod&amp;lp=13&amp;type=product&amp;cp=1&amp;id=1196470448706\">cheapest one Best Buy had<\/a>, around $30.\u00a0 Since I needed this for general use anyway, it&#8217;s not included in the total.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The results are really spectacular.\u00a0 Now I can take macro shots of small objects without the glare and lighting problems I have experienced in the past.\u00a0 For an example check out the photo below or <a href=\"http:\/\/flickr.com\/photos\/mightyohm\/sets\/72157606511684295\/\">see the complete set on flickr<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/2659575545_9c183e546e.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"playing with my new light tent\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I have always struggled to take decent macro photos of small objects to document my hobbies.\u00a0 I finally got fed up with poor lighting and blurry shots and decided to build my own light tent to solve the problem.\u00a0 There are lots and lots of examples on the web showing how to build a DIY &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/diy-light-tent\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">DIY Light Tent<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[443],"tags":[36,37,38,48],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-projects-2","tag-diy","tag-light-tent","tag-macro","tag-photography"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pioCd-1R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4064,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/two-weeks-to-chaos-camp\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":0},"title":"Two weeks to Chaos Camp!","author":"Jeff","date":"July 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"In just two weeks I'll be pitching my tent at the 2011 Chaos Communications Camp in Finowfurt, Germany, just outside of Berlin. Chaos Communications Camp is a five day outdoor camp for \"hackers and associated life-forms.\" \u00a0There are talks, workshops, and many opportunities to socialize with fellow hackers, as well\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1010,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/diy-pid-controlled-soldering-hotplate\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":1},"title":"DIY PID Controlled Soldering Hotplate","author":"Jeff","date":"January 17, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In preparation for my Arduino-based AVR HV Programmer boards coming back, I decided to step up my home lab surface mount soldering capabilities. Step one was to find a cheap stereo zoom microscope on ebay, with 7-32X magnification, perfect for working on surface mount devices.\u00a0 One of my biggest frustrations\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/3201234462_c0a761b898_o.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/3201234462_c0a761b898_o.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/3201234462_c0a761b898_o.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/3201234462_c0a761b898_o.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/3201234462_c0a761b898_o.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/3201234462_c0a761b898_o.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5386,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2013\/01\/soldering-is-easy-shoutout-in-lifehackers-how-to-get-started-with-diy-electronics-projects\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":2},"title":"Soldering is Easy shoutout in Lifehacker&#8217;s &#8220;How to Get Started with DIY Electronics Projects&#8221;","author":"Jeff","date":"January 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo credit: bionerd Soldering is Easy got a shoutout from Lifehacker's Thorin Klosowski\u00a0this week in his post How to Get Started with DIY Electronics Projects, alongside Ladyada's \"E is for Electronics\" coloring book. Lots of great advice here: One of the key things to learn right off the bat is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"null","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8094\/8354836798_332aba85d9.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2675,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/2009-in-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":3},"title":"2009 in Review","author":"Jeff","date":"December 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow, 2010 came a lot quicker than I expected!\u00a0 With one day to spare, here's a brief look back at some of the highlights of 2009 here at mightyohm.com. DIY PID-Controlled Soldering Hotplate: I needed a hotplate for surface mount soldering, so I built one from scratch using a milled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"PID Controlled Hotplate","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/files\/flickr\/3200389041_3d2f7a7e3b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":232,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/blogs-blogs-blogs\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":4},"title":"Blogs, blogs, blogs","author":"Jeff","date":"September 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Some interesting electronics\/microcontroller\/hacker themed blogs I'm reading these days: My favorites: NYC Resistor - Definitely the most interesting hackerspace in the US right now.\u00a0 Updates almost daily.\u00a0 I stand in awe of how prolific these guys\/girls are, it seems like they are pushing the envelope of DIY every week.\u00a0 This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3190,"url":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/2010\/10\/diy-integrated-circuit-design-with-mosis\/","url_meta":{"origin":115,"position":5},"title":"DIY Integrated Circuit Design with MOSIS","author":"Jeff","date":"October 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"MOSIS, short for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Implementation Service,\u00a0is to integrated circuits what BatchPCB is to printed circuit boards. \u00a0That is, it's a batch order service that makes getting your own custom ICs fabricated more affordable by allowing lots of designers to contribute their designs and share the costs of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electronics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electronics","link":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/category\/electronics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo: SATRE ELECTRONICS","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/EC101_Layout_50-500x363.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15781,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/15781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mightyohm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}