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How to Build a Small Light Box to Photograph Jewelry

Photographing jewelry for a catalog or for sale on a website can be done using a light box. The diffused lighting created by a light box allows the photographer to isolate jewelry pieces in an uncluttered background and show off the item. Light boxes can be made at home, giving the photographer the option of making it any size he desires.

Things You'll Need

14-inch square cardboard box
Knife
White tracing paper
Packing tape
1 yard black velvet cloth
Styrofoam blocks
3 desk lamps

Instructions

- 1
  Take a sturdy 14-inch cardboard box, and lay it on its side so the open flaps are facing you.
- 2
  Cut off the lid to leave an opening on one side of the box.
- 3
  Lay the box on its side so the opening is facing out.
- 4
  Cut out the top, leaving a 2-inch margin around the perimeter.
- 5
  Cut out the two opposite facing sides, leaving a 2-inch margin around the perimeter.
  Leave the back and bottom of the box intact.
- 6
  Tape the tracing paper on the inside of the box over the three cut-out openings. Use clear packing tape, and secure the paper on the margins you left in Steps 4 and 5.
- 7
  Take a piece of the black velvet cloth, and drape it from the top of the back of the box, down the back and across the bottom. Allow it to hang a few inches over the edge.
- 8
  Place the Styrofoam blocks under the velvet cloth. Use a small block and one that is 2 inches higher. Place the blocks one in front of the other, with the larger one in the back.
- 9
  Replace the velvet cloth. Set a piece of jewelry on the blocks to prop it up and arrange it on the velvet cloth.
- 10
  Place the three desk lamps facing the two sides and one over the top. Turn them on.
- 11
  Put the camera with a flash on a tripod, and position it squarely in front of the box and at the same level as the jewelry. Take the photo.

Photography