DIYPhotography is running a contest: build a softbox, take pictures of and with it, and post it online, and you may just win a speedlight and a softbox. I’ve been meaning to enter for some time, but with life the way it is, I’ve not had as much time to myself as I need for a project like this. This evening, I finally got what I needed in terms of time, and started to build.

I had four rules for myself:

1. I had to be able to build it myself (without extra help)
2. I had only use things I already owned
3. It had to be easy to setup and take down.
4. It had to be something I’d keep on using even if I didn’t win

Also, as I already have a LumiQuest III, building a small, portable softbox was out – I’ve got that covered in spades. I decided to go big. So, I dug through our recycling pile and found the biggest box I could, and cut a large window in the box with a handy box cutter. I covered the inside of the box with typing paper, taped a old ratty T-Shirt across the window, put my SB-800 in the box, and tested a few shots:

At this point, I was more or less in business. The box is big enough that it will stand upright without any support, which is really handy, and with the power of an SB-800, you can really dump a lot of light into the softbox. Sadly, my SB-600 suffered battery acid damage, so it’s down for the count until I get it cleaned. So, the following shots were all done with one light – the SB-800, with the lens cranked down to kill the ambient (a horrid mix of tungsten, CFL and standard fluorescent).