Do it yourself Softbox

Here's how I made my own softbox. I designed it to be collapsible for easy travel. I've still got some bugs to work out as far as balance and stability, but it works.The basic idea is that the sides velcro together, and the fabric on the front is held on with bungee cords. The tension on the fabric is what keeps the box from tilting or collapsing.
Please excuse the lighting. I was using the on-camera flash for two reasons: First, I was building the light source that would give me that nice, diffuse light! Second, I probably could have put the 580 with the Lumiquest diffuser on the camera, but I just wanted to take snapshots and not interrupt the workflow of putting the thing together.

Cutting the foamboard:

The foamboard is 30" on the long side. I measured a 2" on either side of the centerline, and then drew a line straight to the corner. That leaves a 4" square opening for the flash unit.



Aluminum foil:



Testing the velcro:





Tripod adapter:


Adding "wings" to support the bottom of the box and add stability:





Attaching the fabric - an old bedsheet:

Canon 430EX II - duct tape around the plastic stand and velcro-ed to the support.





The whole thing comes apart and packs flat. I may need to attach the tripod plate a little further forward to balance the whole thing - it's a bit front heavy. I could also just add a counterweight on the back. As it is, the tripod will hold it, but it's a cheap tripod and I have to crank down to get it to stay.

But it works!