We’ve set this up both ways with different containers. Option #2: You could try setting this up with the bottom container’s lid on and off. Just be sure that you use something bright enough for light to pass through the salt, but not too hot for the box. If these didn’t work I would have used Christmas lights.

My husband has a thing for lights so I raided his stash and we came up with these interesting bookcase light strips from IKEA that worked really well. Granted, these lights aren’t cheap, but we already had them so it didn’t really cost me anything. Run your string of lights into the bottom container String of Lights - Make sure that they’re bright enough yet not too hot to be placed in the container.I’ve also spotted really nice boxes at IKEA, which may be worth hunting down. Large Plastic Storage Container like this one. This Rubbermaid Storage Box is fantastic and this one with a snap top lid also looks great.Acrylic box frame or storage container- Try looking in a thrift store, or maybe you already have one at home.If you don’t have any acrylic box frames lying around (who does?!), I’ve found that this can easily be replaced with a basic plastic storage container like this. So when I spotted a large, gently used acrylic box frame - like this - at SCRAP (San Francisco’s reuse center for artists and teachers), I knew I had my answer. It also had to be simple to assemble and economical.

I had a few rules: No paint, no saw, and no nails. *Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links for your convenience.Īfter seeing the beautiful glow that illuminated from the easy light table at Teach Preschool and the pop-out pictures created in salt over at Child Central Station, I’ve been on the hunt for some DIY materials to make my own easy light table. For a flat-top light table, see this tutorial: Homemade Easy Low-cost Light Table Note: This light table is designed to hold salt or sand in the top layer. It's exactly what I needed to bring my 'lighted' into line with the colour temperature of my monitor and daylight viewing booths.Have you ever wanted a light table, and wondered if there was an easy way to build a DIY light table yourself? Well, this easy DIY light table could be your answer! Once I figured out which materials to use, the whole thing took about 10 minutes to assemble. So I bought a Cinegel #3409: Roscosun 1/4 CTO A2 sized colour correction gel filter to help reduce the coldness of the LED light table. My monitor appears to look rather yellow in comparison. The other issue, which is the most important one for me is that when I return back to my monitor the colour temperature shift is noticeable. Images can appear more blue or cold than they really are. The downside about using an LED light table though, is that its colour temperature is far too 'cool'. I find my imagination is awakened and I can step back into the scenes I was photographing. It's great for helping me spread out several sheets of transparency roll films for review! I just love looking at transparencies on a light table - the scene comes alive for me but most importantly, it allows me to reconnect.

It was pretty inexpensive for what it is (£70). I bought this A2 light pad, as it's called. I like to be able to see the bigger picture, to understand what kinds of images I've made on a shoot and how I think they may be edited together into some cohesive final portfolio. It has the same colour temperature as my monitor and daylight viewing booth, but I wanted a larger area - something around A2 to help me do an 'overall' review of images I've shot. It is no longer an either / or situation and we are now living in a period where photographers are embracing multiple formats, multiple systems and along with that, different mediums such as palladium printing, traditional black and white as well as C41 and E6 processing.įor a while, it was becoming harder to find things like a good light table. For a long while, I was always being asked 'have you gone digital yet?' and this question seems to have abated over the past while because we've gotten over that uncomfortable period when everyone feels they need to throw out the old for the new. This I feel, is greatly refreshing to note.

Photography led light table