How to Make Your Own Light Panel for Portrait Photography

Let’s face it, lighting equipment can be pretty expensive once you add up all the power supplies, light stands, light modifiers, power packs, slaves and whatnot. This is where DIY and nice guys like Kevin Kubota come in. The video below explains how to make your own lighting scrims inexpensively with a quick trip to the hardware and fabric store:

Light panels are great for diffusing light both indoors and outdoors. Position it outside to maximize the effect of sunlight of your subject, or use it with a speedlight for a soft window light effect.

What You’ll Need:

(3) 10-foot sections ¾” PVC Pipes
(4) Elbow ¾”
(2) T-fittings ¾”
White ripstop nylon 60” by 2 yards
Elastic cord ¼” by 10 feet

Tools:

Small hacksaw
Marker pen
Tape measure
Instant glue
Sewing machine

Step 1:

Measure the pieces and cut the PVC pipe. Divide one 10-foot PVC pipe, into two 34-inch sections and one 36 1/2 –inch section. This makes half of the frame.

DIY light panel

Step 2:

Lay out all the pieces so that you’ll have a general idea of what everything will look like once assembled.

light scrim DIY

Step 3:

Glue one side of the pipe to the T-fittings to make it easier to dismantle. Mark which sides to pull apart.

marked pvc pipe

Step 4:

Run the elastic cord through all the pieces to help hold it together.

elastic through pvc pipes

Step 5:

Stitch/sew the elastic pieces onto the corners of the nylon fabric.

elastic on nylon fabric

Step 6:

Set it up!

soft window lighting portrait

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