Create Images With Your Own Light Photography Box [DIY Photography How-To]

So, you think you know everything there is to know about stencils do you? We’re sure you spent countless hours of your childhood scribbling through a plastic alphabet stencil plate onto your mom’s favorite tablecloth, but we’re here to broaden your understanding of the art by leaps and bounds. By the time you get to the end of this article, you’ll have the ability to implement self-made stencils by CAPTURING LIGHT IN A BOX. That’s right, friend. Like Prometheus stealing fire from the very hands of the gods of Olympus, you will trap the untrappable, ascend to the top of the highest earthly peak, and raise your creation above your head, proclaiming to all earthly beings, “Look, it’s a butterfly I drew and it’s all colorful. Light stencils rule!”

If you’re not ready for this kind of greatness, stop right here, return to your rudimentary ABC stencil, and wonder for the rest of your life what could have been. However, if you’re feeling confident, intrepid, and just a little bit dangerous, gather up a shoebox, an image to make into a stencil, a flash unit, a pencil and eraser, an art knife, cutting board, PVA glue, scissors, colored cellophane, tracing paper, and clear invisible tape.

First, you need to find an image that you want to stencil. And I don’t think we need to mention that it has to be really good. Once you choose one and get started, there’s no turning back. So, go ahead and pick… That one? Are you sure? That’s the one you want to use? No, no, it’s fine, I guess. Just didn’t realize you liked goats that much. Whatever, let’s move on. Use your tracing paper and pencil to trace the image, then cut the image out of paper using your art knife. Now life up the paper. You’ve ruined your dining table. Sorry, we should have mentioned that it’s a good idea to put down a cutting mat.

Now pull out your shoebox, y’know, the one that used to contain those Lugz everyone makes fun of. Place your tracing paper on the shoebox top and cut out the image. Paint the box top black so that your image doesn’t come out blurry. On the inside of the box lid, add pieces of colored cellophane to your hears content. Get creative. Ugh. That’s a bit too creative. Start over.

Add a piece of opaque paper to the inside of the box. Then line the inside of the box with something reflective, like tin foil. We don’t usually have to tell people this, but make sure you eat all the little bits of cheese and ketchup off the tin foil before you move on. Now cut a little window into the box so your flash unit can shine into it.

Now it’s time to take a picture. Make sure it’s dark. You’re going to take long exposure shots and move your lighted stencil box through the shot, painting the areas you want with your goat stencil, or whatever it is you ended up going with. Go crazy. Run through your shot like a wild person waving around your light box creation. Go ahead and scream with joy, we know you want to because you keep making these little giggly yelps people make right before they scream with joy. Once the exposure is over, so is the fun. Now go home. Real life will seem so much worse after an experience like this, but you finally know that you’ve tasted true mirth. One day you’ll tell your grandchildren about the day you made light stencil photographs, and The Creators Project, which will then be an integral part of the singularity, will smile on your blessed little heart.

[via: DIY Photography]

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