I was at my local Target tonight and saw that they had marked down their styrofoam coolers again, to just $1.48 each! I think they're around $5 during the summer. One cooler + two sheets of printer paper = one $1.50 softbox. I picked up two coolers, thinking about going back for more (never hurts to have backups - they're not going to last forever. )

I'm really amazed at how much light comes out the sides - it's only about a stop less than the front! My next step will be putting some sort of foil around the outside of the box, and see if that increases the amount of light coming out the front.

No, I'm not the first on here to do this, but I figured I'd share. Printer paper worked a lot better than expected.

I also saw a $9 roll of "no residue" duct tape - wondering if it could be "close enough" to gaffers tape at half the price. Didn't pick it up though.

Cool, can you put up some pics of what these look like when done? Edit I see that the picture link is broken. Forget it, it works now. Stupid work computer.

What if you paper mache' a couple layers of news paper on the out side? Then hit it with some black spray paint. Increase structure and decrease light spill.

Drew, you read my mind. I have some brolly boxes for my AB400s, but I still might try this out and see what I can do with it.

if you are very judicious with spray paint you can cut down the side spill big time with some black rattle can. but you have to use super light coats. The foil should work, that is basically what is in a real softbox interior

yeah, i have tested it out hence the judicious and very light coats that i mentioned. also i happen to be the other person on the board who has done this same DIY softbox just with ripstop for my front.

Are you just putting the speedlight in the box, or cutting a hole and mounting it like Dan did?

How has this worked? Would it be best to have it foil lined and have the flash firing to the back of the cooler or out the front? Would that even make any difference?

Originally Posted by Kilonad

At the moment, I'm just putting the speedlight in the box, and triggering them with the cactus triggers. I don't know if I'm going to figure out a way to mount them to a stand or anything - I just don't care that much. I'm just happy I have two softboxes for $3, so I can try out a couple of lighting techniques before stepping into the studio next weekend.

The styrofoam is really, really cheap. It's not densely packed at all, so I don't think I'd be able to mount it to a stand anyway. I'm not even sure I'd be able to cut a hole in it without making an absolute mess of the thing. I might cut a hole in the back of one of them anyway though, and if it breaks, I'll just go buy a replacement at Target.

i was able to cut my hole in the back/bottom to fit my speedlight. its so light that indoors that is good enough, then i mount the speedlight to a stand.

ppower: i was able to put very, and i mean very light coats of black spray paint on the sides and back to cut down on spill light. i didnt ever get around to trying Al foil. but it worked great with just the black paint. there are probably other cheap paints that could be brushed on thicker without chemical reaction with the styrofoam.

I'll have to try this. I have one that I had no problem spray painting brown to make a "treasure chest" for my boy's birthday party. Time to make use of it.

I just lined mine with 2 layers of aluminum foil, and the inside & outside is painted brown. Between all of that, there is 0 spill. Then I took black posterboard to make 2 1/2" thick grids. Placed behind the white paper, it lost about a stop of light, but seems to control the light a bit.