I’ve always wanted a softbox… and I found some tutorials online for a DIY softbox but as great as they were none of them were collapsible. I don’t have a lot of space so as much as I’d like softbox, I cant have a giant box taking up tons of space lying around. So I came up with this idea to make a collapsible one using rods (like you use to build a tent)… so the problem became finding the right material which would bend but stay straight when you released the tension. I eventually found these Reflector markers at Home Depot which were made from Fiberglass which were perfect. So I built this and bought some fabric… and bam… I have a softbox! I’ll eventually build myself a second one and I’ll take photos step-by-step and post some instructions… but this was just kind of my little experiment… so I didn’t document the steps because I honestly didn’t know what I was doing . But I have a materials list below, so If you want to try it… you shouldn’t have too much trouble figuring it out from my photos. And feel free to email me me@prenticew.com or leave a comment!

The rods I used:

Materials (from Home Depot)
(2) Break Resistant Fiberglass Reinforced Rods (From Reflective Markers) – $1.98 ea.
(2) 36″ rope/string/twine
(2) 3/4″ x 8″ square wood – $0.52 ea.
(2) 3/4″ x 3′ square wood (cut off 1′ for the rear frame) – $1.56 ea.
(4) 3/16″ x 2″ Eye Bolt with Nut – $0.98 for a bag of 2
(4) 2″ screws
(1) 3/8″ x 1″ hexbolt course thread (for attaching to lightstand 5/8″ male stud) – $0.18 ea.
(1) 1/4″ x 1″ hexbolt course thread (for attaching to 2nd lightstand 5/8″ male stud) – $0.11 ea.
(1) Simpson Strong Tie – $0.68 ea.
(1) 2 yrds x 44″ white fabric from Beverly’s @ $1.97/yrd
(1) 1 yrds x 44″ black fabric from Beverly’s @ $3.99/yrd

Some Photos
(I should’ve spent more time on these photos but I am far too busy for that… these are SOC processed in LR)

Testing out the softbox.

Before I went out and bought fabric, I used some garbage bags temporarily.

Construction:

The Eye Bolts to hold the rods

The strong tie/bolt to attach the umbrella mount.

The bolt to attach the box to the umbrella mount.

The string to hold the top and bottom of the frame together.

More photos of the completed softbox (though I haven’t had time to sew the fabric yet so they’re just clipped on… which is fine… because I’d question my own sewing skills ):

Test shots with the softbox:

Softbox Only:

Softbox + White card bounce: