The goal of a light box should be to diffuse light sufficiently to reduce shadows and provide a smooth even surface to show in reflection (on shiny surfaces). There are a few things you should consider:

A) Have more than 1 light. Most product photography uses 2 or more lights. One is a primary light, and the other is to fill in shadows. You could move your current lamp backwards a little bit to help make the shadow more oblique and less obvious too.

B) Adjust your white balance. Not all cameras can do this easily, but it could also be remedied (to a point) in photoshop. Incandescent bulbs typically are a bit on the orange side.

C) You don't need tons of light, just a little good quality light and stable camera support for slower shutter speeds if you need them.

D) Shadow can be your friend if you are trying to make dynamic images. For this, a "tent" is not always needed!

E) When you have daylight and a big window, you can get some pretty nice results even with humble cameras.


If you like, I can post some examples in different types of simple, cheap lighting, and offer some tips on how to get results that some will confuse for professional work.

*Robert.