A Shadowless Tent – Do It Yourself!

The day came when I urgently needed a shadowless tent. A quick search on Allegro made it clear that it's better to make such a thing yourself than to wait for it to be delivered.

A quick shopping trip to Castorama let me gather the parts I needed. There were several of them, and it came out much cheaper than buying a ready-made tent. And what fun the assembly is!

Items needed:

• 1/2" PVC pipe, 3 m — 2 pcs × 3.48 = 6.96 zł
• Garden fleece, 1.6×5 m — 8.99 zł
• 1/2" PVC tee — 8 pcs × 1.36 = 10.88 zł
• 1/2" PVC 90° elbow — 8 pcs × 1.26 = 10.08 zł
• Halogen fitting + 300W bulb — 2 pcs × 14.99 = 29.98 zł
• Plug, 2 pcs + cables, 3 m = 12.99 zł

Total: 79.88 zł.

To start with, we set about cutting the pipes to the right dimensions. My tent will be in the shape of a cube. I cut the pipes to a length of 60 cm with an ordinary hacksaw. The ends were filed down to remove the shavings and cutting debris.

We cut the pipe to the right size and clean the cut end well.

For lack of a suitable tee-elbow, I had to build my own. Using a piece of pipe, we attach an elbow to a tee. We can glue them together to make the structure more durable.

A set of parts for building a corner.

Time for assembly! One of the more enjoyable tasks. The whole structure, once assembled, is quite large, so I decided not to glue it together, so that it can be quickly taken apart and stored in the room.

The next stage is sewing the garden fleece for the tent. That was the hardest task. With the help of my dad and a sewing machine, we managed to make a cover for the whole structure. We got the sewing right the first time. It fits well and is easy to pull on.

To light the tent I used two 300W halogen lamps. I intend to increase the bulbs' power to 500W. They get very hot, so you mustn't bring them too close to the tent. At least 1 metre away. Because of my cramped room, I switch them off every now and then to let them cool down.

A few screws, a bit of cable, and we have lighting for the tent.

The whole thing takes up quite a lot of space once assembled, but in return I have a large space for taking photos. And that's exactly what I was after. I mainly intend to photograph motherboards and other larger devices. Luckily the whole tent is collapsible.

The finished structure takes up a fair chunk of the room.

Once folded, it takes up very little space. Everything fits into an old tripod cover. I keep the cover in a separate bag.

We pack it all into the cover. If only the lamps could be stowed in there too.

Over the weekend I'll try to take a few test shots and put them in the next post. In the meantime, I'm off to enjoy my new, hand-built toy.