Photography trends – DIY white posing cubes.

**This post has been updated after receiving feedback from those of you who made the cubes – thank you!**

Let’s talk about props! If you are in photography business you know as much as I do how exciting this subject is. Exciting and expensive – let’s be honest. So when new exciting props get released, when new trends come to the surface – is it worth investing or is it better to look for cheaper alternatives?

Well after my first few months in business I have discovered that the rule of buy cheap = buy twice definitely applies. Wraps, fabrics, colours that don’t match anything we already have – these items are a bottomless money pit. I could talk about it forever, especially since learning that you build your colour schemes rather than buying a lot. Quality over quantity definitely wins!

What about big and expensive items though? The most recent trend that have (well it has been around before) resurfaced: the wooden posing cubes. They look amazing, but they do not come cheap! There are cheaper fabric alternatives, but we have to be honest – not as good!

Why should you make your own?

I personally was not sure how they would fit my absolutely tiny studio. Would I be able to move them around on my own? How much would using them slow down my workflow? I didn’t want to invest £500 into a heavy big item I might not use – therefore I decided to make them myself and test the waters. Below you can see an image I created using my home made cubes.

They do their job, the smaller cube fits inside the bigger one – i just made two for now to see how I get on. If you use a paloma schell posing table – they fit under it which is super space saving! You can also store other items inside.

By all means – they are not perfect – for the safety purposes the top is placed on the foundation made out of four shelves. Which means you end up with a line that needs to be removed in post production – see below. It is not difficult and for the price difference – I really do not mind.

What will you need?

Let’s get to the point – what you will need to make these! I chose shelves from ikea – but they can be from anywhere! I was hoping to get the UTRUSTA shelf 60 x 60 cm – it was out of stock therefore I got the 60 x 80 cm and cut it to size. Whichever you get you will NEED TO CUT IT to size or alternatively leave a gap at the back, like a lot of you have done.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/utrusta-shelf-white-50205612/

There are £9 for a pack of two – which comes to under £30 for the large cube as you need 5 shelves (it leaves one spare)

For smaller cube I used 40 x 37 cm UTRUSTA shelves which were £4 for two pack – which comes to £12 for the smaller cube.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/utrusta-shelf-white-40205622/

If you are planning on doing some DIY projects – get a circular saw. It is super easy to use and won’t break your bank. I got mine from screwfix. 

SCREWFIX SAW LINK

To connect the shelves together I used the corner brackets – we used three brackets per each corner – top, middle and bottom. Firstly we built the base – connected 4 shelves together. Then we added the top and connected it with 2 brackets to each side of the base. This way the weight is on the base and top of the cube will not collapse. We used standard screws to connect shelves with the brackets. When buying screws make sure the are not longer than the shelf thickness.

If your husband or partner is not into DIY – you honestly can do it yourself! As long as you get shelves you do not need to cut & leave a gap or you get the saw.

Corner brackets used:

You can get them from any store like home bargains, b&m, screwfix etc.