Convert Your Ceiling Into the World's Largest Softbox

If you don't already have your own home studio, now might be a great time to start building one. With a little knowhow, it's possible to transform a regular room into the perfect place to shoot.

Good light is without a doubt one of the most important factors when it comes to photography and videography. Popular YouTuber, photographer, and electrical wiz Colton Onushko agrees with this sentiment and has just turned his entire ceiling into one big light fixture. There are two great things which I like about this project. First, he used LEDs, which are relatively cheap to buy and run. Second, he made each row of lights independent, which opens up a world of possibilities when trying to control those lights.

The video goes onto show all the stages Onushko goes through, from installing a dropped tile ceiling, to making his own switches, to wiring and powering the many rows of LEDs. He even breaks down how much the lights cost to run per hour, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the figures. While a setup like this would kick out a decent amount of light, you still may need to use some additional strobes or reflectors to help achieve the look you were after. Saying all that, this installation would be able to do a lot of the heavy lifting. I can imagine people who do product or fashion photography loving such a versatile setup, as they could easily achieve that clean professional look, which is often required.

It goes without saying that you should always be careful when working with electrical equipment, so please always consult a professional electrician if you don't have the experience in this field. I think this addition to a studio space is really inspiring and well worth considering if you have the skills or know someone who does.

What do you think of this installation? Would you consider doing something like this in your own house? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

Paul Parker's picture

Paul Parker is a commercial and fine art photographer. On the rare occasion he's not doing photography he loves being outdoors, people watching, and writing awkward "About Me" statements on websites...

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11 Comments

That lighting would be way too toppy for general studio use. It could work for some things, but you'd be doing a lot of modifying. Looks great as a workspace, though.

Light coming from above

I actually own a 10x30' chimera light bank, the title of this article is click bait rubbish. Also the worlds largest softbox would be an overcast sky if anything.

I had a chance to buy a 10x30 F2 for $800. I sort of regret that I passed on it. How do you use yours?

Similar situation, I purchased it stupid cheap from a studio liquidating. Set it up for 2 weeks and used it as an overhead fill, but my studio had fire sprinkler heads lower than the actual ceiling height so It was lower than practical. Camera stand couldn't fit underneath it etc. So now it is stored in the original duffel bags until there is a need.

I would think the cloud cover from the sky would be the world's largest softbox.

"I probably broke some laws doing this. I should record this and post it on YouTube."

Electrical codes are not laws. Haha!

Thanks for the feature guys, I wouldn't say it's the largest softbox in the "world" but I appreciate it none-the-less!! :D

It looks amazing and I envy you!