DIYPhotography.net Photography and Studio Lighting

There is some great stuff going on at DIYPhotography.net instructables group. This fantastic group is a true demonstration of the DIY spirit that is behind this site. I have talked before on the subject of creating your own flash. In that article Avner Richard explained how to utilize xenon tubes to create some real Watts/Second power flashes. It is a great piece for the ones that are electrically capable.

If you are not an electrician and fear the high voltage involved, Martin (AKA PKM) has posted an Instructable just for you.

In this Instructable martin explains how to build a portable flash from an Altoids tin and a disposable camera. (Yes this is not a typo - Altoids, those fine minty candies that saves you when you experience that end of day dinosaur breath). No wonder Martin has named it The Minty Strobe. It's the perfect way to take fresh pictures. It is also the freshest way to take perfect pictures. Your choice.

I can see several major pros for this kind of flash:

• It is cheap - both disposable camera and Altoids tin are close to zero dollars.
• IT takes minutes to finish this project.
• If you build a few of those, your significant other will never ever complain about your breath.

I can think of some improvements to this minty baby:

The first idea is combine a few of those yummy minty strobes to get more light.

Martin is using them mints for High Speed Photography - a technique where one leaves the shutter open for a long time in a dark room. Then the flash pops and gives some light. This is why the second idea is to connect this minty strobe to a radio operated flash slave, and get some light for shooting regular artistic shots. If you know how to do that, please post a comment, post your idea to the DIYphotography.net flickr pool or drop me a note.

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Related links:
- Minty Strobe Instructable
- Altoids
- High Speed Photography
- creating your own flash