DIYPhotography.net Photography and Studio Lighting

Following my post on home made beauty dishes, I got mails with tons of follow up to this beauty dish. Heck, most were much better then my original idea (and no, I am not sure they even saw my post before making their own beauty dishes). Some did better construction, some did better finish, some gave better explanations, and some just did the same, but cooler.

Brian Edmonds writes:

I am trying to take pictures of paintings in my studio. I am having trouble with hot spots and dead spots. I have tried angling the lights but I get a little of both. I am using a canon digital camera that allows for changing settings but only has the snapshot flash. I would also like to take these digital pictures and turn them into slides. I know there are companies that do this do you have any suggestions?

Naomi Charles wrote:

You can now buy 27 watt spiral fluorescent bulbs that output 100watt
daylight 5500 Kelvin at homedepot. I have even seen them at walgreen
pharmacy. They are coollights and last for 7 years.  I have also seen
daylight bulbs from revel and Philips but they are hot lights and last the
same as a regular light bulb. Some if them have a blue tint to them.

When I go on a photo session, I sometimes take a few en-el3a batteries for the session. I Just dump them all in my bag. When I finish using a battery, I put it back in the bag. How do I know which battery is empty and which is full? - The solution is easy, when a battery is charged, I wrap it with a rubber band before I put it in the bag. The battery with the rubber band on can not be placed inside the battery compartment. So before I use it I have to take the band of. After I am done using it, I put I in the bag again. Of course without the rubber band now.

John Wilkins writes:

I've been reading your site diligently since I found it late last year.
Love the site btw.
I don't have a full article, but I've made my own flash diffuser with a piece of tape and a snip of paper for my Canon S2 IS. I have to say that even though it's very lo-fi, it has very dramatic effects on my photos. It's very easy to do, and takes no dexterity at all. Just cut a 1 inch by .25 inch piece of paper, take a 2 inch piece of tape, fold one end for quick removal, place the paper on the tape, align it over the flash, affix, and wham-o. Instant diffuser. The corners on top can be trimmed to fit the flash, and like mine there will be a piece of tape covering the name Canon on the flash.
Whew! How's that for a geeky run-on sentence?

John writes:

Hi DIYPhotography,
I am using a D70 for my studio shots, and one external optical slave flash.  When I take a picture, the internal flash shoots, and triggers the external flash, and yet my pictures are dark.
Can you help me?

It's been a long time since I have seen such a brilliant idea. This site offers free printable PDF documents that can be folded into lens hoods.
I guess they are not very sturdy, and I wouldn't trust one to protect my camera lens from getting hit. But I will use one just for the heck of it.