This Article will demonstrate how to build a Lightbox. A Lightbox is something you can use to distribute light when photographing a small object. This is a common solution for studio photography. it is similar to the origami studio, only this time your light source is inside the box. Click to continue ›
This post on a 2 cents macro studio got me thinking. Firstly because it is a great idea, it employs the same technique as the super simple light tent and the flash diffuser. Secondly it is cheap. So cheap in fact, that it really does only cost two cents. The thing that I was thinking is - "I want a BLT Sub", and right after "This is great for small objects, what if I want to shoot something bigger? For this I came up with an improvement - The Origami Macro Studio. It is not as cheap - approximately 20 times more expensive - but for 40 cents, it is still a heck f a deal. And as the macro studio, it is cheap, takes 2 minutes to prepare, and very simple. Click to continue ›
If you need a better way to hold the light you use while taking pictures with the DIY backdrop you just made, or you need a better way to control where light goes for keying out backgrounds in Photoshop, read through this tutorial on how to make a quick and durable (and highly configurable) lightstand out of one of those old, sort-of broken cheap tripods you have sitting in your closet. Even if it's your main tripod, you should be able to modify it so you can swap it for a lightstand or standard tripod pretty easily. Click to continue ›
This article will explain how to design and assemble bluescreens, greenscreens and backdrops for photos and video, as well as how to easily and inexpensively build a portable frame to support these backdrops out of PVC pipe or metal conduit. The ideas are similar to the ones that proposed by Brian Zimmerman, with a nice fresh view and clear explanations. (NOTE: Please be sure to read some of the extra notes at the bottom of this guide for optimal performance).
For amateur or hobbyist photographers and video producers, coming up with the money for a nice, $200 (and up!) backdrop and the expensive stands and hangers required to help support it isn't very easy. Rather, they need a way to make a nice-looking background that is both good looking and easy to transport. Click to continue ›
Some how, back in February of 2006, I found out about Continuous Ink Systems (CIS) and begin my search. I came across a man selling what I deemed to be a good system to try on E-Bay, and through a few emails, discovered he lived just up the street from me. I bought my first CIS from him within a week.
A CIS supplies "phony" cartridges with ink continuously from large reservoirs out side the printer with silicon tubing. The average home printer cartridge holds only 8-15ml of ink, and the CIS I bought comes pre loaded with 100ml of ink in each color container. That’s a lot of cartridges worth of ink! Click to continue ›
Do you know why they call this piece of studio equipment "Beauty Dish"? Because it make people look beautiful. The idea is similar to other diffusion ideas - the more diffusion you put in your light, the softer the image is. This idea is widely deployed in photography studios - the softbox, the beauty dishes and the reflector disc all work on close principles.
The unique thing about a Beauty Dish is the way that it diffuses light - unlike a softbox or a reflector which has an "illuminating" surface the beauty dish has a circle of light with an opaque center. Now, what all this has to do with soup. You will soon find out. Click to continue ›
Ok, So you've got your DIY Flash/Strobe working. Now you want to evolve to a full DIY studio - Here are some uses for the flash unit (again, courtesy of Avner Richard). In this article you will find some creative ueses for the basic circuit - Multipe flahs heads and controling output power - as well as some basic studio flash setups - beauty dish, spot light, soft box, ring light and more. Click to continue ›
The following article was contributed by Avner Richard, not only a great photgrapher, but also an electronic wizard.
Studio strobes are quite expensive, especially when dealing with high power strobes, or multiple heads - the power pack solution.
In this article I’ll present my strobe power pack project, which is an easy DIY electric project. Click to continue ›
I was inspired to do this project after seeing the PVC light tent posted on the MAKE blog. This light tent uses a cardboard box and some white material (Tyvek) and allows you to take reasonable photos of products such as bottles, watches, jewelry, small objects, etc. There is lot's of room for improvement but for the sake of 15 minutes I hope you will agree it's pretty good :) Click to continue ›
This project had the website diyphotography.net in mind and strives to help develop it into a vibrant online community. This backdrop is similar to those sold online for a couple hundred dollars! But guess what? for around 20 bucks and about an hours time I've made a studio backdrop myself, and now I'll show YOU how you can make a backdrop yourself! (And complete the DIY experiance by adding a DIY backdrop stand) Click to continue ›
