DIYPhotography.net

Continuous Ring Lights are quite popular as the work both with video and stills. A while back we featured a hack to build a ring light out of on old IKEA lamp called Kvartil chandelier, wich eliminated the woodwork from the common ring light design. Sadly that chandelier has been discontinued for a very long time now.

Luckily, there is a replacement. Photographer Iñigo Alonso found a replacement chandelier, the IKEA Glänsa. While it may look cumbersome at first glance (or glansa) stripped from all the spikes it provides a great ring light base.

There is also a video describing both the build and  the wiring (ask for help if you are not familiar with getting zapped with live wires). The vid is in Italian Spanish, but can be pretty much watched on mute if you prefer to avoid the musical language. Click to continue ›

The optical illusion of light vs. dark is a pretty old one. But up till now I have always seen it in static pictures.

It is a whole new experience to watch it done in a video with video lights set up.

There is a full explanation on the youtube page if you care to understand how this actually works. Click to continue ›

I am not really sure how this 2008 awesome video duo went under the radar here at DIYP, but thanks to our alert readers (thanks Gail) it is now up for your viewing pleasure.

This is by far one of the best DIY Ring Flash designs I've seen and the only thing that tops that design is well document how to video that makes building it looks like a walk in the park.

The design by Craig White is a bit different from the usual paper pizza box ring flash we've seen here on DIYP. It is quite sturdy - made from metal bowls. I would not be surprised if it takes some inspiration from the Terra Cotta Beauty Dish.

Anyhow, here are the two videos, followed by a sum-it-up image. Click to continue ›

If you are an Orbis user, you know it is a great piece of hardware. (It compete well with DIYP's DIY ring flash ;)

If you want to add some extra protection against fallen strobes, consider this quickie from Jakob Aebischer. Jakob uses the small cord that comes with the Orbis as extra protection to keep his SB900 nicely tucked in the Orbis holster.

"Love the idea to use the stuff that you already have - and what you always have with you. It's just simple, use the cord that came with the Orbis and a mini stand (x-shape recommended) of your flash. Now it won't slip ...

The Orbis Safety Cord via the DIYP Flickr Pool Click to continue ›

Did you ever wondered what softbox you should use when doing portraiture? If you only have one softbox, there is an easy answer, but if you have several sized softboxes, knowing which one to use can usually takes lots of experience and pixel peeping.

J. P. Morgan just put up another one of his Slanted Lens instructional videos, I can do nothing but admire the scientific approach in which he compares the effect of a small, medium and large softbox has. (Hint, it involves placing a 12 by 12 shooting target on the wall). Click to continue ›

Having recently been able to acquire a trio of Vivitar 285s for some strobist playtime, I was anxious to add some robust gels to them. I'm not keen on using velcro to attach them, especially as the design team at Vivitar had thoughtfully provided a filter slot on the flash itself (sa they did for the entire 285 series). I also wanted the ability to be able to use more than one filter at a time easily and without fuss.

And so, armed with some Instant Self Laminating Cards, A set of 50 Colour Correction Gels (40mmx140mm, sold by Crazy Daisy through Amazon.co.uk) and a pair of scissor, a permanent marker pen and a treasury tag, I set about creating a set to suit my needs. Click to continue ›

We have featured a bunch of pop up flash diffused before as a poorman's alternative to getting some nice diffused light. Build materials ranged from cardboard, through cloth hanger and headphone packaging.

The idea is that light coming of the pop up flash will hit the diffusion panel and then two things can happen:

1. Flash will appear bigger since it is coming from the scrim so light will be softer and/or

2. light will be scattered over the room and bounced back from ceiling and walls, again provided softer light.

All those hacks come with a price, they eat light like bears eat honey so be aware.

This new contraption by John Sloan (FB) uses a Heavy-Duty 1-Pint Funnel. Click to continue ›

There are lots of ways to use a large scrim, you can use it to create partial shade, reflect natural light, or fire strobes into it (from either side) for a diffused light source.

When your subject matter is really big - like say a car - you need a really big scrim if you want to create a large soft light source. Large scrims and frames can run into some serious money. This is still relevant if you shot with a Specialized Car Rig.

This guy did just that to shoot some random cars. (by this guy I mean Roberto Bigano, and by random cars I mean some Bugatti's) Click to continue ›

About three weeks ago, I asked DIYP readers to build a softbox. It was meant for fun and education. To add some zap the good guys at B&H chipped in with a Westcott Apollo Speedlight set and a strobe (Nikon SB700/Canon 430EX II) for the best design.

I literally fell of my chair seeing all the great submissions. The amount of creativity with the build was huge with sizes and materials covering just about any possible element on the face of the planet (including the rare element IKEAtnium). If you ask me quite a few of the bunch would have had a successful design career.

The contest ended up with 70 submission ranging on all the spectrum
of softboxes:

• The first obvious choice is size, and there are submissions with as small as half a letter paper to monster47" softboxes.
• Another critical factor was the materials, while some
  opted for "clothy and airy" using fabrics, tent rods, and umbrella
  skeletons, others opted for strong and sturdy and used corrugated plastic and
  plywood.
• Mounting ranges from custom metal brackets through friction fit and we even had one yogurt cup mount.

It is very impressive to see how some set out design goals (or briefs in design lingo) and held up pretty well to their intents.

Here we go with 24 DIY Softboxes which display the variety of softboxes you can built at home. There are some great ideas inside for on budget lighting so visit them all. Click each entry banner to see the full tutorial. There were more good design but I tried not to repeat similar designs in the post so each tutorial will have some added value. Click to continue ›

It is not a big secret that dancers are one of my favorite subject matter. I was just so lucky to have the opportunity to shoot Liron Kichli, one of Israel's dance scene rising stars a few Saturdays ago.

It is my believe that when working with such a talent as Liron, preparation can have a tremendous impact, so it is a good idea to have a detailed plan before meeting on location and watching her doing stretches.

On this post, I am going to cover some of the aspects and planning you should consider practicing in order to have a great and successful shooting day, from equipment, through location and flower. Click to continue ›