We have featured some awsome gel holders on the site before. But never one with this simple approach. It is fast to mount, easy to use and leave no residue on the strobe.
It also fits any size flash and any size gel, how cool is that?
Thanks, Jerry R Hamby, for this awsome build. Click to continue ›
Lumiquest has a pretty nice solution for diffusing on (or off) camera strobes by dressing them with a small and light weight softbox.
Reader Julian Schüngel came up with a similar device that can be constructed from one A4 sheet of paper (and kicks the crap out of my similar design that needs 6 sheets). Oh yea, it has build in barn doors too. Click to continue ›
I am not surprised to see the DIY community responds to David's Hobby last post about the Lastolite Triflash. Reader Allen Mowery came up with a quick and easy way to build a dual flash bracket with a DIY umbrella.
Made from a T-brace and a 1/2" plastic pipe (+ some odds and ends), Allen presents the Dual Bracket Swivel Mount. The "genius involved" is debatable to quote the tutorial, however for about $8 (umbrella excluded) this is quite a find. (I am not really sure about the DIYing of the umbrella, in this case. folding and unfolding it seems a bit risky with cheapo paint).
It does not carry a trysync hotshoe as the tryflash, but is still a great way to double your flash power (and save some on a swivel).
Read the full tutorial from Allen on DIYP's flickr group.
Read about other dual brackets here. Click to continue ›
Photographer and Strobist fan John Cavan got a pretty cool line up of speedstrap like DIY attachments.
The line, which can be made in about 20 minutes total (or less), includes a foamy & Velcro based speedstrap and an assortment of Strobist friendly foamy & Velcro based modifiers: a snoot, a Gobo and a bounce card. You now I love foamies and Velcro so this is like a small party for me.
After reading David Hobby's post about rim lights, I decided that I wanna have a go myself.
In spite of David Advice, I went with strip lights. Made from an electrical racer. I did push them a bit more then on that post though.
Since I was not using a real "store bought" strip light I wanted to see how far I could push the light down the racer in a way that still produces good light through the diffusion screen. (Or actually, up the racer, since my flash was set on the bottom).
I placed the flash on the bottom of the racer and popped a few shots. I got nice blow out up to about 70cm. So that was the length of the strip light. From here the build starts. Click to continue ›
do you really need one? The short answer is yes. The long answer is....
A reflector, as the name implies, is something that reflects light. In photography, is it usually a big sheet of something white, silver or gold, that bounces light at your subject (or at anything you want light on for that matter).
If you are not to particular about having your reflector look all nice and nifty are plenty of DIY options here, and basically any flat surface will do. Foam boards, bed sheets, aluminum covered plywood, did I say any big surface yet? Click to continue ›
While I don't usually advocate using the camera built-in flash, There are times that it may be useful. Neil van Niekerk is quite popular for his on camera flash use (with the black foamy thing). This little mod sent by Nick Murray-Hogarth goes even back as far as on camera flash goes and uses the on board flash wrapped in a snoot.
Not too long ago we had an article about using foam rubber sheets to make a snoot to mount on an external flash, not having upgraded to an external just yet, I thought I would have a go at making one for the on-board flash. So here goes! Click to continue ›
Brian Carey (site, Flickr) just sent me a very cute mod/hack to create a flash bouncer (much like the omni bounce) only it can be made in 5 seconds and it folds crumbles flat.
It allows your strobe to fire light in all direction much like a bare bulb studio flash. And aside from providing a bare bulb mode on your strobe, it also doubles as a gel holder.
Read Brian's Flash Bouncer/Stopper/Gel holder tutorial after the jump Click to continue ›
Photographer Peter Karlsson has it all worked out when it comes to travel light. Peter is a Strobist at heart and as such he is using small flashes quite a bit. The coolness comes in when you see how he places his flashes in space.
Instead of your orthodox light stand solution Peter uses a home brewed light stand made of tent poles. Those are great for travel for several reasons: There are super light-weight, they fold small and they will definitely make your subject go WOW! Luckily for photographers wold wide there are two vids available that shows how those light stands were made. Click to continue ›
Today @AM time I discussed a light tent made from virtually nothing but coroplast and binders. (Not the previous supermarket-box-light-tent took more products to make).
Then I saw a variation on that theme by Nathan Moroney that used nothing but paper binders to create a very similar light same tent.
Now, if you think that coroplast tent was frugal, this one is on the fringe of being made from pure nothing. (Link and musing after the jump).
