DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Easily Make Your Own Diffusion Panels For Less Than $30

Aug 18, 2014 by Tiffany Mueller 7 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Use A-Clamps to hang the diffusion blade.

Use A-Clamps to hang the diffusion blade.

Diffusion blades (or panels) are incredibly useful things to have laying around a photography studio. Why pay over $100 each for a blade when you can build them yourself quickly and easily for a 1/3 of the price? In this video tutorial, Tony Roslund shows us how he makes his own blades using easily resourced materials.

http://vimeo.com/103534460

Things You’ll Need

Some of the items below aren’t exactly household items, so you may have to make a trip to your local art supply store. Here’s the list:

  • Canvas stretching bars – These wood rails come in a variety of pre-cut lengths and are really easy to assemble. Just pick out 4 strips that match the size of frame you want and throw a couple staples into the corners to hold them together. Cost: Depends on the dimensions but should be well under $20 in most places.
  • Diffusion material – Roslund likes the look of Rosco #3008 Diffusion material and happened to have a roll of it, but you can use any diffusion material you prefer and it can be found in pre-cut pieces so you don’t have to purchase a whole roll. Cost: Again, it depends on the dimensions but should be under $10.
  • Scissors or cutting blade – You’ll need these to cut the diffusion material to size, unless the piece of material you’re using was already pre-cut to size in which case you won’t be needing these. Cost: It’s safe to assume you already own one of these things, right?
  • White gaffers tape – Try to use some that is the same width as the canvas stretching rails for a seamless, more professional look. Alternatively you can just fold the edges over. Cost: You should probably already have some of this in your studio, but if you have to spring for a roll of it you can plan on spending about $10-15. 
  • Double sided tape – Roslund had a fancy double sided tape dispenser called an ATG gun, but a regular roll of double sided tape also works nicely. Cost: $2.

Building The Diffusion Blades

These blades are actually pretty simple to build. Putting the canvas stretching frame together is the hardest part and we already covered how to do that so the rest should be a cakewalk.

  • If you need to trim your diffusion panel to fit your canvas stretcher, just spread the material out on a cutting table, place the stretcher on top of it and using a cutting blade or sharp scissors cut around the outside edge of the stretcher so the material is flush with the edges. Obviously, if you ordered a piece of material that was the same size as your frame, skip this step. Lay the material to the side for the moment.
Use white gaffers tape to conceal the wood frames.

Use white gaffers tape to conceal the wood frames.

  • Begin covering the frame with white gaffers tape (see screenshot above). This is necessary (and important), Roslund says, to prevent the wood frame from showing through the diffusion material and casting shadows on your images. Take your time to make the tape look nice and make sure it is laying flat, this will pay off when you are trying to make the diffusion material look professional on your stretchers.
  • Which leads us to the double sided tape. This is what you’ll be using to attach the diffusion material to the frame. Apply the double sided tape around the edges of the stretcher rails onto the gaffers tape. Make sure there is tape in the corners and edges so the diffusion material holds taught and doesn’t begin to peel back from the frame.
  • Lastly, carefully lay the diffusion fabric onto the frame. Ensure it is straight and tight as you press around the edges to seal the contact with the material and the double sided tape.

“As a product photographer, I use diffusion panels almost daily. I prefer the flexibility and control I get from them over softboxes, and they’re easy to store or pack flat for taking on location.”

[DIY Diffusion Panels For Less Than $30 via FStoppers ]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Make your own DIY diffusion panels for still life photography Make your own DIY diffusion filter for $15 or less This diffusion panel provides different levels of diffusion with a turn of a knob $7 DIY Diffusion Hack And Bonus Color Grading Tutorial All In Less Than 10 Minutes

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: diffusion, Diffusion Panels, DIY, studio lighting

Tiffany Mueller: from diyphotography.net

About Tiffany Mueller

Tiffany Mueller is a photographer based in Hawi, Hawaii. You can follow her Twitter here and her personal life here.

« 5 Different Setups To Nail A 2 Lights Product Shot
These Photos Of Old Iranian Mosques Redefine Symmetry »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Botched selfie escalates to draining of reservoir
  • Panasonic PanaTrack is a big bendy motorised camera slider
  • Once again, tourists are getting too close to bison for photos
  • Fujifilm announces shipping delays for the new Fuji X-S20
  • International Photography Awards reveals breathtaking 2022 winners (mildly NSFW)

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy