How To Make A Pringles Can “Saberstrip” – Short & Sweet

I’ve only seen Pringle’s packs being used for snoots, but one day I had the idea to use a Pringle packet for a strip light. Obviously it is limited for size, but it is very versatile. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have had this idea, but I haven’t seen any tutorials for it so far, so thought I would make one.

Anyway on with the show …

Step 1 – Get yourself

• A Pringle’s packet :)
• Gaffa tape
• A thin piece of fabric which will let the light pass through but act as a diffuser. (both silk and ripstop work great)

Step 2 – Marking

Mark out a rectangle running the length of the Pringle’s packet.

Step 3 – Cutting

Main Body – Cut the rectangular section out with a knife.

Lid section – use your flash to mark out a rectangle on the lid, and cut that out. Make sure to leave 2 triangular flaps. These will act as grips.

Step 4 – Diffusion

Measure out the piece of fabric, cut and fix into place with the gaffa tape. Finish by covering as much of the main body as you wish with gaffa tape.

Cover the lid with gaffa tape and cut where needed, to minimize light leakage.

Step 5 – TADA!

And there you have it. Attach the newly made strip light to the top of the flash, and notice how you can swivel the main body to face different directions.

Here are a couple of examples of its use.

In the first image I placed the strobe above the subject.

In the second image, I use the strobe as the background light, The Pringle’s strip light was horizontal and facing up.

About The Author

Owen Harvey is a 3D artist and have been snapping pics from 2007. He lives in the countryside just north of London. You can follow him on Flickr and visit his web page here.