A while back we featured the Eyelighter by Westcott. It gives really gorgeous catch lights and helps to provide fill and light from the bottom. A little after we saw a first DIY version of the Eyelighter which involved bending PVC pipes using hot sand and an industrial fan. While the results of this DIY were really nice, not everyone wants to go through the efforts connected with bending PVC pipes.
Here is an easier (though not as sturdy) alternative for building a DIY Eyelighter courtesy of Isiah Xiong.
The concept of this build does not rely on a bent PVC, but rather it uses a trio of foamcore panels scorched so they can bend.
If you are at the point on your path that time is more available than money, then this is a way to add a useful tool to your arsenal of lighting accessories.
As far as the build itself, I really like it and would probably make only one change to it: add some gaff tape on the non scorched side along the edges of the panel. This would make sure that the panel did not tear with time.
I love how Isiah uses books on one end to provide a slight angle to the reflector and if you are starting from scratch, you can probably integrate two into your build
Here are two results from using the DIY Eyelighter Reflector, take a close look at the eyes and see how the reflector creates a nice lower catch light.
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