DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

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

Submit A Story

How to create a DIY macro flash diffuser using a Pringles tube

Aug 15, 2020 by John Aldred 1 Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Macro is a challenging subject to photograph. Light, especially, can be a real struggle, so you often need to add extra light to overcome the bellows extension factor inherent in all true macro lenses. But dedicated macro flashes and ring flashes can be very expensive (at least if you want a good one). Are there other options?

Well, you can butcher a Pringles tube. We posted a tutorial on this way back in 2011 to be able to make use fo the popup flash for macro, but this video from photographer Micael Widell shows a similar method using an on-camera flash, allowing you to get much more power for those extreme close-ups.

It’s a fairly simple procedure. Just measure up your tube against the flash head and the front of the camera, and chop off the base to give you the length you need that puts the end of the tube right over your lens once it’s slotted over the head of your speedlight in the camera’s hotshoe. Add a rubber band to hold it onto your flash, pop some kind of diffusion over the other end and put the Pringle’s can lid on to hold it. Job done.

In the video, Micael uses a piece of paper towel as the diffuser, which isn’t typically neutral, so you’ll need to play around with your white balance to get the correct colours, but it works rather well if it’s your primary light source (which it likely will be if you’re using this kind of setup).

Aside from the obvious advantage of having a larger light source closer to your subject to produce a softer light, this method essentially moves the source of light to the front of your lens, too. This means that unlike simply just having the hotshoe bare on the camera and firing away, the lens itself isn’t creating a shadow on your subject.

A very quick and easy way to get better flash on your macro subjects.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

How to make a DIY extension tube from a Pringles can Default ThumbnailSuper Easy Macro Lighting Using a Pringles Can Default ThumbnailStudio Lighting – Homemade Cheap Flash Diffuser (DIY) Default ThumbnailDIY Wax-Fen Flash Diffuser – Yet Another Bouncy Thingy

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Macro Flash, macro photography, pringles

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John 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.

« Fuji patents discovered for XF30mm f/1.0, XF33mm f/1.0 and XF35mm f/1.0 lenses
Canon Australia’s “Canon Collective” shuts down due to COVID-19 after almost a decade »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Photographing an abandoned Italian villa: A time capsule of history and mystery
  • The Tascam DR-10L Pro is an unclippable 32-bit float personal audio recorder
  • This year’s Nature TTL POTY winner puts global warming right in our faces
  • TTArtisan announces super-low-budget 500mm f/6.3 super telephoto lens
  • NASA reveals five photos of space objects invisible to human eye

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