How To Make the World’s Best Lighting Modifier for $5
Jul 31, 2015
Allen Mowery
Allen Mowery is a Nationally-published Commercial & Editorial Photographer with over 20 years of experience. He has shot for major brands as well small clients. When not shooting client work or chasing overgrown wildlife from his yard, he loves to capture the stories of the people and culture around him.
Share:
Lighting modifiers can have a huge impact on specialized shots. With the right ones, light becomes putty in your hand, easily molded by the skill of the potter. (Yeah, I jumble up my euphemisms frequently.)
YouTuber Theoria Apophasis believes in the the power of light modifiers, but he believes even more in ingenuity. The “Angry Photographer” shared one of his favorite homemade mods to get creative lighting that adds drama to his images. This is one of the best lighting mods and can be easily created with craft store supplies for $5.
The Materials
- Black Card Stock
- Elmer’s School/Craft Glue
- Glitter
The process is very basic and essentially just involves smearing glue on the card stock, applying glitter, flattening it out, and trying not to turn your studio into a pixie fairyland in the process.
While the total cost for materials would probably total more than $5, there should be enough left over to make a whole army of these things.
What I particularly like is the way the gold reflectors can mimic golden-hour sunlight filtering through trees, as he shows us in a separate video. This would be great for simulating natural light or outdoor settings no matter where you shoot or in what weather conditions. That alone is enough to get me to make a few of my own.
To see more of his tutorials and lighting mods, check out his YouTube channel, and go “glitter and be”…creative!
[via ISO1200]
Allen Mowery
Allen Mowery is a Nationally-published Commercial & Editorial Photographer with over 20 years of experience. He has shot for major brands as well small clients. When not shooting client work or chasing overgrown wildlife from his yard, he loves to capture the stories of the people and culture around him.
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.
2 responses to “How To Make the World’s Best Lighting Modifier for $5”
While this IS actually a very good idea, I’d have to come out and say, be -very- wary of taking advice from this guy… His videos are full of technical inaccuracies, ridiculous rants and most worrying of all, he never actually shows any shots he personally took with the gear he recommends. A lot of his recommendations are the polar opposite of what well known and respected reviewers say about the same items. I’m not saying you shouldn’t watch his videos, but get a second and third opinion from a trusted reviewer before you spend your hard earned cash.
My main worry would be the glitter. Anything I’ve run across with glitter glued to paper (kids art projects, etc) tend to shed glitter everywhere. Not something I’d want all over my gear.