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The Headphones Pop Up Flash Diffuser

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In this article Mohamed Talal  shows us how to make a simple diffuser for a DSLR pop up flash.

There are three things that separate this diffuser from other diffusers we have featured before. The first is the total cost – this one really costs nothing.  The second one is the size of the diffusion panel. By using this method you get a nicely sized diffusion panel. Lastly, a quick mod will turn this diffuser to a ring flash.

It is called the Headphones diffuser, but don’t feel obliged to use headphones casing, you can use GI-Joe’s casings, Transformers casings, or just a nice pieces of transparent material.

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Something New – A Photography Project

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Here we go again with another project here at DIYP. This time the project has a really cool theme – sharing. In this project, I am going to ask you to pair up with a friend and share a photography experience. I am going to ask you to temporarily exchange a piece of gear and write a review about it. We also have an awesome sponsor for this one with a set of prizes to fit the theme. I am really exited about this one and I hope I can make my enthusiasm catch.

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My Favorite Lens – The Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D

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A while back, I asked your advice. I was contemplating between two lenses and did not which one to choose. I was being torn between the Nikkor 60m/2.8 and the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D.

I was leaning towards the 1.8 (AKA sharpy) and your strong response helped me to make up my mind. So first of all – thank you all for some great advice.

After a few months with this lens, I would like to share my experience with the lens. Now, don’t expect a Ken Rockwell kinda review, Ken does this much, much better then I can. Instead, I’d like to talk a bit of the general experience that I had with the lens.

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Light Falloff Cheat Sheet Card

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As part of my ongoing exploration of portrait photography in general and flash studio photography in particular, I wanted to examine the effect that a large light source will have on light fall off. This was a great chance for me to produce a new cheat sheet to companion the portrait lighting cheat sheet and reflector cheat sheet that are already out there. (And this time we have a special guest, read on…)

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Six Tips To Take Great Manual Focus Pictures (Part 2)

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In my previous manual focus post I discussed nine reasons to use manual focus. But wait, isn’t manual focus slow and inaccurate? Not if you do it correctly.

In this post I will describe six ways to get the perfect (and fastest) manual focus. As will all things photography, practice makes perfect – You may not have your first manual focus pictures right, but as you keep practicing, you’ll get better and better, until manual focus becomes a second nature to you. [image CC by parl]

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Reflector Card Cheat Sheet

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My previous cheat sheet dealt with the impact of light position on portraiture. The idea was that you can print this cheat sheet and carry it around for fast consultation and getting fast results.

My next investigation involved a single flash again (this time shot through a shoot though umbrella) and different uses and positions for a 5 in one reflector.

Again I suggest printing the card so you have a quick look when ever you are not sure of what a certain reflector effect may be.

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Another Great Way to Create Lighting Diagrams

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A while back I posted two great ways to create lighting diagrams: using Photoshop or using an online flash application.

Now, the online application as great, but it only allowed you to share a URL, there was no way to save or print your lighting diagram.

Reader Brian pointed me to a nice online application called PhotoDiagram that allows you to create a lighting diagram and then save it as jpg. NICE.

I’d love to see more modifiers in the application. If you feel like being nice, Drop Brian a line on what you’d like to see in the next version of PhotoDiagram.

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How Slow Can You Go?

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Back in the take a shot and see the print three days later good old happy days of film we all knew what is our human limitation when it came to shutter speed. The golden thumb rule said that if you shoot slower than 1 / (your focal length) you will end up with an unusable artistic blurry image.

Just to give an example or two it means that at shooting safari animals at 300mm meant you can not go below 1/400. And when shooting portraits at 80mm, you should not go below 1/75 or 1/100.

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Portrait Lighting Cheat Sheet Card

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Setting up lighting for a portrait can be quite a complex task. If you, like me, are using small strobes which have mo modeling light it is hard to predict what will be the outcome of each lighting array.

There are however some basic lighting schemes, kind of a starting ground for new portraits. Of course, once you lay out the initial lighting you can change it, move it around and use modifiers to soften or restrict the light.

Wouldn’t it be nice, though if you have a magic card that will show you what will be the final lighting of almost every lighting scheme? I think it can be pretty darn cool.

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Six and Two Halves Must-Read Free Digital Photography eBooks

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Six free photography eBooks (+ two halves) for your reading pleasure. Click the title and go to the download link on the as marked at the end of each section.

1. Tinker Tubes – Personal Lighting Systems by Dean Collins

This is where the entire DIYPhotography blog started. A complete tutorial on creating a studio from nothing but PVC pipes, Ripstop nylon and Nikon SBs. Creating studio photography systems like the Ghetto Studio, the Backdrop Stand and Reflector Holders, are all covered in this book.

[26 mind expanding pages, click on "Download the Tinker Tubes book"]

2. Lighting 101 by David Hobby

Or should I say by The Strobist. The complete nothing but a strobe lighting guide. This is a great book for the starting photographer covering the following topics in depth:
– On The Go Lighting Gear: Clamps, Umbrellas, Swivels, …
– Strobe Lighting Techniques: Bounce, Bare Bulb, Hard Light, Ambient Balancing, and more
– Creative Flashware: Gels, Gobos, Ball Bungees

If you liked the book, you’ll surly love the blog.

[36 pages, click the "mirror" on the UPDATE section at the bottom]

2 1/2. JPG Magazine by 8020 Publishing

Jpeg mag is one of the better photography magazines out there. This photography magazine features readers photos (selected by readers), and also great articles (written by readers). In fact JPG mag is very similar to an online forum only it is printed. How cool is that?

In fact it is so cool that you can download a PDF version of any issue right from the JPG mag site. Go to "Issues" on the top banner, select the desired issue and click Download PDF on the right hand side. (Of course, you still order the JPG magazine in print).

OK, so this is not exactly a book, which makes it the first half of the six and three halves.

[pages vary, click the download issue on the right hand side]

3. The Image-Space Tips and Tricks collection by Joe Barrett

This is a great book for any digital photographer using Lightroom (and don’t we all). The Image Space is a blog dedicated to Lightroom Tips, and the books covers areas like:
– Using Lightroom full power to organize your images
– Making the best of the develop module

If you liked this book, you can follow the online Lightroom tips and tricks here.

[34 pages, click on "Download the free Lightroom tips eBook"]

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