Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
If you are using LED panels, there is a good chance you are using them bare, or with a diffusion panel. If you need a bigger light source that the size of your panels, there are no pre-made solutions.
If you are using a spot LED (like the 120T from aputure), you can use “regular” softboxes, but there is really no solution that can further extend an LED panel.
So far, we’ve shared our Gift Guides for cameras and lenses. Now, we’re on to the next tool any photographer needs in his/her arsenal – lighting.
Of course, light is available all around us in the form of the sun, but sometimes you need to slightly alter that light or entirely provide your own. Below we’ve gathered some of our favorite lighting products that you can pick up this holiday season.[Read More…]
Every time I am at my local big box hardware store I always take a peek at the lighting aisle to see what is new and exciting in the world of home illumination.
(Or more specifically, I check to see a manufacturer has finally created a big honkin’ LED light bulb that would be bright enough to use for DIY video lighting.)
Well, after a recent shopping trip, I am happy to report that I finally found a few options for inexpensive, readily available hardware store LED light bulbs that work very well for indoor video lighting.
Many times photographers think they are held back by lack of gear. However, having just one strobe and one softbox is more than you need to create so many looks and apply your photography to so many subjects.
Photographer Tony Corbell uses a single light and a softbox to show ten different lighting setups and applications.
Now this is not your usual 3 minutes video, it is a full 22 minutes of cubical distraction. The amount of tips that Tony casually throws is amazing.
Tony uses a big Bowens Gemini 500Pro monoblock with a Lumiair 80×100 softbox. But the same principles apply also when you are using smaller and cheaper lights light strobes. you would have to either raise the ISO or open up the aperture for a softer look.
Cosmetic products are some of the hardest things to photograph. The combination of reflective, translucent, opaque and shiny surfaces makes it an absolute nightmare. Below you will find my quick and dirty method for dealing with those hard to shoot subjects.
As Gavin Hoey explains in this informative video tutorial on softboxes, soft light is generally preferred over a hard light when shooting portraits. There are a number of light modifiers that can help achieve soft light, but one of the most commonly used is a softbox. When choosing and setting up the correct softbox for the job, size and distance from the subject will make a huge difference in the softness of light it will distribute.[Read More…]
I have been planning around trying to build a DIY scrim for about a month now but couldn’t think of a frame where I could start my project. First thing I thought of was making it out of PVC pipes (sadly PVC pipes are not as easy to get here), then thought of using wood for the frame. I put it aside for a while until I found the perfect frame for my new project.
A scrim is not a stand alone unit and you want a light source behind it – either a strobe, a strong continuous light or even the sun. The scrim will diffuse that light (and eat quite a bit of it during the process) into a beautiful soft light.
Normally when I go to the local mall I visit the Japan Store because almost everything there is for P88 ($2USD) and there is a LOT of stuff to choose from, so I was looking around the other day and found a portable clothes hanger for around $5.50 USD. WIN! This would be the perfect frame for my next project. (If you don’t live in the Philippines, fret not, they are pretty cheap in the US too)
Last week I wrote about why you would want to do a DIY photography project, but can it match up to pro gear? Challenge… Accepted!
This week I did a whole photoshoot using only DIY modifiers for main lights. With the help of my girlfriend and her friends to model for me, the challenge was on.
The idea behind challenge was to prove that making your own modifiers and equipment is not all that bad compared to branded expensive material. (And before the first comment starts coming in, let me say that I do own a couple of Westcott softboxes and umbrellas, and I use them when needed or when working with high end clients, I just really like my DIY’s).
I started photography about 6 years ago. I was doing a 365 day project in flickr when I saw all the great strobist shots people were taking. I wanted to give it a try but I only had one sb-24 speedlight (it’s a 1988 flash) and no light modifiers whatsoever so I needed to DIY my own lights.
I remember the first DIY project that I made, it was a 1 foot x 1 foot softbox made out of illustration board and tracing paper. After that I used a silver umbrella and a white shower curtain to create my own studio look and after that was history in the making.
So here are my 8 reasons why you’d wanna do a DIY project
Aside from being a kick butt photographer, Ilko Allexandroffhas quite an amazing career course. A butterfly effect that started in a corridor chat in Ilko’s school in Bulgaria ended in Ilko being a renowned portrait photographer in Japan, we took Ilko for a round of questions and had a blast doing so:[Read More…]
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