Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
If you are leaving in the US, you know that Home Depot is the photographer’s best friend. And if you are reading this blog, you know that we are big fans of foamboard reflectors. Joe Edelman made quite a clever holder for those using $3 of Home Depot PVC piping stuff.
I know that there are other ways to mount a foam board reflector, but this is just too light and cheap to be ignored as an option.
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.
Have you ever looked inside a macro tube to examine the optics there? haha. No optics, it is just a big tube filled with air.* This is why it is an extremely easy device to replicate. Maker Vinnie Hirt used the macro tube quality of nothingness to build his own set of an uber extension tube for a mere $5 give or take.
The Ice Light by Westcott is a $450 light source that many photographers swear by. It is a powerful, variable LED light that can be hand held and gives a nice directional strip-like spread.
Then again, it costs $450, which is no peanuts. If you are in the photography stage where you have more time than money, photographer Justin Barr made a DIY version that looks pretty nifty. Details, after the jump.
I’m always looking to add new light modifiers to my home studio but name brand products are often too expensive. I still cannot justifies a big expense for a single look so $300 for the Wescott Eyelighter was not a reasonable purchase for me. Plus looking at the components I felt it could be made for pennies on the dollar, look almost as nice and most importantly give me similar results. Being the handy man type I’m prone to DIY just about anything and as long as my wife doesn’t complain about the look or build quality. She’s happy, I’m happy; such is life. And since I’m the spender in this family keeping her happy is my path to more gear.
For those who have been following DIYPhotography for a while now, you are well aware of the awesome photographic results that can be achieved with materials NOT purchased from your local, friendly photo gear retailer. For those who are finding this to be your first visit to DIYPhotography, may I please inquire as the exact size of the rock under which you have been hiding.[Read More…]
When it comes to building a studio at home it is always a challenge to use space in an efficient way. Movie maker Extraordinaire Chad Bredahl of krotoflik just release a new video covering many aspects of space (and budget) optimization when setting up a home studio room.
Using a clever combo if cheap lights (4 of them) and a bunch of Styrofoam from Home depot he was able to create a high end looking studio good for medium shots.
I really like the way this guy thinks in terms of using available materials and making the most out of them.
[DIY Studio | krotoflik]
One thing about photography is that from time to time you have creative dry spells and you need some inspiration to keep you going. One place I love to go to when I have my dry spells, or just need some inspiration, is rught here – DIYP, and lucky for me after a while I became a writer here, so… what a coincidence. I had just made my Kick Ass 4 Feet Ringlight and got the DIY itch to create something else. Looking around the blog, I stumbled on this article about beauty florecent lighting.
It “only” took me 3 months of thinking and planning and jut wondering about if I was going to build it. Until I just did.
One of my favorite home studio instruments is the light box. I like it for several reasons. First, I like it for the light quality that it produces. It produces light that is soft and even very much like a light tent. Only instead of lighting it from the outside, you push light from the inside.
The “walls” of the light box reflect the light source, and making it bigger, however the light quality is a bit harsher than the light tent, especially if you are using a semi reflective material such as foamboard. Light boxes are also commonly used with worklights, which are a personal fav of mine due to their low cost.[Read More…]
We all love getting our hands dirty with studio lighting equipment. Here is everything you’ll need to get a studio going. All the modifiers are DIYed so mark the next few weekends as taken. Click each image to get to the relevant project page.
A Beauty Dish is a flash modifier used commonly in fashion
photography. It has a great combination of soft light and fast light fall
off. When you look at it closely, however, you find out that it is
nothing more than a terracotta bowl and a plastic jar (or a small car
mirror). By Mr. Embrey.
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