Some time ago (it sounds like a kids story), there were no Wescot folding softboxes and no Ebay or chinice like products for even more tight budgets, so all you can get was or Bowens mount softboxes or what we called universal mount softbox. The only thing was, that even if you could get those universal mount softboxes, you’d have to manage a trick to put a small flash (off camera flash) in them, So if you have one of those sofboxes, Who are still sold on ebay and amazon for some strobes models, this post is for you.

Read more about the DIY Universal Softbox Small Flash Mounting Adapter (by Tomasz Nowak)

Tomasz put this one very easy to understand, all you have to do is to follow the images below and you’ll pretty sure make it. The flash mout is based on a wood plate, the size of the universal softbox mount and a hinge or pole, puting them together and you can go on and mount a small flash in the universal mount softbox:

Attach the flash to the pole in two ways, here Tomasz used a velcro peice to put them together, but you can use another adapter for holding any flash to umbrellas.

Tomasz had the guts to put two YN460II velcroed together (used it in the Zumba model setup)

Adding more tin foil to the wood base to get beter reflections.

Well thats it! I’d be happy if you comment here if you made this diy universal flash adpter or if you made other DIY idea on this project!

THNX!

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Hi, I read a post at dpreview written this guy Mark Watson, he has a very good super macro gallery on flickr - link, so he’ve been asked to share the way he got the right lighting for those macro images, so he did, and that’s ridiculously easy, handy and cheap!

Here we go:

Step 1: You mark on a piece of paper the head size of your strobist flash.

Step 2: Mark the flash head size on the pringles box and cut a hole in it , the size of your flash head.

Step 3: Making the front panel diffuser. Mark used here a  protection paper that came with a filter that he bought some tןme ago

Step 4 utting the front panel diffuser together. You’ll have to make sure its a bit bigger than the pringles, so you can close the box and the diffuser is boxed in.

Step 5: Attaching to the camera. Mark puts the flash on the camera with the Pringels tube and tilting the flash one click forward so the light will be directed to the front of the camera.

Some great results ,I actually don’t like this bug image, but hi its amazing details and perfect macro lighting for zero cash…

 I want you to share your DIY macro lighting or macro images!!!

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I can’t tell or explain this for myself, so first of all I’ll want you to take a look at those first couple of images (right reserved to Jamie from this blog):

I actually don’t remember when I got so fascinated by an image! It look as if Jamie here got on something new. I don’t know hot exactly she does this amazing animation images, but can imagine that there is some photoshop on moving the necklace in the second image. In the taxi Image I believe Jamie took some fast pictures with, maybe with a fast video camera and sampled the movie into some images while she cropped the changes only from the taxi movement and paste it into a movie .gif file. I think it was the same for the tower Binoculars.

I am definatly going to try and test this idea, badly I currently have only a low level HD JVC 60fps video camera , but I must give it a try!

By the way, if you don’t know this feature, here is a quick review of the Puppet Wrap feature, if you want to animate your images:

What do you think about it? Have you tried this one? Share it with us now!

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Hey

Just wanted to share with you guys another Flickr gallery. This technique is generally based on really long exposure time (mainly using bulb mode for over 30secs exposure) and some colorful light objects like flash lights with color gels, small sparkerls or any other light source that you might thinnk of.  mxing✪m’s flickr photostream includes some stunning images and two simple to understand vidoes on how to take those very special effects. So feel free to visit his gellery and thank him for his videos, cause this type of phootgraphy art is what keeps as motivated and with fresh ideas. Here are his two videos:

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When you are out on location shoot and need to out a high light above your model, you’ll nned to use a boom.

If you do it in your studio, there is a boom that connects to a studio tripod and you can place your flash there. When you’re out there you’ll need someone to hold that boom for you.

One way to have a boom is to get a monopod, it will come as one piece and ready for action, with one downfall – it is short. In this link Maxell Lander offers a solution by using a normal studio tripod and “transform” it into a boom.

I’ll do this project in case I have broken studio tripod, meanwhile I’m using a monopod as a boom.

Check out Maxell’s blog if you are into more ideas, just be aware that it contains some nudity.

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A RingFlash is a very cool flash tool.Many of the current “young”/”cool”  look images are done using this gadget. When You try to go the DIY way, there are many ways to improvise the ringflash.In many of those DIY RingFlash you’ll have do manage a hole into a metal salad bowl, so the flash will get into the bowl and cover the bowl surface with some kind of a white softbox diffuser materials (paper, fabric esc…).

If you just want to “feel” the result of the ringflash and don’t have nor the budget to buy a real ringflash and don’t have the “talet” to drill and cut through the metal, here is a nice alternative for doing your own ringflash.I found this link on the web, here a guy named Chung Dha Lam explains how to create a ringflash out of carton!!!

Looks a very easy and affordable project,here is the carton diagram

Get to his website to read more about this project.

Any how, after I built on of those carton simple ring flash bought this affordable ringflash:

PEACE

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One of the most popular question on the web, when starting to learn photography is how do improve your product photography.

Somehow you don’t have to own an online ebay shop in order to be interested in product photography.It simply a common task to do when you start to explore your photography.You don’t have to ask a model to participate in a shootout, you can do it in your bedroom or living room, you can use studio strobes or a simple reading lamp.

So I can’t put the finger why, but every one will do that in one way or an other.

Surfing over flicker.com (which is a great site for photography inspiration) I found this simple setup which I thinks beats my simple product photography tutorial. All this guy uses is a couple of papers arranged in a simple “box” setup for white background and reflector. The only downside for this is that it will suit only small product as this setup is small. Shooting this lens that he did is already to big. So check it out and start learning and experimenting!

Credit for Josh Liba.

Here is a link to Josh’s Flickr gallery: Josh Liba

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As I mentioned a couple of posts before, one of  the most common ways to build a DIY grid for small flashes is to use the “glue it straws” way. “The glue it straws” way was cover in this post DIY grid , basically you cut some straws into small tubes and arrange them in a box and glue them together into a box shape, about the size of your flash head, very simple .

There are a couple of advantages to that method –

• It is very cheap to make this diy grid, it will cost you less than a dollar  to make one.
• The materials are very handy, a piece of carton and some straws from the local store and you are of to go.

There are some disadvantages too –

• Its a hard task to get those straws pieces the same length and to glue them all in a fixed and aligned together in the same position/direction.
• You are very much fixed to narrow angle grids and if you want a wide one (40 degrees and more), you’ll find it extremely difficult to do, as you’ll need to cut the straws very short.

As I was looking through Ebay for some gel filter holder solution, I entered this store called the strobist corner (visit link at the bottom), among some good value gel filter kits, there was this diy grid material! simple and good stuff. I got the basic kit , it includes 3 different grid material pieces for different effects 15,25 and 45 degrees, it all costs about 10$ (Honl will cost about 30$ for just one piece…).  Thats all, you don’t have to cut straws any more. The basic kit comes without grid flash holders, so in the video below you’ll the most easy way to “connect” it to your flash head using handy sticky Velcro .

I’ll also post about my first impressions and photography examples using this kit, as I have an impression its a great way to use grids!!!

diy grid flash holder (youtube video)

strobist corner

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Hey!

After doing a couple of  DIY grid projects in here,  its time to show something very nice I found on Ebay a couple of weeks ago, after searching for some gel filters I accidentally visited a store called “The strobist corner”. Well he sells some gel filters and very nice looking snoots, but what caught  my attention was this grid materials! No more cutting and gluing straws, you can get the real stuff there and for a reasonable price too!

You get for about 10$ three honeycombs pieces sized for the hot shoe flashes, each one in different size for different effect. The general idea about that honeycombs is that you’ll get a smaller circle of light depending on the size and length of the “straws”.

If you want a narrow/small circle of light you’ll have to choose a small straw diameter .

If you want to get a wide/big circle of light you’ll have to choose a big straw diameter.

I just wanted to share those “news” with my readers first. I promise to write more about it later as I’m a little tight on time (our little dog got run by a car and needs a lot of attention…)

So that’s a link for the strobist corner at ebay

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A grid is the light modifier that you’ll use when you want to focus or narrow your flash beam of light, and let it be concentrated in one strong beam.There

is a way to narrow and control the flash light beam by using the manual zoom angle control (this option is available with the Canon 550EX flash unit and in many other flashes) but with the DIY grid you’ll be able to really control its width and power to a maximum.

This project is an easy one and all you’ll need for it is:

• Piece of bristol paper ( you could use any type,I used a folder that I got in a Google convention).
• About 40-50 straws.
• Ruler.
• Canon 550EX…
• 20 minutes

Let start:

The first steps will be to take measurements of the Canon 550EX speedlite width and height:

measuring the 550EX width

measuring the 550EX height

Now you’ll have to mark your bristol shit with the dimensions you have just took.If you are doing the DIY grid for the Canon 550EX speedlite it should look something like that:

You’ll have a piece of bristol that will be marked like the image above.If we see there are 5 segments (from left to right) flash :height – width – height- width- spare to glue it up.

Make the last segment shorter than the first segment!

Now you will have to cut the straws .Take in mind that the longer you cut them, you’ll narrower beam and concentrated light source.try to cut them as equal as possible as you can.After you cut the straws you’ll get a pile of short straws.I tried to keep their length about 2cm-3cm:

The next part is the more “difficult” part and most “time consuming”, gluing it all together:

you’ll have to glue one line of glue,order the little straws ,add another glue line and place the straws again and again as you get to the height you need.

After gluing the straws to the height needed its time to glue it all together, glue the sides of the bristol piece and the sides of the straws, close it all together with some tape and let it dry.If you did it the right way you’ll have a simple and easy DIY grid for small flashes.

Keep in mind that you can adjust this tutorial for any flash model that you have, just change the widths and heights.

Enjoy and share your thoughts with us!

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