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Recently I stumbled across some DIY ideas from different websites. Last week I had the opportunity to attend a weekend photoshoot retreat as an assistant. During that weekend, I got some other useful and money saving ideas as well.
Some of the ideas were good as they were introduced. Others, I chose to modify them slightly to my liking.
I will give brief descriptions for the sake of time and space. If you want some more info, just let me know.
1) Snoot for a speedlite
Pickup a sheet of black foam paper at a craft store (.59). Wrap it around your speedlite and use black duct tape to secure it. I actually used some half inch velco with adhesive backing. I got some black straws from a bar supply store off the internet. I wrapped both end of the straws with electrical tape. I cut the straws to about 4 inches long. I put the straws inside the foam paper, secured the velcro and I have a snoot with a grid.
2) Beauty dish for speedlite
I got all the parts for this for about $20-25. I picked up an 18" plastic flower pot @ Lowes. You will also need a plastic gutter piece to secure the dish to the flash. You will need an empty CD spindle (50 count cd spindle), and some strong apoxy. I got the appoxy and a 3" convex mirror at the auto parts store. I used one can of flat white paint.
3) Sandbag bracket
build a bracket for any typical light stand. I got a "U" bolt and 3 closed "S" hooks. You will need a small nylon bag capable of holding about 12-15 pounds. Place the "S" hooks on the "U" bolt and secure the "U" bolt to your stand with the 3 "S" hooks dangling from it side by side. I used weight bags found in a dive shop for my weights. This can be pricey but, I had them laying around. You can use sand of course but, this is messy. Hand the weight bag from the bracket on the stand. The 3 hooks can also be used to tie straps from to secure the stand much like tent riggings.
4) Gel substitute
If you have a small softbox (24" or smaller) try this. Instead of buying somewhat pricey gels, buy colored tissue paper where the gift wrapping stuff is at walmart. Each package is just under a dollar. I got 7 different colors for $7. Hang them in front of the softbox with clothes pins. Add more than one sheet to add more color.
5) 6.5" reflectors
I bought some Flashpoint budget strobes. They don't come with a metal reflector nor is there a way to mount one either. Or is there. I was looking around my studio and found one of my reflectors for my JTL strobes. I don't use these because I always have softboxes on these lights. With a little effort I was able to press these reflectors onto the budget strobe. Once I figured this out, I had to make some modifications. These particular reflectors don't have a slot cut in them for the umbrella to pass through. It isn't necessary on my JTL lights. However, because of the alignment of the umbrella holder on the budget lights it is. So, I marked the location on the reflector, drilled a hole and then rounded out an oval hole with my dremel tool. I was able to adapt my JTL snoot to the budget lights with a small modification as well. Using stuff I already had and a little imagination I was able to increase the functionality and flexibility of these inexpensive lights. You can't mount a softbox to these lights. However, you can pickup cheap shoot through umbrellas from amvona.com.
6) Background support
This will work if you happen to use your garage as your studio. I used the existing garage door support structure. I bought 1 1/2" wooden dowel, some threaded rod and some wing nuts. Drill a whole at each end of the wooden dowel that will accommodate the threaded rod. Drill holes in the garage door frame. Suspend the wooden dowel from the frame using the threaded rod. You can hang sheets, muslin, etc. using plastic bath curtain rings. If you want to use seamless paper, just slide the roll over the wooden dowel and it will rotate freely.
These are just some of the ideas that I have come up with so far. I hope you enjoyed the read and I hope you find some of these ideas useful. They will definitely save money.
Patt
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