Diy External Flash Softbox
So, what is great light? Well, it really depends on what you are trying to do. Do you want sharp shadows? Do you want strong contrast? Do you want your colors to be vibrant or subdued?
Top ten DIY photography tips. You can really only make a decent softbox, however, if you have a dedicated external flash unit that plugs into the top of your camera. Flash diffusers are great for ensuring more natural lighting in. Mix and match, and DIY. Bounce flash isn't as subtle as it is with softbox or dome.
If you are a photographer and using flash (either for studio pictures or for outdoor shooting), you are probably aware of the problems that a hot-shoe flash.
Do you want light to be stronger on one part of your subject and weaker on another? Do you want to bounce a blue light off a red object to make it look purple? The variation of light sources and their resulting effects is nearly infinite, but there are 2 main types of light that I look for and use as a photographer:. Hard Light: I call it this because it casts hard shadows.
This is produced by lights with a very small relative surface area such as a bare light bulb, a camera's built in flash, or the sun. Soft Light: So named because it casts very soft shadows and provides very even light. This is produced by lights with a very large surface area such as an overcast sky, a picture window in a living room, or the popular “softbox” studio lights.
Now, to produce really flattering images of people (or pets, or products, or whatever you want to shoot) you generally need VERY soft light not necessarily dim – but SOFT. This means you need your light to come from as large a surface area as possible. The flash on your camera is not large at all. In fact, on most SLR cameras it is only about a square centimeter or so. Using this flash as your main source of light is a great way to shoot horrible pictures. A “SpeedLite” or detachable larger flash for your SLR camera will provide better results, but shooting it directly at your subject will still produce unflattering lighting similar to the pop-up flash.
If you have a lightly colored wall or low white ceiling available, bouncing your flash off them can produce much better results because the whole wall winds up acting as your light source. But what do you do if there are no great options for bouncing? Well, you'll need a diffuser. The Diffuser A diffuser accomplishes 2 different goals: Spreading the light and making the light source surface area larger. When looking for a diffuser for my flash, I quickly found a popular diffuser and was impressed with the quality of the photos it produced – and decided to buy one. Then I looked in my wallet.
Not to mention the fact that flash diffusers often cost $60 and. Now, let's be honest: the diffuser I was considering is not all that expensive. But if you are at all like me, you'll try to come up with something similar for much cheaper.
After a brief poking around on Google to see if others had also tried, I decided to see if I could come up with something similarso I started with a visit to my local home improvement store: Lowes. I picked up 2 items at a total cost of $14.21. The items are pictured below. After I cut off the piece of drawer liner I slapped some velcro on the ends and that was that. I attached it to my flash and started running around the house taking test shots and muttering to myself about the results.
A quick word about the velcro: There are 2 sides to this drawer liner – a very smooth side and a very bumpy side. When folded over in the middle over the top of your flash and then wrapped around the base, the smooth side will face the bumpy side. You want to put one piece of velcro on the smooth side and one on the bumpy, or else they won't attach to each other when folded over your flash. That's the only hard part about building this thing – get that right and you'll be all set. With this set there are a few surprises: I was surprised to see the sharper shadows in the second image above, but now understand (after shooting a bunch more comparisons) what is going on here. The flash was pointed up at the ceiling as in the first image, but the light was being bounced around and redirected out the front face of the diffuser as well.
Effectively, this produces 2 light sources: There will still be plenty of light hitting the ceiling and bouncing back, but there will.also. be plenty of light forced out the front of the diffuser directly at your subject. This is important to understand, as it can produce some very unexpected results. The differences between these 2 shots are very subtle, but come down to using the right combination of the light bouncing off the ceiling and the light coming out the face of the diffuser. In the top picture, the colors are subdued slightly and flatter. In the second picture the highlights on the petals (especially the lily and the Alstroemeria) are much more pronounced.
These highlights were brought out by the light emitted from the face of the diffuser, and make the difference between the somewhat flat first image and more vibrant second image. I made two of these last night just for fun, one 5 inch wide for a sb900 and a 6 in wide one for a promaster “equivalent.” It’s actually pretty cool and took about 20 minutes to finish. I am an owner of an older lightsphere. This DIY diffuser is not nearly as clunky to use and I rolled it up and put it in my camera bag afterwards, a quarter sized 5 and 6 inch cylinder! I’m not nearly done experimenting but I really was surprised at how well it worked. As many things are in photography, it will take some trial and error. Larsen states it will make some shots better and some worse.
I think it’s going to be a handy little tool that takes up minimal space and well worth the cost. My materials actually came in at $10.65 and I have two of them! I was able to find the same brands of both materials required at Lowe’s. Thanks for sharing.
External Camera Flash
Our professional soft boxes universally fit for portable Speedlights with hotshoes, such as NIKON, CANON and many other hotshoe type flash Speedlights. This portable softbox kit is the perfect addition to your speedlite. It diffuses the flash giving you that perfect even lighting you need for the best shots possible. This CowboyStudio Photo Softbox is a necessary item in any professional portrait studio and would be a great addition to your studio. Softboxes are enclosures around a bulb and create even and diffused light by bouncing light off of a second surface to diffuse the light. The Softbox diffuses flash lighting, giving you perfect even lighting. Our Softboxes are made with high quality construction.
Softbox Flash Diffuser Uses
Our speedlite softbox is high quality, durable, easy to setup, and simple to use. Average Customer Review: 5 of 5 Total Reviews: 19 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful: Love this softbox January 2, 2017 Reviewer: Mike Provencher from Bullard, TX United States I do love the soft box, but would like to be able to purchase a version with only the soft box and the diffusers. I get a different holder for my flash units so the one that comes with it ends up in the bone yard with other unused equipment.
Was this review helpful to you? 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful: Fast and honest October 26, 2015 Reviewer: Patrick O'Donnell from Radcliff, KY United States I have purchased several items for Cowboy Studio and they have been more than helpful and honest. I had an out of stock item ordered and rather than let me hang out there, they contacted me immediately and asked what I wanted to do. They allowed me to change the order for another like item and it was here in the Bluegrass in 72 hours. I recommend them as a great company and on you can trust. Was this review helpful to you?
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful: Good light October 1, 2015 Reviewer: Thomas Martinelli from Kennesaw, GA United States Great product and value. It sets up easily and provides good even light b Was this review helpful to you? 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful: Speedlite Softbox with Hot Shoe Mount March 9, 2015 Reviewer: shawn smith from las vegas, NV United States This is exactly what I wanted! The service was fast as always. I would recommend this Item to everyone😀 Was this review helpful to you? 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful: Better than expected March 16, 2014 Reviewer: John Fisk from Mercer Island, WA United States Bought this unit mostly for the mounting bracket to use with a few DIY mods. First of all, very impressed with the quick service- shipped the same day I ordered and arrived within a week.
I imagined I might have occasional use for the light modifier, but am now finding that due to both the quality of light and ease of transport, it's becoming a go-to location piece. Since I wasn't expecting a Mola dish in a velvet lined case, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of construction. Seems very sturdy and well designed. I will agree with other reviewers that the ball system on the bracket is not great, but this is easily adapted in a variety of ways to accommodate a sturdier umbrella bracket. Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase. Was this review helpful to you?
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