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Got a cat/dog? The shirt looks hairy!
Posted 47 months ago.
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Heh heh. Yup, we have both.
Posted 47 months ago.
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Looking at the first shot I see a vertical stripe and horizontal one, centred on the flash. I get this with my nylon diffuser material. I think it's something to do with the weave. I don't know that it leads to a cross-shaped hotspot but it's an interesting effect. :-)
Posted 47 months ago.
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Yeah I noticed it too! Wasn't sure if it was some sort of moire effect, but I think you're right. It's probably the nylon. I don't see any cross-shaped highlights on my son, so I think I'm ok. Certainly for the price I can live with it. It'll be my own special lighting secret...
Posted 47 months ago.
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I just purchased the raw materials to make one of these.
Except I'm planning to just make the frame only, with no "feet" of any kind.
I want to be able to break mine down and travel with it, so I thought I'd use some light stands to stand it up with. That way I can tilt it, too, if necessary.
I'm glad to see you used that lining material. I've read that ripstop nylon is what should be used for this, but my fabric store didn't have any in white, so I got what looked and felt like it would work. Probably the same stuff you've got there.
Posted 47 months ago.
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badlands99: The base does disassemble for storage. Not sure what you mean by 'travel'...if you mean put it on an airplane, well it's probably going to need to fold up into little tiny pieces. But yeah, I thought about not including a base. But the base is one of those things where you can use with or without. If you end up building it, might as well build the base and leave it at home most of the time. I only own three light stands, so not having to use them for panel holding is a plus.
Ripstop is probably more expensive, for no added benefit (unless you're going to use it for building kites too). This was $1.99 per yard. Light doesn't care how much you paid for the material it's passing through. I'm sure you made the right choice. :)
Posted 47 months ago.
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The trick of getting around the base ... is to make two, then get the connectors.
You don't have to put the fabric on the other one, if you don't need it.
If you tension the fabric, you'll be able to do more interesting things with the frame - like suspend it overhead (either as a diffusion panel for a flash, or a diffusion/shade panel for the sun (like the California Sunbounce products) (don't you just love nested parenthesis?))
After a lot of putzing around, I figured it was easier to buy the fabric from B&H, and just make the frames. The fabric pre-sewn was only a couple of bucks more than raw fabric - calculate in your time to sew, it's not worth it.
I love the results, however. Especially the white one.
Posted 47 months ago.
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Bill - which fabric did you buy ?
Posted 47 months ago.
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Photoflex FABRIC (WHT/BLK REVERSBLE) f/39x72" - PHFLP3972WB
and
Photoflex FABRIC (WHITE TRANSLUCENT) f/39x72" - PHFLP3972WT
from B&H
I built the frames out of PVC to match the fabric.
Posted 47 months ago.
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But Bill...that's $22.95 per yard, rather than $1.99 per yard. :)
I am able to tension the fabric edges using the 'light duty clips'. That's how I hung it in the images above. I just didn't bother putting on side clips in this particular application. With side clips in place, it would work well as an overhead diffuser. No sewing required.
You're right about making two panels of course, and joining them together to make a freestanding 'V'. That would be handy in some situations, but would take up more room than the base version.
It's so simple to build, including the base, that you can easily have it both ways. I'll probably build another one like this, including base, and then clip them together if I prefer that in some cases. A V-shape, with flash firing through one translucent side, and black on the other, would keep a lot of unwanted light from firing back against the walls. for example.
Posted 47 months ago.
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I figured that my time was worth more than the few dollars I'd save.
Rip stop nylon *should* be sewn with a serger, then finished with a sewing machine. Add in the elastic for the corners ... it's looking less and less like "fun DIY" and more and more like a Project.
Also, my panels (purchased) are tensioned on the frame. I can raise them overhead to provide shadow, like the California Sunbounce products.
Whatever works. :^)
Posted 47 months ago.
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FYI - If you back up your light until it hits the entire surface of the material, you'll get much softer light. Better yet, bounce the light into a reflective umbrella and then into the fabric and you'll get very diffused soft light.
The light on the boy is hard because your strobe is so close to the fabric.
Originally posted 47 months ago.
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Gary Lowell edited this topic 47 months ago.
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Bill Millios
Can you show us what your final system looks like?
Posted 47 months ago.
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Gary: You have an interesting definition of 'soft' and 'hard' light. :) Seems pretty soft to me. But yes you're right, if I wanted even softer light, I could back up the strobe from the diffuser. Or I could position the subject closer to the diffuser (and adjusted light output or aperture). Either one would have a softening effect.
Posted 47 months ago.
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Rippo you dont mean adjust the aperature you mean adjust the shutter speed.
Posted 47 months ago.
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There was a guy from the Netherlands that built one with sections with an elastic cord inside so it would break down and carry and he used some type of plastic pipe clamps to tighten the cloth.
Does anyone know of the link? I can't find it.
Posted 47 months ago.
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@rippo
The shadow on his shoulder is pretty hard. A larger light source would make that shadow more of a gradient, thus a softer light.
That's all I'm saying. You're right about moving the subject closer. The larger the light source, the more gradual the shadow.
If you ever get a chance, check out Dean Collin's lighting videos from the 80's. He uses tons of light panels in his work and teaches how to get all sorts of effects from them. It's a 4 DVD set. The video is old but the information is still great and can be easily applied today even with all the changes in technology and switch to digital.
Posted 47 months ago.
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Jason: no I don't meet shutter speed. Shutter speed doesn't control anything when using flash. And since I had it set to 1/250 indoors, there was no ambient to speak of. If flash is the only light you're using, shutter speed has absolutely no effect on it (within normal usage).
Jim: did you mean this guy?
Gary: I'll check out the Dean Collins stuff. Thanks.
Posted 47 months ago.
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I like the quality of the softness/hardness. Gives it a flattering light but still looks artificial (which is good if considering a unique look)
Posted 47 months ago.
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If you decide not to build one Calumet sells this one www.calumetphoto.com/item/RM7360K/. It has elastic on the corners and the frame folds down. If your using it outside I highly suggest buying the center support.
Posted 47 months ago.
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