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.

PEACE

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

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

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You probably heard about the free gel filters packages that sometimes in the past where send to everyone that requested them.Well I believe that the filter manufacture companies went bankrupt as the word spread around the photography community.Now there are some sets that are sold on eBay Adorama ans such for about 10$.If you got your hands on a dealer around you that still ships those filter set for free,you should contact him and ask for one!

The filter set that I got has maybe  100 of colored filter gels suited exactly to my Canon 5xx series.All I had to do was to build a gel filter holder.There are many DIY projects like that on the net and I actually started that with a piece of plastic that broke and then said hey why wouldn’t I try to make it of a transparency slide?!

Its easy and your 5 years child can do it for you too!

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Well we had a sale in the Adidas outlet store near the place that I leave in.As a very enthusiastic jogger (yes my passion is divided into two : photography and running).With very good proces before the Israely holidays I couldn’t resist it and bought two running shoes…You couldn’t imagine my wifes reaction to that,as I already have about six running pairs…

But after all I told her , there will be something good out of it:I’ll do some softboxes for small flashes from the shoe boxes!!!So here how it goes:

What you need:

• All you need is some shoe boxes,if you don’t have any ,ask your wife as they usually don’t throw away  anything that is related to their shoe/boots…
• An utility knife
• Some gaffer tape
• A ruler.
• White bristol or any white panel that can diffuse the light (I don’t want to offer,but I believe you can use some printer paper sheet too…. ).
• A marker.

And lets go on!

I marked the front panel of shoe box softbox,by putting a sign at every corner of the box about 2cm .

putting a line between them will make the softbox’s front panel diffusion area.

This is the rectangle that you’ll need to cut.

At the back of the shoe box ,make a rectangle that will be cut and hold the flash in spot.Don’t cut a rectangle out,but just mark it .What you’ll have to cut is the two short side of the flash place and one long cut in the middle of the long part.The back of the softbox will have to look like this (take a good look at it in order not to make mistakes!!!):

Now the only thing you’ll have to do is to put the front diffusion panel for you new softbox.Cut the white panel to the size of you’re shoe box front panel and glue it to the inner side  of the box:

This was a very easy project to do.It will take you about 15 minutes for each softbox (not including the time you’ll argue with your wife about why to ruin the shoe box she successfully saved for the past 10 years)

PS :

For better flash hold I put some Velcro scotch on the back of the softbox,that will stick to the flash heads.

In the next post I’ll show you some cool photos that where made with that simple equipment

(There might be some not attractive pictures of myself…)