http://blog.phatbabyphotography.com/2009/01/diy-snoot-uh-whats-snoot.html
I really liked how "good" it looked, and I immediately thought, all it needs is a coat of black paint and no one will know that I only spent $8 on it!
The first step in this process was trying to find this so called coroplast. I spent hours googling various art stores and searching websites but to no avail could I find this material. Several of the blogs mentioned that if you can not find coroplast then you can easily use a "for sale" sign, turns out that for sale signs that you can buy at any retail store such as Walmart or Home Depot are made out of this material. Not only that, but so are most politician signs, and with the election coming up there will be plenty of free coroplast for everyone! Okay, not really, thats probably called stealing, even if the sign was just sitting there...
The next step was finding this PVC Pipe fitting, I searched all around our local Lowes Hardware, and more than likely missed the one isle it would have been on. At Home Depot I found it right away, this fitting is not with the other PVC pipes, it is in the section with the gutters. They sell for less than $3 each and are almost a perfect fit for the Canon 580ex (and probably other model) speedlights.
Following the directions from the blog post I cut a little whole on each side of the PVC, and then tested the fit on my flash several times.
I made a grid, carefully measuring and cutting the pieces of plastic. You really want to cut in the straightest line possible, it will make the grid look better in the end. I glued the strips together using some kind of super glue.
Once I finished my grid I test fitted it several times inside the PVC.
What I did now was different than any of the blogs I have seen on the subject, I decided to paint it black, and for two reasons. The first reason, white in theory will act as a reflector where as black should help the light become more direct. Second, the black look will blend in with the flash, making most if not all clients unaware that I am cheap!
So, $8 and several hours later I created a light modifier that could cost as much as $150. Unlike the grids available for speedlights, I dont have to attach any unsightly Velcro to my flash either!
So youre saying, $8, whats the catch? Does it work? Yes!
Here are the samples to prove it, please excuse my dirty drive way and my even dirtier sensor, its time to clean both again!
This first shot is with the flash with out any kind of light modifier on it.
This is with just the PVC snoot on it, the light has become slightly more directional, but not enough to make any significant changes.
This is with the grid installed! Awesome.
I hope to make some updates in the future with some real work examples with the grid. Right now this is all I have
1 comment:
That's pretty cool Joey! I'm going to trying and attempt this myself. Cool blog!
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