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Flash comparison & Financial Woes
Jan. 28th, 2010 12:31 amI have an idea.
With a good hotshoe flash, I can make a decent influence on the lighting on a subject, right?
Well, I realized that ringflash I have has been annoying me for two particular issues:
1. It's a small light source. In photography terms, this means it gives hard shadows. This is why most fashion-based ringflashes are built on huge lighting setups.
2. It flares if unchecked. Sometimes it can flare a LOT, especially when paired with a lens that isn't built to handle it. You can't block it either since the ringflash takes the place of the hood.
So while I was thinking about it, I was wondering... what if I used the ringflash as a fill?
But that's not just it. The one thing I noticed a lot about ringflashes that annoy me and everyone else is that they are very bright and irritate the person in front. So what if I find a way to open up the light and divert it? If done effectively, I can not only increase its usefulness as a fill, but also shield off the light.
I'm going to try to build this reflector and I think I know how to do it right. It'll probably look ugly, but any DIY project is. Hopefully, it'll only cost me the price of the fabric as I'm going to use some of my leftover chicken wire for a frame to hold the entire setup with. Okay, I might need a velcro strap too. The widening shouldn't take much more than a 3 square foot piece for the hood and the radial.
My main concern is making it wide enough so that it doesn't vignette my lens but at the same time provide enough light to act as a fill. The inner hood will probably just need to be shallow enough to cover the harsh lights of the ring, and I think the radial will need to be not that much larger. If worse comes to worst, I buy a doggy bowl, dremel out the bottom, and line it with the fabric. I honestly don't expect anything needed beyond 100mm in diameter.
At the least, it'll make for an interesting week project. I'll post photo results if they come out well. If not... then I'll have a nice story to tell you guys.
With a good hotshoe flash, I can make a decent influence on the lighting on a subject, right?
Well, I realized that ringflash I have has been annoying me for two particular issues:
1. It's a small light source. In photography terms, this means it gives hard shadows. This is why most fashion-based ringflashes are built on huge lighting setups.
2. It flares if unchecked. Sometimes it can flare a LOT, especially when paired with a lens that isn't built to handle it. You can't block it either since the ringflash takes the place of the hood.
So while I was thinking about it, I was wondering... what if I used the ringflash as a fill?
But that's not just it. The one thing I noticed a lot about ringflashes that annoy me and everyone else is that they are very bright and irritate the person in front. So what if I find a way to open up the light and divert it? If done effectively, I can not only increase its usefulness as a fill, but also shield off the light.
I'm going to try to build this reflector and I think I know how to do it right. It'll probably look ugly, but any DIY project is. Hopefully, it'll only cost me the price of the fabric as I'm going to use some of my leftover chicken wire for a frame to hold the entire setup with. Okay, I might need a velcro strap too. The widening shouldn't take much more than a 3 square foot piece for the hood and the radial.
My main concern is making it wide enough so that it doesn't vignette my lens but at the same time provide enough light to act as a fill. The inner hood will probably just need to be shallow enough to cover the harsh lights of the ring, and I think the radial will need to be not that much larger. If worse comes to worst, I buy a doggy bowl, dremel out the bottom, and line it with the fabric. I honestly don't expect anything needed beyond 100mm in diameter.
At the least, it'll make for an interesting week project. I'll post photo results if they come out well. If not... then I'll have a nice story to tell you guys.
