lighting

Cream-of-the-crop DIY Softbox Designs

Cream-of-the-crop DIY Softbox Designs

Thanks to Flickr user Matt Jones for hipping me to Udi Tirosh’s recent homemade softbox design contest over on DIYPhotography.net. For those, like myself, who are unsure, a “softbox” or “soft box” is simply a diffuse lighting source for taking photos, commonly with a reflective interior and one or more diffusing panels that scatter the light and help prevent it from casting harsh shadows. The contest had seventy submissions, reportedly, and here you can read about Udi’s top 24.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan4
DIY under-cabinet LED lighting

DIY under-cabinet LED lighting

Instructable user Esterill shows how to make your own swanky under-cabinet LED lighting scheme on a budget and the results are quite professional looking. For extra measure, Esterill used a microcontroller to fade the LEDs up when they’re turned on and added a “half bright” mode for times when dimmer light is desired. Nice touch!

Continue Reading Matt Richardson20
iPad portrait light array

iPad portrait light array

When I first saw Jessee Rosten’s iPad portrait light array I will admit that I wrote it off as a goofy publicity stunt (which it seems to have done well at), but further analysis may have altered my opinion a bit. Who, in their right mind, would waste that much money on something that could be accomplished with better gear? Who cares? Seriously, if you’re putting together a photo shoot with a bunch of friends and you need some interesting lighting, why not borrow everyone’s iPad and mount them on some plywood for an interesting effect? Is it the best use of the technology? No way! Did it produce an interesting effect? I think so.

Continue Reading Adam Flaherty14