Simple homemade tools can outfit your photography studio to achieve a professional finish.
Whether photography is your side-line passion or your source of income, creating a shooting space for portraits will enhance your range of subjects. Achieving the appropriate lighting can be quite costly when you consider the expense of purchasing backdrops, diffusers and reflectors, not to mention your actual light sources. With ingenuity and creativity, you can set up your lighting with little cost and high effectiveness.
The most basic lighting for a small portrait studio consists of a single light source, a reflector and a modifier. Use these simple homemade tools to create cheap studio solutions.
Instructions
Reflector
1. Using a box cutter, trim the foam board to the size desired. If you want more focus and control, make a small reflector. For larger area photography -- not head/bust shots -- a larger reflector will be more appropriate.
2. Measure the width of your hand in the middle of one edge of the board. One inch from that edge, cut a rectangular hole the width of your hand and one inch wide. Allow for a wider hole as your hand's girth requires.
3. Smooth foil can create a harsh light on your subject.
Cut an aluminum foil sheet to cover entire board up to the handle. If you need to use more than one piece, overlap your sheets by at least one inch, to prevent any spaces in coverage.
4. Rumple the foil sheet(s), and then gently smooth out with your hands. The crumples in the foil will slightly diffuse the reflection.
5. Use double-stick adhesive to fix the rumpled foil sheet(s) onto the foam board. Voila! You have a cheap hand-held reflector.
Modifier
6. Glue the 4- and 7-foot boards together into a 4-by 7-foot rectangular frame. Allow glue to dry thoroughly.
7. Ripstop nylon is a durable fabric that is used to make tents and sleeping bags.
Place the 2 by 4-inch at the corners of the 4-foot end of the wooden frame. Place the board so 2 feet are on either side of the frame, creating legs for your diffuser. Glue the narrow edge of the board to the 4-foot side of frame. Allow to dry thoroughly.
8. Using a sewing machine, hem the edges of your ripstop nylon, if you wish.
9. Clamp the nylon onto the diffuser frame, distributing the clamps equally around the edges.
Tags: foil sheet, your hand, edge board, foam board, frame Allow, homemade tools
