Shoot through macro stand

crimbfighter · Jan 7, 2018

I finally got around to building a shoot through macro stand. It's primary use will be for translucent subjects like snow flakes, crystals, etc. However, I imagine I will find other uses for it, too. It cost me $30 in materials for the adjustable closet racks and I used scrap lumber I had around. I put two sets of shelf brackets on it so that I can use the lower one to mount materials to diffuse the light, add color, etc., or if I want to move the light source up I can. I built it tall because I'm tall, so I don't have to bend or stoop to use it. Now I just need to test it out!

TCampbell · Jan 8, 2018

Actually... just throw a piece of frosted glass on the lower shelf and change color by gelling the flash (no need to buy different color shelves... once you change the color of the light.)

Nice project. Good luck with those snowflakes. I tried to do this once but failed. Then learned that it's not enough to be below the freezing point... it has to be well below the freezing point. And of course the shelf surface also has to be extremely cold. That arctic blast of all those -0° days would have been great weather for it.

smoke665 · Jan 8, 2018

@crimbfighter this is one of those "slap your head why didn't I think of that" projects. Thanks for sharing as I see one of these in my future.

crimbfighter · Jan 8, 2018

TCampbell said:
Actually... just throw a piece of frosted glass on the lower shelf and change color by gelling the flash (no need to buy different color shelves... once you change the color of the light.)

Nice project. Good luck with those snowflakes. I tried to do this once but failed. Then learned that it's not enough to be below the freezing point... it has to be well below the freezing point. And of course the shelf surface also has to be extremely cold. That arctic blast of all those -0° days would have been great weather for it.

My plan is to actually use a second piece of glass and lay colored tissue paper down to add the color. The benefit of that is you can use multi-colored tissue paper to create color patterns and the paper acts as a good diffuser.

I've photographed snowflakes before and your right, it does have to be substantially below freezing, which makes it super fun.. I'm hoping this rig will allow me to do it more comfortably and with less frustration. the best snow to use is snow that falls during bitter cold temps because the flakes seem to be larger and tend not to stick to other flakes. I also put the glass outside for at least an hour before starting to let it acclimate. The older I get, though, the less tolerant of the cold I get, so this may all be for nothing

smoke665 said:
@crimbfighter this is one of those "slap your head why didn't I think of that" projects. Thanks for sharing as I see one of these in my future.

It's definitely worth having the right rig for the job, good luck with your build!