DIY Diffusion Panels.

[JerryPH]

Love the Dean Collins DVD set!!

They're interesting but take a lot of mental filtering of info to get the most from them, and you have to have a more than basic understanding of light to catch what he is saying to "flesh out" the skeleton of what he is trying to teach at that machine gun speed of his speech.

I cannot see a complete newbie pick up that set, go through it 3 times and catch more than 10% of the value in the set, and, if I had to constantly listen anymore to Collins say "yeah... yeah, Yeah!, YEAH!, YEAH!!!!.. Good-good-good-good-Good-GOOD!!!" anymore, it would have been annoying as hell... lol

Probably the best part for us was the part on using one light to accomplish what most use 2 or even 3 lights for. But I will tell you what... though diffusion using a panel is very effective, they are way better kites than a smaller umbrella or softbox and additional strobe(s) to get that secondary light source when outside in the wind.

Indoors, diffusion panels are way cheaper than a second studio strobe, accomplish similar results and are consistent... but in larger setups, weaker battery powered strobes using this setup will not get you the shot as easily as the multi-thousand W/s setup with diffuser panels and what not.

Definitely another valuable tool to know how to use for people that are into this aspect of photography.

 

[William Petruzzo]

You should run bungee material through the pipes so that they help snap themselves together during assembly, also keep from getting poles mixed up. That's the way my family's old tent was made.

 

[RMThompson]

I've got a question.

How do you position them when shooting outdoors? Something like this:

SUBECT
.
CAMERA
.
DIFFUSER
.
SUNLIGHT?

 

[JerryPH]

There are 360 degrees in a circle, so would assume about 360 different ways... lol.

Assuming that you don't want to shoot straight into the sun (which you could, but anyways... bear with me), envision this scenario:

you are shooting 90 degrees to the sun, so the sun is to camera left. Your subject is straight ahead of you. The diffuser will be placed between the sun and your subject.

That's a basic concept, you use the diffusers and place them either between your subject and your light source OR you place a scrim on the opposite side of your client (ie: lightsource, subject, scrim), so that light bounces past your subject, hits the scrim and bounces back highlighting the opposite side of your subject.

 

[Mike_E]

RM, it's more like:

reflector................. reflector

........................subject........................... camera

...........................diffuser




.......................................sun

HTHs


btw, Jerry, the DVDs are worth the price for most just to get them thinking about specularity- no matter how long it takes them to get it. (and anybody with a triple digit IQ shouldn't take that long, experienced or not. )



oh yea, if you'll notice the diffusers in the DVD had slits to keep them from being so unwieldy in the wind.

 

[RMThompson]

Something like this:

 

[RMThompson]

Now I am debating:

Shower curtains, or sheets?

 

[Mike_E]

Yes, but you forgot the kicker in the back. Makes for better separation of the Babe from the background.

And you 'll want to use ripstop nylon if you are going out doors with it.

 

[RMThompson]

Yeah Wal Mart doesn't have the best selection of ripstop nylon, so I have to stick to one or the other for now!

Yes yes, the kicker, good idea.

 

[Mike_E]

I would go with the shower curtain in that case, I don't think you will get enough light through a sheet with your SB.The sheet would be good on a sunny day at the beach though.

 

[K_Pugh]

oh yea, if you'll notice the diffusers in the DVD had slits to keep them from being so unwieldy in the wind.

yeah i did see that although as you'd need a sort of overhang so that the light source didn't shine directly through the slits i never bothered implementing something like that.. more cutting, gluing etc.

 

[DeadEye]

Go to a fabric store to get the ripstop. I use JoAnne fabric.
If I want real soft wrap around light , I fire an umbrella at the ripstop scrim.
At about 400 watt seconds with the ripstop about 4 or 5 feet away I will pop about F12

 

[RMThompson]

Go to a fabric store to get the ripstop. I use JoAnne fabric.
If I want real soft wrap around light , I fire an umbrella at the ripstop scrim.
At about 400 watt seconds with the ripstop about 4 or 5 feet away I will pop about F12

AH, JoAnn Fabric.

What's the cost of that stuff, just curious and it's too late to call!

 

[DeadEye]

Ummm I think it was around 7 or 8$ a yard

 

[JerryPH]

btw, Jerry, the DVDs are worth the price for most just to get them thinking about specularity- no matter how long it takes them to get it. (and anybody with a triple digit IQ shouldn't take that long, experienced or not. )

The DVDs are ok... maybe because they are based on 20+ year old delivery methods, they could use some freshening up. Lighting concepts 20 years ago are the same as today as they were 100 years ago, so that part is ok, I jst think they can dial down the disco a little... lol.

Specularity is likely the most complex concept to get right in the start. Light Science and Magic has a TON of pages (indeed an entire chapter, if I recall), dedicated to just that.

Not that I know much of anything, but to a beginner, I would prefer to teach ANYTHING other than the intricacies specularity because it is so complex. Of any lighting concept, that one is the one that most challenges me and more often than not, puts me on my butt.

And an IQ doesn't mean knowledge that is directly transferable to photographic principals... else any physicist or doctor with a PhD could put Ansel Adams out of a job... lol Look at me, I have an IQ of at least 3 or 4 on a good day, yet I can squeeze the shutter enough times to get a half-good pic once a year. :lmao: