Cheap Source for Ming Thein-Style Macro Setup

Who is Ming, you ask?

He's the young photog in Kuala Lumpur who shoots the amazing watch shots (as opposed to my sad first effort at left) using three sheets of frosted acrylic and some speedlights.

(He generously showed us his setup shot, too.)

That acrylic stuff ain't cheap. Unless, of course, you happen upon the $1.99 cutting board set at Ikea. It is thin enough to let light through very nicely, too.

For $6.00, you get three each of the large and small sizes. They do have handles cut out, so the effective size is a bit smaller as you have to overlap them with the handles sticking out.

And your S.O. gets all new cutting boards, 'cause you are so nice and considerate. Just do NOT attempt to pass this off as a present. They are stiff enough to hurt you, if used as a weapon.

I was just gonna just take a photo of the cutting boards for the post. But then I unwrapped them and started shooting my Seiko diver on a piece of aluminum foil just for the heck of it. I held my diffusers together in his triangle style with masking tape up top.

Yeah, I know that I am no Ming. Nor is my watch in his economic zip code. But this was my first shot at this technique, and I only had a few minutes to play with it.

If you try it, shoot us a Flickr link in the comments.