New to lighting? Welcome. Start with Lighting 101, linked below, as millions of other photographers have done before you. Or scroll down further to access Strobist's other free courses.
Lighting 101 is the core foundation of Strobist. It is a free, start-from-zero tutorial that will teach you the basics of lighting and minimalist lighting gear. Lighting 101 will have you up and running in no time—and at minimal expense.
Lighting 102 is the sequel to Lighting 101. Where L101 was about gear and basic concepts, L102 will teach you how to further understand and control the qualities of your light to make it do your bidding.
Lighting 103 is a deep dive into color. It explores the intersection of light and color to help you give your photos more nuance, realism and depth.
Strobist Lighting Cookbook combines the concepts learned in L101-103 to give you more understanding and fluidity with your lighting. We also explore some of the shoots from a 360-degree/ecosystem perspective.
A Baker's Dozen: Here you'll find a sampling of posts to help you understand the scope of the lighting education on this site.
On Assignment features full walk-throughs of over 170 real-world assignments, complete with discussions ranging from lighting to concept to execution—and even some screw-ups.
It (largely) follows my path as a newspaper shooter and beyond, progressing from simple speedlights to more complex studio flashes.
Sad fact: There are a lot of companies that make some pretty crappy lighting gear, but are still happy to take your money. The Strobist Gear Guide is designed to help you avoid making many of the costly rookie mistakes I made over the first few years of my career.
This is the gear that works for me, day in and day out. It is solid, reliable and will get the job done without destroying your wallet.
Books are gear for your brain. Chosen wisely, they represent some of the best value for dollar you can spend as a learning photographer.
Featured on the Strobist Bookshelf are my current favorites, winnowed from hundreds of books read over the course of my career. It is a relatively short list, but there are solid selections for nearly any lighting photographer.
Since 2017, I’ve led annual workshops in Cuba and Vietnam focused on thinking like a photojournalist while traveling with your camera. The Traveling Photographer's Manifesto is, in many ways, the book version of that workshop. More, here.
It's DIY Thursday
Fancy yourself a bit of a … modder?
You're not the only one. In fact, of the ~10,000 people who arrive at Strobist via a Google search on a given day, many of them are looking for a specific DIY solution.
Today, the top ten searched for DIY projects on Strobist—and how practical it is to attempt each of them... Read more »
Do you have more time than money? Time to get your MacGuyver on with this collection of DIY projects. From the ridiculous to the sublime, it's all here. Most of these have been submitted by Strobist readers with more ingenuity than cash. That said, no matter how flush you are it is always better to save your cash for things you can't make yourself.
Links are coded to open in new tabs, for easier multi-project browsing. Pictured above: $10 DIY Macro Studio
Having spent much of my 20 years as a newspaper shooter with sticky-velcro-covered flashes, I have recently become a big fan of velcro speed straps for mounting all of my light mods to small flashes.
Hit the jump for why you want 'em, where to get 'em, and how to make 'em -- plus a whole mess of archive DIY links. _________
At one point in the 1980's, I think my go-to SB-24 had so much velcro stuck to it that it looked like a burnt Chia Pet. The problem with the stick-on velcro is if when it wears out, it doesn't hold worth a crap. And it is a pain in the butt to unpeel and swap. To that, add the fact that you have a limited amount of surface area unless you want your flash to look like mine did.
With all of today's lighting mod options, you really want to have some kind of velcro mounting system on your flash. And the speed strap route is the way to go -- you can easily remove them and/or swap out for a new one if the velcro goes. Plus you get a whole lot more mounting real estate, compared to the typical amount of stuck-on velcro.
Truth be told, these little guys are not expensive. They are less than $10, so many of you may well choose to go store-bought in this instance. You can get them from LumiQuest ($6.95 - smaller size) or from HonlPhoto ($9.95 - bigger, w/more surface area and grip).
They are the basis for most light mods mounting systems, including those from LumiQuest and HonlPhoto. Quest Couch from LumiQuest notes that, for larger light mods, you can use two straps (strobe - strap - light mod - second strap on top) for a super strong hold.
If you just use one or two strobes, it probably makes sense to tap the Visa card. But if you are broke have a whole case of strobes and would be buying straps by the half dozen, you might want to consider making them. They are cheap and easy, especially of you wait until the next time your bike inner tube goes flat.
To make them, you'll be using the inner tube as a base. It's cheap, holds well and is nice and wide.
You can make a strap in less than five minutes, using the inner tube and some sticky velcro (available at craft and hardware stores.)
1. Cut your tube into sections long enough to fully wrap around the head of your flash with a full overlap on the wide dimension. Go a little long, then you can cut it for an exact fit when you are done.
2. Cut a length-wise strip from the tube, making a flat piece of rubber about an inch-and-a-half wide. There will probably be injection mold lines along the tube to make for easy, straight cuts. Mountain (and trail) tubes work better than the smaller road bike tubes. If you use the portion of the tube that would come in contact with the ground (if it were a tire) you'll avoid the curve of the rubber that would otherwise make it harder to fit.
3. Very important: Wash the rubber thoroughly with soap and water, and dry it well. It will have grime on it, and a powder residue on the inside -- both of which will cause problems if it is not clean and dry.
4. Totally cover the inside of the rubber section with two long strips of the "loops" part of the velcro. Trim along the edges to fit if necessary.
5. Cover the other side of the tube (formerly the outside) with "hooks" velcro at one end, to a length equal to the width of your flash head.
6. Wrap the strap around your flash, overlapping on the long end, and trim to length if necessary.
That's all there is to it.
Here's a view of the reverse side, which should make everything self explanatory. It's very important to make sure the tube section is totally clean and dry, or your sticky velco won't hold.
Normally, when I run a DIY post I get a few condescending comments from the deep-walleted DIY haters, which serve to offset the comments I get from the starving artists when I mention, say, Profotos. So, as long as they are gonna be pissed off anyway, here are lots more DIY posts dusted off from the archives: ___________
Welcome to Strobist Ring Flash Week and the first post thereof. First off, there seems to be some confusion as to whether it is a "ring flash" or a "ringflash" or a "ring light" or a "ringlight."
I am going with "ring flash" for the most part unless there is a reason to differ in a particular circumstance. But the important thing was to get all four versions into the first paragraph to make the search engines happy.
(Now, c'mon -- isn't the honesty refreshing?)
The goal of this week is three-fold:
1. To elevate the ring flash technique discussion to somewhere above the "up against the wall" single-light shot. 2. To show you how to build a completely new DIY version, which is speedlight-based and is powerful enough to use in full daylight. A few of you have seen it, and know just how pumped i am about it. 3. To prime the pump for discussion and group design input for a small, cheap, passive ring flash light mod that will very likely actually be manufactured.
More on that last one later, and much more after the jump. ___________________________
This Week's Menu:
Today: Overview and a list of internal and external gear resources.
Tuesday: A look at a reader who is shooting cool ring flash stuff and a high-end commercial shooter who uses it well, too.
Thursday: How to build the DIY Strobist HD Ring Flash.
Friday: Shooting/Experimenting with the HD Ring Flash.
___________________________
Ring Flash Resources
Below is a list of internal and external ring flash resources. Please feel free to add any links you may have along these lines to the comments to improve the value of the list.
Whether you are going the cheap DIY route or the expensive studio route, there is something for every wallet size.
The shot at left, BTW, is of Czech model Lenka. She was shot with the DIY ring flash designed by Dennison Bertram, which is linked below. ______________________
A couple of weeks ago, when we ran the post on the DIY bounce reflector thingie, I got several "Do Not Publish" comments that basically said:
"Are you brain dead? Do you realize you are pointing people to instructions to DIY a product made by one of your advertisers?"
To that, I say:
"Geez, ma, why do you always leave DNP comments on my blog? Can't you just phone me like all of the other bloggers' moms do?"
Kidding -- I love Mother Strobist to bits, which is why I always take advantage of any excuse to run her photo on the blog. (Click it for a corner headshot tute.) And I certainly hope you did not get the wrong idea from that headline.
But while I'll grant you that the brain-dead thing may be debatable, there are actually some gear manufacturers who genuinely want to teach people to light -- whether they buy the gear or not.
Don't believe me? Check out this video from Lighting Academy, after the jump. __________
I know lots of questions are popping into your mind right now. Questions like:
• Why would a lighting gear manufacturer publish DIY tips using Home Depot stuff?
• Forget the lighting tips, where can I get that fly outfit?
• And, how come German mannequins got nipples and ours don't?
Actually, turns out that the low-budget themed Lighting Academy is run by the very same folks who were being DIY-hacked by the blogger in the post mentioned above. It is the pet project of Peter Geller, the head honcho at California Sunbounce.
And while CSB's pro gear may not be for the faint of wallet, what he really wants is to teach the world how to shape light. Lighting Academy may have an ad for CSB on it, but it is also chock full of videos (with English versions coming on line soon) to show you just how simple it is to shape light with cheap, DIY gear.
I do not have to tell you how cool I think that is, and how happy I am to be associated with CSB as a result of that compass point. They have produced a ton of videos (link below) on how to light using the CSB line. But even if you can't afford the good stuff right now, you at least can afford the good light.
My only question: Why doesn't every company do this? Seriously, if you are a lighting gear company, how can you not be doing this?
It costs very little. And CSB is not giving away the store, either. Quite the contrary, they are minting photographers who want to better shape their light -- even if they currently are dirt broke.
And if there is any justice in the world, some of that good karma will come back later when the DIY-type photographers want to pony up for the good stuff later.
You can watch more cheap, bouncy fun at Lighting Academy. And you can see CSB's ever-expanding library of lighting videos here.
As you probably know, California Sunbounce is a cool, high-end light mod manufacturer based in Germany. Not sure where the California part came from.
Probably weather envy. (UPDATE: Nope, but I was close!)
And I say cool not just because they like to tickle the NSFW line under the chin by running ads with nekkid mannequins in the sidebar, but because they also publish the Lighting Academy website.
[UPDATE: New mannequin -- but this time she's clothed.]
Lighting Academy is the uber-cheap cousin to CSB, where almost everything is DIY-free -- or darn near it.
This quickie DIY "Budget Flash Diffuser" is so easy to make you can whip one up on the spot as needed. It is also essentially free, if you can scrounge the hair band thingie on which the mount depends. (A ball bungee would work nicely, too.)
Efficient? Nope. But perfect to turn a bare flash into a sweet little close-up portrait light. And if you were stuck with an on-camera-only flash, it would make a pretty big difference in your tight portraits, too.
It'll hold you until you can swing a Lumiquest SB-III, but you will get some light spill out of the sides unless you get all budget crazy and spring for another sheet of dark paper to cut into gobo/wings.
If you have more time than money, take a moment to look at some of the nifty ideas on their DIY site.
I finally got a chance to meet Peter Geller, of California Sunbounce, at PDN's Photo East shindig up in NYC last week. He had all of CSB's toys strewn out in a way that is very unfair to those of us looking to escape the show with our wallets intact.
Their system is totally comprehensive and can create just about any light-modifying setup you could possible imagine -- if you have the moolah. But if you are a dirt-broke college puke (or perhaps a former Lehman brothers executive) you may have more time than money at this particular point in your life.
If that is your situation, you might want to take a look at this DIY version of the CSB Micro Mini, which is proving to be popular enough to be in a backorder situation on the accompanying flash mounts.
(And check out "we-knew-him-when-he-wasn't-famous" Bert Stephani starring on the Micro Mini webpage, too...)
Back to the DIY. Thanks to reader John Gibney, if you have a little patience and know your way around a sewing machine you can try out a DIY version to see if all this bouncing stuff is right for you. He gives pretty detailed instructions on his blog -- even how to include a 5/8" stud for mounting a flash or sticking the bounce in an umbrella swivel.
While hanging out with the Western Kentucky photojournalism students this weekend, I got a chance to play around with David Honl's new speed grids for a bit. Long story short, I like his better than my DIY versions -- for several reasons.
I have been spending a lot of time lately reverse engineering the light of a few photographers whose work I really admire. What I am seeing is that it is not the light that calls attention to itself so much as the light's ability to draw you into an image in a specific way. I love the idea of subtly -- or not so subtly -- highlighting a portion of an image to draw the eye in.
In the past, I would go on the assumption of the quality of the fill light somehow being less important than the quality of the main light. I'd pay less attention to the feel of the fill light, as it was just there to keep the main light from leaving the wrong kind of shadows.
But recently, I have been paying more attention to my fill light -- even creating it first -- and then laying main light down on top of that. For those of you who do not use a flash meter (as I don't) this can be a very helpful approach to creating exactly the lighting ratios you want.
Take this portrait of (WKU PJ student) Emily, for example. In the photo at left, I sat her in front of a metal case in the WKU photo studio and shot her with a shoot-thru umbrella straight on.
I did this purposefully, to create a specular highlight that I would then have to control. Basically, I wanted to give myself some excessive contrast to then knock down.
Looks fine, except for the line going right through her head. But this wasn't going to be my final photo -- or even my main light. I wanted the straight-on umbrella to be my fill light. But I created my fill with the same level of attention as my main would get.
Then I dropped my flash's power level down two stops. Now I have a darkish photo, lit only by my fill light. But the fill light has the same attention given to it as a main light, and I know that it is filling exactly two stops down.
Now, I bring a second SB-800 at camera left, with a warming gel, and fire it through one of Honl's grids. I used the 1/8 grid, which throws a tighter beam than the 1/4.
As I bring the gridded light up on her face and choose my power setting to get the best exposure, my grid becomes my main light and my umbrella becomes my fill. And the fill is exactly the quality and the quantity that I want.
As far as the grid itself, I really liked the smooth falloff at the edges of the beam much better than my DIY versions. The light was more uniform and the pattern was a little looser, too.
Not to poo-poo my DIY grids, because they have served me well. But the store-bought grids are also smaller (cubic inches are always at a premium in my case) and had a very rugged build. You could probably run over them with a car and they'd be fine.
But back to the light, this is something I will definitely be experimenting with over the next few weeks. I am putting together a portrait series as a long-term project. And I think that hard light, coupled with the right kind of fill, will be a good fit.
These production sample grid spots are going to get a lot of use over the next few months. (So, sorry, Dave. These are not coming back.) _______
Well, we gots not one but two DIY tips today, courtesy intrepid readers. Hit the jump to learn both how to add a nipple (not my term, mind you) to your SB-800 and how to make a very cool speedlight-to-AlienBees adapter. Read more »
Over the next few weeks I'll be through some of the utilities on Strobist in the hopes of making the site a little more friendly to the non-power users. There are many general blog functions, like RSS, archives, search, etc., but also some things that are a bit quirky and unique to Strobist.
This time I am going to talk about the search function, which is at the upper left corner of the site. And please note that any search link on this page will obviously produce this page as the first result. Scroll own to see what else gets dragged up. ________________________________
In addition to wading through the archive in the sidebar at right, you can easily find articles using the search function. This is basically a full-text search that includes the subject and title text of every post (600+) since day one. It is very rudimentary, as there are no logical qualifiers (and, not, etc.) But it does go back to the beginning of the blog, which is a good thing.
One downside: It only returns the first 20 or so posts that fit the search. And since I do talk about the same things a lot, this can be a pain.
The answer is to include extra terms. Single terms like "DIY" max out with very recent posts. So be sure to type in additional terms to narrow the search.
Example: Typing the terms DIY macro box gets you to the little carboard studio thing very quickly.
So, what are the serious people searching for?
Here are the top ten searches, in order, as reported by Google Analytics:
1. Gary Fong - WTF??? (Why the Fongster?) Are you guys playing a cruel joke on me? Ironically, there is only one reference to him. And it is in an otherwise intelligent post. Before this post, at least. Sigh.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: The best thing about running a lighting blog is the cool stuff you guys throw at me almost every day.
Exhibit "A" is this inexpensive DIY PVC water resistant ("water proof" does not really exist) housing for an SB-800. Or any small flash, really. It was posted in the comments of this post, which was either inspired cheapskate thinking, or a botched suicide attempt. Not sure which.
I noticed that they are also using Ewa-Marine bags. Very expensive, though. I'll take the DIY PVC any day.
They are shooting lit shots of one wakeboarder, with another wakeboarder doing the honors by holding a nearby protected flash. Sync is courtesy a Pocket Wizard, which is also tucked inside the housing.
Whaddya wanna bet Chase Jarvis has four of these things built by the end of the week?
A bonus: Since the flash is wrapped in foam, it makes it pretty darn shock resistant, too. I could see using these for tandem rock climbing shots, just in case. Not that I am built for that sort of thing.
This is just pure ingenuity. Kudos to Strobist reader Hildoriffic for the idea, and the drawings, too.
Maybe he'll be nice enough to help us out in the comments with questions. I know I still have some. I have to either source the acrylic as a circular disc, or learn how to cut it.
UPDATE: Commenters to the rescue, once again. You can get the Acrylic here, and Hil says you have to get it a little big and cut it down for a good seal. Looking for a good source or the O-rings now.
Is this thing cool as a moose, or what? I want me one of these. Or maybe three.
I am going to let this design percolate in my head for a few days before I build it, to see if I can get ideas as to how to improve it.
First on the list: A small PVC tube glued along the side of the fixed cap to help the user aim the flash. That means you could run it at 105mm zoon and get better range with more accuracy and lower power. (Thus, shorter recycle times.)
We love Reuben Krabbe's lazy-leg light stand mod so much we will be more than happy to help pimp his blatant appeal for new followers on Twitter and Facebook.
This mod is designed for a standard light stand. But for those of you who use compact, 5-section light stands, remember that they work differently because of the 180-degree leg-fold design.
Just eyeballing it, my thinking is that the extra holes on the leg -- going further down the leg -- would have to be spaced much tighter than two inches. (Half an inch, maybe?) I'd line it up and check the angles before drilling. Also, you might have to pull the pin and re-insert it to get it to close completely.
What a great mod, Reuben. Lots of tripods do this, but I have never seen it on a light stand.
[UPDATE: Apparently, Avenger makes a lazy-leg stand. Still liking this DIY route, tho.] __________
Reader Tom Seibert has a detailed post on how to make a large DIY beauty dish for speedlights, including a bracket that takes the strain off of your flash by not using it as part of the structural support.
In a second post, he shows how he was able to adjust the beam pattern of the dish to make for a much smoother light source.
It is an evolution of the Tejada beauty dish design, but pushes the dish size and introduces a more sturdy mounting system.
UPDATE: More on how to adjust the beam, here. __________
Is there a hole in your life that only a light with a hole in it can fill?
Are you pining for a ring flash but have neither the money for an Orbis nor the DIY skills to roll your own?
You may be in luck. The folks over at DIY Photography have just come out with a hybid version. And, as the headline suggested, this is one you assemble yourself.
It's made out of the same flexible vinyl material you'll find in folders and binders, so it is reasonably sturdy but by no means indestructible. I have played with one, and the quality of light is very good. (There is progressive ND filtration at the bottom and the light levels are pretty consistent around the ring.)
It is a universal (or nearly so) fit. It's also cheap, at $25. The only thing it doesn't come with is an allen wrench and a weird, quasi descriptive Ikea name like Reng Flösh, or maybe Reh Dyye. __________
Abstract: It's not all umbrellas and soft boxes. Restricted hard lights and ring lights — sometimes in combo! — are great tools to have at your beck and call. [The post was updated on Feb. 7, 2020.]
We tend to start out using soft light at a 45-degree angle because it is an easy fix, and it's hard to go seriously wrong doing that.
But there are all kinds of light mods, and often choices other than default soft three-quarter light can be more interesting. My favorites are snoots, grids and ring adapters.
Snoots are like little tunnels you attach to your flash to block part of the light beam. Snoots are not rocket science. We are just blocking some light. And remember, we're just blocking light from the flash. In the photo above, blocking the flash helped to let the ambient add a layer to our photo. (More about how it was made, here.)
And cardboard works just fine to create tight zones of light when doing a photo like this.
For grid spots, which work like snoots but have a much more beautiful fall-off to the edge of the light, you can DIY them out of straws but it is a pain in the ass and not really worth the effort for many. My advice? Get a 1/8" universal grid spot for $10 and be done with it. They will last forever (seriously, they're indestructible) and they fit all speedlights.
I'd nix the velcro mounting system, however. Mod it with elastic for quick changes and you'll be good to go.
__________
A less expensive (but flash-specific) alternative are the DIY-ish grids from SaxonPC. (Seen above, more info on those here.)
Also in the specialty mod category are speedlight ring flash adapters. They turn your small flash into a donut of light that can give you a beautiful, shadowless look for key or fill. After the demise of the Orbis, my current favorite is the RoundFlash.
For the record, I have owned five different commercial ring flashes (and adapters): Profoto, AlienBees, Ray Flash, RoundFlash and Orbis. With the demise of the Orbis, I recommend the RoundFlash for (speedlight-based) portable, and the AlienBees ABR800 for those needing more power.
Whatever you do, avoid the Chinese knockoffs of the Ray Flash. They are light-sucking pieces of junk, and are rarely anywhere near color correct. But they are cheap!
Seriously, if you're that broke you'll be better off home-brewing a cardboard DIY ring flash adapter for the time being.
Photographer Tommy Huynh has what may be the coolest adaptation of a DIY ringlight I have seen yet.
It is small, light, cheap and folds flat for easy portability.
He has instructions on how to make it, with some neat-o example pics of the look it gives. But I still think I need a drawing, or a guts shot, or something to help me better understand how it goes together.
So, the final product appears to rock. But the instructions need... a little more cowbell. He doesn't have his comments function turned on, so I don't see how to ask for a drawing or... something.
But maybe he'll see the post here and beef up the instructions a little bit. Then, being a guy, I can print them out and throw them away, as I am genetically required to assemble stuff without reading instructions, anyway.
If you are late to the DIY ringlight party, check out this one or this one, both of which were discussed earlier.
Straddling the Line Between Genius and Insanity, Part Deux
Only once before in the 800+ post history of this blog has the above headline been awarded to a piece of DIY lighting gear. But I am resurrecting it for Finland-based reader Aki K.
Dude built his own DIY off-camera TTL cord from scratch. Folded-metal hot shoe and all.
Honestly, I really do not know what to say. Other than 'I'm not worthy.'
On Assignment: Working With the DIY Softbox Grid Spot
Here is the photo that I built the DIY softbox grid spot to create. The key to this photo is total control on the "white" background.
The photo was done to illustrate a story about two sisters. One had written a play about the surviving Cone sister (major historical benefactors of the Baltimore Museum of Art) and the other was playing the lead role. I wanted to connect them to the actual sisters by joining them with a historical photo.
The light setup is pretty straightforward, with a couple of curveballs.
The softbox was from camera right - and far enough away so that it was out of the frame. I needed compositional area to the right to include the background photo.
The (camera left) back/rim light was a in a normal reflector through a grid spot. I was in the studio with a softbox, so I gave my White lightning Ultra 600's their semi-annual airing out.
The digital projector for the historical photo was behind the softbox, projecting towards the center of the background.
I could have done this with SB speedlights, but I would have needed a flash bracket for the softbox, which I did not have.
Remember, I am using continuous light on the (DLP-projected) historical photo on the background, so that was the only continuous light in the darkened room. No modeling lights allowed on the flash.
The thought process is like this:
1) You have to get your main light(s) positioned and controlled such that no light will spill onto the white background. You want that tone to be absolutely black before the continuous light source adds the background photo to it. (The starting tone, if not black, will be the darkest possible tone in the background.)
2.) Check your strobe light (only) to ensure that you have no background contamination. Dial in your flash's power to give you just enough aperture to hold the background to the focus level that you need. Overdoing this will unnecessarily lengthen the exposure needed to "burn in" the continuous portion of your exposure, leading to motion-ghosting problems with your subject.
3) Now, set your camera to that aperture, and turn on the projector. Adjust your shutter speed for best background exposure.
4) Bring in your subject and turn on the modeling lights for focus. With everything adjusted and locked down on a tripod, kill the modeling lights.
5) Shoot away, and monitor your pix on the back to fix any problems.
Can this be done in Photoshop? Sure.
But I always default to doing something "in-camera" if I can. I think it is better craft.
As for the DIY softbox grid spot, cardboard and tape once again defeats the photo gear mafia. And I save a few hard-earned clams.
Fancy yourself a bit of a … modder?
Having spent much of my 20 years as a newspaper shooter with sticky-velcro-covered flashes, I have recently become a big fan of velcro speed straps for mounting all of my light mods to small flashes.
To make them, you'll be using the inner tube as a base. It's cheap, holds well and is nice and wide.
Here's a view of the reverse side, which should make everything self explanatory. It's very important to make sure the tube section is totally clean and dry, or your sticky velco won't hold.
Welcome to Strobist Ring Flash Week and the first post thereof. First off, there seems to be some confusion as to whether it is a "ring flash" or a "ringflash" or a "ring light" or a "ringlight." 
Below is a list of internal and external ring flash resources. Please feel free to add any links you may have along these lines to the comments to improve the value of the list. 
A couple of weeks ago, when we ran the post on the DIY bounce reflector thingie, I got several "Do Not Publish" comments that basically said: 
You want cheap? I'll give you cheap.
I finally got a chance to meet Peter Geller, of California Sunbounce, at PDN's Photo East shindig up in NYC last week. He had all of CSB's toys strewn out in a way that is very unfair to those of us looking to escape the show with our wallets intact.
Take this portrait of (WKU PJ student) Emily, for example. In the photo at left, I sat her in front of a metal case in the WKU photo studio and shot her with a shoot-thru umbrella straight on. 
Now, I bring a second SB-800 at camera left, with a warming gel, and fire it through one of Honl's grids. I used the 1/8 grid, which throws a tighter beam than the 1/4. 
Exhibit "A" is this inexpensive DIY PVC water resistant ("water proof" does not really exist) housing for an SB-800. Or any small flash, really. It was posted in the comments of this post, which was either inspired cheapskate thinking, or a botched suicide attempt. Not sure which.
I noticed that they are also using Ewa-Marine bags. Very expensive, though. I'll take the DIY PVC any day.
Whaddya wanna bet Chase Jarvis has four of these things built by the end of the week?
This is just pure ingenuity. Kudos to Strobist reader Hildoriffic for the idea, and the drawings, too. 
Is there a hole in your life that only a light with a hole in it can fill?
Photographer Tommy Huynh has what may be the coolest adaptation of a DIY ringlight I have seen yet.
This Sunday's theme (as if each Sunday has a theme) is cardboard. From the Wayback Machine, four items that are both DIY and cardboard related.
Only once before in the 800+ post history of this blog has the above headline been awarded to a piece of DIY lighting gear. But I am resurrecting it for Finland-based reader Aki K.
Here is the photo that I built the DIY softbox grid spot to create. The key to this photo is total control on the "white" background. 
2.) Check your strobe light (only) to ensure that you have no background contamination. Dial in your flash's power to give you just enough aperture to hold the background to the focus level that you need. Overdoing this will unnecessarily lengthen the exposure needed to "burn in" the continuous portion of your exposure, leading to motion-ghosting problems with your subject.