This will be the last post of this month and with it I would like to make an improvement to something I had already built.I already changed the normal snoots (Part 1 and Part 2) to colored one's so now it's time to make the same with the famous Black Straws Snoot Grid.
Some people have been asking about if colored straws would not do the trick but then again you will be stuck with that specific color in your bag and there aren't too many straws with nice colors unless you would want some green or orange fluorescent on somebodies background or head.
Anyway this will be a complement of the DIY: Black Straws Snoot Grid (Part 1) and the DIY: Black Straws Snoot Grid (Part 2) I posted.
I will not post the assembly here again, instead I will only show you what I have changed from the previous one.
And remember if you would like to have the Lee filters attached to your flash without having to worry with Velcro and at no cost just take a look at DIY: Lee Filters Flash Adapter.
Starting out with a new one I decided to make this one a little bit longer, so instead of having 5cm long I raised it 1cm more so it will handle better the insertion for the Filter Gel.
The measures are the same except the length for the 580Ex (I noticed that they will also fit on the SB-26):
1cm, 4,5cm, 7cm, 4,5cm, 7cm and length 6cm and straws 2cm length.
You get the ruler and while peaking at inside to see where the straws end (mine were at about 3cm from the edge) you mark the cutting line. This will be where the Filter Gel will enter.
With a sharp knife or something sharp you will cut from bottom to top like on the above image. Just remember to cut on the side where the box is not glued, this way would be easier to pass the gel in.
As you can see this is a simple way to do it. If you have already made one of this Snoots then you just have to cut it in and you are rockin'.
Do not worry about those straws that are not covered with the Gel, after you inserted the flash, they will not catch the light anyway.
Can you see it working with a nice Violet color??
Wait... I have some more for you!
Now let's wrap it up to look more "Professional".
PAY ATTENTION to the hole. DO NOT under any circumstances cover the hole with tape or else you will end up with tape on the Gel Filter ruin it and we don't want that, RIGHT!!
I changed the Color from Purple Rain to some kind of Tequila Sunset Red. COOL!!!
Now let see what we can do when we hire a Professional model for the job :)
Professional Model with Black Straws Snoot Grid Colored on the background.
Hey let's lit the guy ;)
Hey, Hey, Hey let's wait a minute how did I end up here ??
The photographer sucks, look at the background light it almost vanished and he just put so much light on me... broad day sun ;)
Oh well, it looks like when you wanna do both things at the same time neither will come right just look at my smiling face :)
For the last of the sequence the setup shot.
Canon 580Ex camera left with the Black Straws Snoot Grid Colored 1/4 at 105mm, SB26 camera right shot through the white umbrella 1/2 at 14mm.
Camera ISO 100, Tv200 and Aperture 9.0.
Thanks to all for the support and stay tuned for more good stuff.
Also take a look at these:
DIY: Black Straws Snoot Grid (Part 1)
DIY: Black Straws Snoot Grid (Part 2)
16 comments:
found this on your flickr, looks cool!
added the site to favs, will certainly keep visiting.
That last picture can work fine - just move the model further away from the background, and move the non-gelled flash closer to the model (with less power) so it won't be lighting the background nearly as much (i.e. if the flash is 3 feet from the model and the model is 12 feet from the background, you'll get enough light fall-off to take away the unwanted effect, and end up with a nice red-orange background).
Dude - that's a slick mod!
Hey, when's your next post going to come? Rishi
Thanks Travis you're quite right on that.
The issue here is that the space where I'm doing all this is very limited since it's a small empty room I have at my home in Luxembourg and the walls are all white so the model would pick up any spill light from the umbrella.
Thanks for the comments.
Rui
Hi Rishi,
as you maybe aware that it's not everyday that you wake up with a great idea to improve something ;)
But have a little patience since I'm working on 2 projects now and soon they will be on the blog.
Thanks for the comment.
Rui
I wonder, if you could actually lit both the background and the person nicely, I imagine is just a matter of playing with all the different elements of exposure and flash. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because I really want to know if it's possible.
Hi Man on Fire,
thanks for the comment.
Of course it is possible to have a correct exposure.
Here my main issue was that I had to control the light and be a model myself and the purpose of the photo was not to illustrate good exposure but to show what can be done with such a piece of inexpensive equipment that you can get from a simple card box and some straws.
On the color version I wanted to implement some color to the requested straws so to make that possible I illustrate with some photos. Maybe I should make another shot with a correct exposure and put it on flickr.
When I have some time I will put one with correct exposure.
Thanks again for reading.
Hope this will help you out and any questions just keep them coming.
Rui
I read another article about these straws and i'm sure it was yours yes? (you got some straws on a trip to London) Anyhow, the photographs are much better this time round.
Im going shopping tomorrow to get supplies to make some snoots :)
great idea! i will be making one soon.
are saying if i use a straw color other than black, the light will be that color?
i can't find black.
Hi Barnacle,
yes, if you put a red straw you will always get reddish color tone. The best one's are the black.
I think you can find the black straws on any party store or you can sneak a few on those night clubs.
Have fun
thanks!
i live in placencia belize,, not a party store within 400 miles!
maybe next summer when i visit the US...
That's a simple but effective mod of the DIY gridspot snoot. Great idea :)
An idea about where to find black straws (at least in the USA).
Is it possible that stores like Dollar Tree and Party Stores will stock black straws in October (for Halloween)? After all, the "official" colors of Halloween seem to be black and orange.
As I write this it's the end of July 2009 so let's wait a couple months to see if I'm right. Heck I've been known to be wrong at least once or twice in my life... LOL!
As for the rest of the world maybe you too have other kinds of annual celebrations where stores would stock black straws for a short period. Any thoughts?
BTW, these DIY project blogs contain some terrific ideas. Thanks to whomever started the series.
Oh, I have a contribution to the DIY thread:
In the USA stores like Home Depot sell what my memory says are "Gator Grips" for about a dollar each in the rope or tarp department.
These are small black strong Nylon (or a similar material) grips with serrated jaws. A sliding piece moves down a ratchet to close the jaws. To release there is a small square button in the center.
There is a hole in the handle at the end opposite the jaws.
I've purchased a bunch and use them on my seamless background cross bar to hold fabric which does not have a pocket thru which to run the horizontal bar.
I then bought Nylon "Zip Ties" which can be found in hardware, electronics stores. In the USA I've seen them at Fry's Electronics, Harbor Freight, Northern Tool and even Dollar Tree (of all places.)
So they fit the horizontal bar of my seamless backdrop I first loop the Zip ties over the bar before inserting the pointy end thru a Gator Grip. Then I tighten the Zip tie leaving just a bit of slack so I can slide the loop over the largest section of the bar.
Lastly I cut off the excess part of the Nylon Zip tie and put a dab of quick dry glue into the locking part of the tie to secure it.
Now whenever I want to hang fabric from the seamless bar I can quickly clip them in place.
When I disassemble the horizontal bar for transport I simply leave the grips in place.
These grips are small, tough and weigh next to nothing so I always keep a couple in my kit bag, just in case. (Along with a ton of other "just in case" stuff!)
Note to blog editor: if you want to contact me about writing this up in detail with matching photographs please get in touch.
Terry Thomas...
the photographer
Atlanta, Georgia USA
www.TerryThomasPhotos.com
You can also get the black straws at any restaurant like Jery's famous deli, Burger King, or at Clubs.
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