Create Your Own DIY Speed Light Diffuser with Mike Hagen December 19, 2017 – Posted in: Photography – Tags: Bubble wrap diffuser, DIY, DIY Photography, Enthusiast's Guide to DIY Photography, mike hagen, Speed light diffuser
With Mike Hagen’s recent release of The Enthusiast’s Guide to DIY Photography, we asked him to walk us through a couple projects from the book in a webinar. Mike broke it down, and answered audience questions, while he built two DIY lighting products to use in his photography. You can see the webinar here, and check out his instructions on how to build a LED spider light here.
Speedlight: Bubble wrap speed light diffuser
THIS MIGHT BE one of the easiest projects in the book. If you have leftover clear bubble wrap from a packing box, then you’ll be able to convert it into a nice diffusion tool. This diffuser can produce very nice looking light, and it’s almost free! For this project, I used a similar product called plastic drawer liner. It is translucent and works great for this purpose. It is also slightly more durable so it will last longer in your camera bag. When I photographed with this tool in my studio, I was blown away with the light quality. Look at Figure 12.2: You won’t believe it was taken using this little diffusion project!
Parts List (Figure 12.1)
- Bubble wrap or plastic sheeting
- Tape or self-adhesive hook and loop
- Scissors
Construction Steps
- Cut bubble wrap or plastic sheeting 6″ wide by 16″ long (Figure 12.3)
Cut 6″ strips of self-adhesive hook and loop fastener material (Figure 12.4).- Apply the hook and loop to the ends of bubble wrap/plastic sheeting, as shown in Figure 12.5. Make sure to place one piece on the front of the plastic wrap and one piece on the back so that the two pieces will attach to each other when you wrap the plastic wrap around the flash.
- Wrap the plastic around the flash head as shown in Figure 12.6.
- Point the diffusor up to the ceiling and take the picture.
Tips & Cautions
- Figure 12.7 shows a similar setup using bubble wrap. I used clear tape to form the large diffusion shape and to mount the bubble wrap to the top of my flash.
