my DIY ring flash and sample shot

[fast eddie]

i found this photo forum where it breaks down how to make a ring flash (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_flash) by using about $50-$65 in materials from Home Depot and your existing camera and flash setup: http://www.motleypixel.com/forum/index.php/topic,80.0.html . The alternative is purchasing one for over $200, easy. I'm not knocking Alien Bees (http://www.alienbees.com/abr800.html), but I can't justify paying that much for something I can make myself and get nearly the same results.


So, here's my super heavy, nearly 8.5 lb. setup (the steel bracket that everything attaches to weighs 5 lbs) taken with my cell phone:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/ringflash.jpg


i am using a Nikon D40 and a Nikon SB-600 with a 55-200mm lens and some cheap radio transmitter/receiver in this shot in a pitch black room. shutter speed was 1/500, the flash was at 1/4 power, f/10 at 55mm, ISO 400.:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/DSC_0385.jpg


with some ambient lighting, there will be extremely soft to non-existent shadows. i have been working on this for about a week so I can get some great shots of the Varsity skates for the next issue of Balance (www.issuu.com/k2rolla/docs).

feedback, please :D this is the first thing i have made with my hands since high school wood shop some 13 years ago :lol:

[rol SYR]

well it looks nice and all, but, and this is a huge but, the bottom is hotter than the top. you should not have the shadow unevenly receding "up" this image. i use the word up in this case becasue you can clearly see the shadow making its way up the image. there need to be something inside the flash that channels the light so its tighter toward the flash endand wider on the end away from the flash. thats why the design of the ray flash is how it is. now i dont know what it looks like inside the flash, so maybe there is something. its a nice rugged looking design tho. fyi, you can get an ebay knock off version the the ray flash for like 40 bucks or so on ebay.

[fast eddie]

well it looks nice and all, but, and this is a huge but, the bottom is hotter than the top. you should not have the shadow unevenly receding "up" this image. i use the word up in this case becasue you can clearly see the shadow making its way up the image. there need to be something inside the flash that channels the light so its tighter toward the flash endand wider on the end away from the flash. thats why the design of the ray flash is how it is. now i dont know what it looks like inside the flash, so maybe there is something. its a nice rugged looking design tho. fyi, you can get an ebay knock off version the the ray flash for like 40 bucks or so on ebay.


thanks for the input, and i see what you mean. but, when the picture was taken, the ring was not mounted to the bracket at all, i was holding it all in place with my hands and just fired a quick test shot. the alignment was all wrong and off by a few inches and the ring almost fell to the floor.

i riveted the ring to the bracket today, and the shots look a lot better. nothing worth posting, though, just took a few shots of my dog and a Darth Vader Helmet :lol:

I have an extra layer of diffusion material on the bottom to help reduce the hot spot, you just can't see it too well in my original post. here's some better images of thee setup:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/DSC02556.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/DSC02557.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/DSC02559.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/DSC02560.jpg

[fast eddie]

so here's a new test shot. i still see that shadow, so i'll try again when i flip down the diffuser on the flash head and see what that does. 55mm, 1/320 @ f/4, ISO 400, flash at 1/4 power.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/Plantringflash.jpg

[fast eddie]

OK, here's a throwaway shot from the Varsity review I am doing. This was taken with the ring flash i built. no more creeper shadows, flipping down the diffuser on the flash head combined with the two layers of diffusion material on the ring flash itself has greatly softened the shadows. I think it was definitely worth the $60 in materials and experience building it myself :D

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/dangerzone949/DSC_0113.jpg