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DIY - Homemade Speedlite "Snoot"
This guest post was written by Leann Wrightsman, a photo DIY-er extraordinaire. This snoot making article has one of the best effort to result ratio. You usually use a snoot when you want only a small part of a scenario lighten, while keeping the rest of the scenario light free see the picture at the end of this article.
In this article Leann Wrightsman will show you how to make a "Snoot" for your speedlight flash with easy to find items you may even have around the house!
First, get the stuff you need- Get gaffer's tape and foam paper. Look in the craft supply area of Hobby Lobby or Michaels to find the foam paper, and if you have friends at the local theater (plays not movies) you can often get a bit of Gaffers tape at no charge. Else, check with a camera shop that carries lighting supplies.
Then make the first incision and "stitch" - Cut the foam board so the "long" side will fir around your flash; then Place the gaffer's tape smoothly along the short end of the foam paper.
Now tube it - Make a tube out of the foam paper, butt the ends of the foam paper together firmly for a nice even join.
Snoot it - Put it on your speedlight and call it a snoot! The snoot should fit snugly on the end of the speedlight.
Enjoy it - You'll be able to get a nice narrow light pattern, customizable by squeezing the snoot.
If you are in to snoots, checkout Rui M Leal's lighting mods blog. He has some great snoots here, here and here. No wonder he made it into my fav list.
The article was first published in Instructible's DIYPhotography.net group. right here. This group in general and Leann Wrightsman in particular has some very cool projects to offer check them out.
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Comments
Problem finding foam paper on the net
Pointers to actual web pages would be appreciated. Searching Hobby Lobby resulted in over 100 pages of search results. Searching Michaels was futile.
After several searches for
After several searches for "black foam paper" i shortened to "black foam" and found this....
http://www.amazon.com/Darice-Foamie-Roll-Black/dp/B001RPX9R8/ref=sr_1_1?...
The only place that seems to have it online is JoAnn's.
try looking for black foamies sheet
They are all over the place :)
Why Search?? Get off your
Why Search?? Get off your tail and go to Walmart...sells tons of the stuff. I swear, some people, if they cant find it on the net it doesnt exist.
Don't need one
Spot metering baby.
Similar effects. No flash at all.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brightonhiphop/696659484/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brightonhiphop/696674184/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brightonhiphop/695794835/in/photostream/
Spot metering, baby.
Ratio
In contrast to what you said, that looks like a very LOW effort-to-result ratio.
thanks, thats what I meant
fixed
my local michaels had foam
my local michaels had foam paper for $0.79 per sheet. i added a ring of 18ga wire around the perimeter of the non-flash end to create shaped hot zones instead of just circles. thanks for the how-to
Even cheaper snoot
I love the snoot effect. I've been using an even lower tech solution for about a year now to great effect. I just put a toilet roll over my Sunpak 383 and ta da! Instant Film Noir. I tell clients it's an environmenatally friendly custom light modifier.
http://www.brendanoshea.blogspot.com/
DIY Snoots are awesome
After we posted a similair article we had some people complain "you could have just done that in photoshop". While sometimes that is true, it isn't always as easy as it seems and a photographer should know how to make light work for themself when they want it to.
L7Foto Article
http://l7foto.com/2007/08/15/building-your-own-snoot/
Snoot Photos from Dave Black
http://www.daveblackphotography.com/workshop/06-2007.htm
I know have a collection of snoots from 5" to 10" for different effects. Sometimes head-on, sometimes just for backdrop lighting, maybe I just want a tight hair light. Sure is easier to control the light exactly how you want rather than try to fix it later.
-Kerry
Difficult
For some reason I found this very difficult to do without catching the end of the roll in the shot. Any suggestions besides hacking it off a lil?
Difficult
You can use a tele lens, it won't catch the tube.
cool
looks awsome man, im really going to try it out!!!
Walmart
I've found foam paper in the WalMart craft dept. for 33 cent.
GREAT CHEAP SNOOT!
I saw this last week and tried to make it friday and it worked perfectly! so easy to do! Just a few things for the others... to cut the piece of foam that goes around the flash, for the canon 580exII, make sure you measure out 8.75". that'll work out great. Try various lengths as well. Out of my one piece of $.99 foam paper i got one snoot about 6" and one that was about 12" long. they both work great. thanks for the tips!
Wow, thanks for those instructions!
I think it could've used a few more steps though to make such a complicated build clearer. It took me a bunch of tries to figure out:
A) How to get the tape the right length. (Just a tip for the other people having trouble- there's a lot more on the roll than you need!)
B) How to get the flat version with the tape on the end into that weird "tube" shape. I just kept on sticking the tape randomly to the paper in hopes that it would eventually work. After a few hours I got lucky and it kind of looked like the result you achieved.
Snoots
Hi,
thanks for the reference to my snoots blog http://lightingmods.blogspot.com/.
Hope you enjoyed the rest of the cool stuff I putted there.
Once again thanks for mention it.
Best regards,
Rui
Can this be turned into a flash extender?
Wondering if anyone had tried to modify this design by adding a plastic fresnel lens sheet to the snoot to turn it into a flash extender? Similar to the ~$40 "Better Beamer" thingy.
Great results
Thanks! I have tried it out and it works! Very nice effect for low effort. If have gotten some great results.
I am a dutch student photographer and I found this article very useful!
Daan.
Love to try this with my EOS
Yeah I'm gonna try this one. Just bought a Canon EOS. Thanks so much for this.
What is GREAT? (something
What is GREAT? (something tells me it's a dumb question:D)
EOS, state of the ART
I also have try this one out. What nice features!
I made one too, out of a
I made one too, out of a empty beer can and gaffers tape. Actually my wife made it for me for Valentines Day. I also made a large lightbox to mount on the front of my speedlight.
http://jasonpetorak.blogspot.com/2008/06/homemade-snoot-and-lightbox.htm...
It looks great
And I thank god for great wifes.
I'd love to see hoe you used it.
- udi
Here's a sample shot:
Here's a sample shot:
nice and even
Great results Jason. I'm looking forward to seeing more images from you.
works like a charm
Very simple idea. I like the look of Rui's snoots too... will be experimenting this weekend!
re: experimenting
Alan,
good luck, it really is a 5 minutes project, so it is really fun. I'd love it if you shared you results and images.
Faster, lower effort
Beer Cozy > Foam paper
What a fantastic DIY idea
What a fantastic DIY idea man!! Great!!!
Another Idea
You can also use Velcro to make it easier to store
Great idea and an alternative
The foam is a great idea and is pretty flexible.
For a smaller strobe I have I found a $1.00 can of pringles chips on sale and used it as a snoot. The inside is already conveniently covered in silver foil and can be mounted on the strobe by tracing the head and cutting an "X" in the plastic lid. I removed the metal end with a can opener and then pushed the flash head through the "X." The pressure of the points of the X held it in place quite well and could be reinforced if necessary.
Snoots
That's awesome. I've also heard of using old 35mm film tubs with the bottoms cut out for close up photography.
Great post
beautiful result.
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