Shade tree softbox with an off camera flash..

[Fumesucker]

First the finished picture and then the image showing how I did it..





A piece of white foamboard on top of two chairs to get it closer to the ceiling, two strobes aimed at the whitish ceiling, full manual mode and just play with the ISO and f-stop until you get the exposure where you want it.

You can do it with one flash, it's just a bit harder to get even coverage.

I Photoshopped the seam where the backup piece of foamboard meets the horizontal board.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. not bad

where did you come up with that chunk of brass?

[Fumesucker]

2. I have several old optical levels, I think this one came from ebay some years back..

Here's another one that I polished and lacquered.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

14. dang!

Nice job polishing that thing. The photos look great, too.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Nice shots.

I like the second one here the best -- the little shadow is cool.

[Fumesucker]

4. A bug that became a feature..

That was a single flash shot, the shadow was unintentional. :)

Thanks for the praise, I'm really starting to enjoy imaging everything in sight. The Strobist website gave me the inspiration for this particular kluge and I have quite a few more rattling around in my head right now.

[dbmk]

5. A little rough on the retouching, perhaps?

Seems to me that there is some overflow onto the thingamajig where the line was.

Other than that its a nice setup. :)

[Fumesucker]

6. Yeah, I didn't try all that hard to perfect it..

You have a good eye for detail.

[dbmk]

7. I forgot to add

"And nice result"

:)

And as far as the eye for detail goes, its very easy to be tough on other peoples work. ;)

[Richard D]

8. Try this

Instead of foam board get a large piece of poster board and bend it to a 90 degree angle without creasing. you'll get the same effect without having to photoshop out the line.

[Richard D]

9. Here's one with this method

Very low tech, but I think the results are good. I used an on camera flash with a piece of paper towel in front of it and an off camera flash with a lightsphere. Little photoshopping; just sharpening and adjusting exposure a bit.

[Fumesucker]

11. I like the soft specular reflection highlights..

And it's my turn to ask "what is that thingummy"? A gavel?

[alfredo]

13. It's a pipe.

[Richard D]

15. From Peru

It's a pipe-carving of a "sacha perro" which means wild or jungle dog. Something that is supposed to be either extremely rare or mythical, though I have a friend who swears he saw one once.

[alfredo]

17. It could be a descendent of the dogs brought over by the Spaniards.

[Fumesucker]

12. That's a good idea..

I just used what I had at the moment but your idea would be better.

[dbmk]

10. DIY light tent

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

More DIY lighting here:
http://www.diyphotography.net/

[Richard D]

16. Great idea.