If you own a softbox, or two, you understand how bulky and unwieldy they can be. Imagine owning several in different sizes. Storage becomes an issue. One solution is to break them down and store them flat, but that becomes a pain after the first few times struggling to put one of these things together. It is more convenient to just grab one "off the shelf" and go to work. Allocating shelf space seems like such a waste of valuable storage space. In my case I have two square softboxes, three striplights and soon two more rectangular ones. That's a lot of real estate. Time to come up with a storage solution that doesn't require floor space or shelf space. The solution I came up with is a compromise of an idea I originally had of hanging them from the ceiling on pulleys so they would be out of the way until needed. I still like that idea, but for now I will be suspending them from a wire rack shelf system in my studio. Here is what the system looks like.

One of the most commonly used tools in my photographic arsenal is the all purpose diffusion screen . I use it to soften light, create gradients and light fields or as a background. One of my current favorites is a metal framed 4' x 4' foot scrim with thick white artificial silk made by Matthews. I didn't think I would use it so much, being so large, but having borrowed it from a friend I really came to love it. The downside for me is the price. At just over $100 I couldn't really justify the cost, considering I want at least two of them. Time for a DIY alternative.

It is not often that people get to really see my DIY tilt/shift camera configuration, but when they do it is usually followed by a variety of questions followed by a glazed look of intimidation. After all, it's not your typical camera setup. Here is a quick rundown of my DIY conversion. Inspiration I originally saw this configuration being used by the amazing Alex Koloskov in several of his product photography videos. I was immediately intrigued and amazed at its capabilities. While it seemed like a lot of trouble and expense for a tilt shift lens, specially since there are dSLR TS lenses available, I knew, from experience, this setup had a far superior advantage over the standard TS lenses. The other plus side was that I could still use it as a large format film camera should I choose to.

The first time I saw a review for the Light Blaster I have to admit I was more than a little intrigued. If you haven't seen or heard of this nifty little gadget yet here's a quick rundown. The unit itself is a plastic housing that allows you to insert a speedlight into one end and attach a lens onto the other. A standard 2x2 inch 35mm projection slide is inserted in between the two via a special slide carrier. When the flash is triggered the image on the slide is projected on whatever the unit is aimed at. The downside to the Light Blaster is the price. Starting at $100 for what people would consider a simple plastic shell with a lens mounting ring, the Blaster has a few other accessories that will drive the price up. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on what side of the coin your personal philosophy is on) there is a less expensive clone version of the Blaster made in China by Hpsum. At about $60 it's still pricey but a $40 savings is $40 that can go to someth...

As a product photographer, shooting tables are a necessity. I have several DIY tables that I have built over the years that have served their purpose and been quite adequate for their needs. However, as an instructor I needed a very small elevated table for holding up a screen projector. It seems that not every venue I lecture at has presentation equipment. What to do... well, time for a do-it-yourself project. Analyzing my needs was easy. I needed something small enough to be unobtrusive but large enough to hold my projector. It had to be stable enough so it doesn't come crashing down during my lectures yet light enough to transport. It also had to be high enough for a proper projection angle. Building a table that small and that tall wasn't so much the issue, but how do you transport such a beast? There had to be a way of utilizing or re-purposing some of the more transportable equipment I already had. Then it hit me. Make a small platform for something that's already d...

Working with tabletop photography presents its own set of challenges. It seems that the smaller the product the smaller the light modifiers seem to get. Specially when you are looking to highlight just a small, specific area of the product. Then there are the multitude of reflective and refractive surfaces that can cause any sane person to pull their hair out. When you start crowding all this onto a small table you have to be careful not to cause a domino effect of destruction. When dealing with bounce cards (a favorite solution for a great many issues) the problem becomes how to support the cards without taking up a lot of valuable table real estate. One solution I found is the use of a simple DIY holder made from discarded 2x4 pine studs. You can see them in use in this photo (circled red) holding up some black and white foam core bounce cards.

As a product photographer I am always tweaking or building light modifiers. Since lighting products is different than lighting people, I find that making my own modifiers is easier than trying to find commercially bought equipment. Plus, it's cheaper and, since I'm fairly handy, appeals to my artistic creativity. With my collection of modifiers growing I thought I'd take inventory and also take stock in the various exposure factors of the modifiers. Specifically with in-line diffusers like diffuser screens and soft boxes. Because the source materials for many diffusers come from a wide range of readily available products, knowing how much light a particular piece of material blocks can be a handy bit of information. So with no particular scientific procedure in mind I set out to determine light loss from the various types of materials I was using in my modifiers. For a quick rundown of what I had to deal with here is a short sample of some of the materials I hav...

Photography has made some wonderful advances in the past several decades that, in retrospect, would blow your mind. For those of us who came into digital photography from the days of film, there is no denying how far it's come. Yes, some things have been left behind and many would argue that the ease of accessibility to photography has watered down the creative pool. But that's for another article. In particular, lighting has made some significantly huge strides. Small camera flashes have become more powerful, larger strobes have become more portable and the advancement of fluorescent and LED light has simply been astounding. While there is no denying the advantages of professional photo-calibrated lighting, for the beginner or hobbyist those lights are well out of their price range. Fortunately the photography world has a large sub-culture of creative minds that like to bend rules and re-purpose materials. For those of us with shallow pockets; thank god for the do-it-yo...

Polishing a small mirror with the buffer As a product photographer I have collected an assortment of props, backgrounds and miscellaneous stuff for use in my shots. One material that shows up a lot is glass. Glass drinkware, glass mirrors, plate glass surfaces, a glass fish tank and now my brand new see-through product shooting table. That doesn't include the countless other shiny  surfaces I have to deal with. If you have ever tried photographing reflective surfaces you know how much of a pain they can be. They show off dust and fingerprints with a vengeance. There is no way of getting around it. If you photograph these items you will be polishing them first. What a pain. If there was only an easier way of doing this. Fortunately, there is. Here's what I came up with.

From an extension pole instructable I wrote One of the first areas a new photographer expands into, once they have camera basics down pat, is off camera flash. Simply because it seriously enhances the look of your images and is relatively inexpensive, compared to studio flashes, and are very portable. However, speed lights alone are limiting. If we want to bend and control light to our will we need light modifiers. This is where it can get very expensive. Fortunately for us creative types, there are tons of do-it-yourself photography projects available online. Many of them are simple and often embarrassingly obvious it begs the question, " why didn't I think of this? " Other projects can be very complex involving a master's degree in electronics or engineering. No matter what level the project there is always something to be learned.

Photos of flowers are a great way for new shooters to learn about photography. They are beautiful to look at, they stay in one place without complaint and there is a sense of accomplishment when you get a print worthy of hanging on your wall. Last week I shared five flower photography points to be aware of . You may read this and think the information is more common sense than useable tips but you would be surprised how easy it is to forget them. So rather than hash over the basics I thought I'd share a very simple, easy to make and easy to transport backdrop for your flower photos.

DIY, or do-it-yourself , is very popular in the photography community. Its popularity is due to two things, in my opinion. First is economic reasons. As you already know, photographic equipment can be very expensive. So it makes sense to shave off as much as possible whenever possible. The second reason is an artistic one. Photographers tend to be artists at heart and artists love to create. What better reason for a photographic DIY project than to combine the two? While I love do-it-yourself projects I also need it to look professional. There's nothing more embarrassing than pulling out equipment that looks slapped together and shabby, no matter how practical it is. While not a factor in your own private studio, when you are working with clients presentation is important. Here are five pointers to keep in mind when working on your next DIY project;