Photographer and educator, Tony Northrup, was inspired by Fstoppers' own Dani Diamond's awesome larger-than-life ring light and put together his own tutorial video showing you how to build a light source in just about any shape you set your mind to with supplies picked up at a hardware store. This nifty little tutorial will get you up and running in an afternoon with catch lights that'll make your buddies green with envy and left scratching their heads.
His simple setup is based off a chicken-wire grid which allows you to attach LED light strips or cable in any pattern you like. While Tony used rigid strips you could also use flexible LED cord to give you even more options.
Below is a screenshot of the finished setup for Tony's star-shaped ring light.
[Via Tony Northrup on YouTube]
If you end up giving this tutorial a shot be sure to share your images in the comments below.
Great video.......Very cool images.
Important to note the LED strips will set you back $288 + shipping. Not a ton of cash but a large price tag in context of, "fun to mess around with".
True dat. I picked those because I already owned them. At least one year ago, they were the best bargain I could really find for really bright, light LEDs. They're just undercabinet lights, so shop around, and if you find something better, let me know so I can suggest it.
You can certainly use less bright (and thus less expensive) LEDs, but you'll have more of a difficult time overpowering ambient light, so you might need to shoot in a dark room or in the evening.
Very nice video. Is the output from the LED's THAT much?! I'm impressed (although there are 8 of them) And for the output $288 isn't bad, considering the cost of one AB800.
All the configuration combos you are free to do too would be quite amazing. I may be making some amazon purchases soon! Thanks for sharing!
Those LEDs are really bright--bright enough to overpower the ambient light so that we were able to shoot indoors during the day without blacking out the windows. They're also cool to the touch and basically unbreakable (unlike traditional bulbs).
They're designed as undercabinet lights, but I really like them for this purpose.
Couldn't you take a large softbox or octabank, cover it with cinefoil, and cut holes in it to make the light pattern you want? Put the camera on a tripod to avoid blocking, fire with remote?
I have a giant Plume octa that goes unused all too often, I have to try this.
You definitely can, but good luck with the remote firing... it makes careful composition and focusing impossible. It can be done, but shallow depth-of-field won't be easy.
On the topic of covering softboxes, check out Paul C. Buff's moon units. They're for ring lights, but they're basically exactly what you're describing.
Great stuff. Great video. Love Tony's work /videos and I purchased his book some time ago. Way back. On the subject of this...trend....in creating these crazy catch lights.....I'm simply not a fan and can't see this going anywhere. Well, let me rephrase that: I'm sure for certain photos/styles or whatever, these zanny catch lights have their place. But overall, I'm seeing people do portraits...of kids...and women.....and the lights look ridiculously un-natural and borderline.....creepy. Especially on kids. The catch light gives the subject an "android like" look and is immediately distracting. Pretty sure I'm not alone in this observation. In fact, I know I'm not. But it seems odd to me that so many are "riding" this band wagon of "DIY ring light" set ups that create creepy, completely distracting catch lights. The normal, traditional style ring light s create a catch light that has a definite look, but it's not exactly.......weird looking.
Great video. I've been playing around with a few led strips that are considerably cheaper. Hook these up to a power source (I use a rc car battery charger...works like a champ!) (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BQE5JAK/)
Pretty neat