Flash Light Hood, Universal Round Foldable Diffuser Softbox Shoot Macro Flash Light Lamp Hood

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Yield: The yield of light is quite bad; light bounces into all directions and only a small portion actually shines on the subject. To get good light diffusion that makes your pictures look the way you want, you have to take into account both of the factors mentioned above: the need for the diffuser to be far enough from the flash source, and the need for the light to be diffused behind the lens, not in front of it. So where should you put your diffuser? Don’t place the diffuser on the flash; instead, put it on the end of your lens, and ideally on the start of your lens hood, so that it’s pointed in front of the lens, as you can see in the picture below. My makeshift diffuser “mounted” right on the lens. It’s an awful sight, but it does a great job. If you are looking to improve the overall quality of your images, reduce harsh shadows, and make your lighting more natural-looking, a diffuser is a great investment.

Size: In terms of size, shoot-through diffusers are ideal. The store-bought version is collapsible and takes no room at all, The DIY versions are pretty much flat and will fit in almost any camera bag.Building your own diffusers and light modifiers is a great way to get your creative juices flowing, while also personalizing the types of photos you’re planning to take. It’s not always an easy process, but it’s one of my favorite parts of photography. When you design a great diffuser yourself and take some good photos with it, that’s a great feeling! The difference between an okay photo and a superb photo may all be thanks to materials found in a recycling bin. DC-G9 + Laowa 24mm Probe Lens, ISO 640, 1/13, f/14 Conclusion Macro photography is one of those genres where equipment really matters. Even in ordinary photography, it’s all about light, and in macro photography that goes double, especially when it comes to light diffusion. Flexibility. Does the diffuser work with lenses of different sizes? Does it work off-camera, too, and is it adjustable? Polystyrene foam cups/chip holder wedged onto the optic used as a diffuser. Polystyrene foam is a gorgeous diffuser because it scatters light so nicely internally and makes the whole surface relatively uniform, rather than letting through a central hotspot. There is an incredible amount of different flash modifiers available on the market. Some work well, others don’t, and some are simply not meant for macro photography. By designing them to suit your own needs and expectations they will be more effective than a generic softbox or a shoot-through diffuser. Of course, not all store-bought diffusers are bad, indeed some of them work really well and most of them don’t cost much more than the material for a DIY project would.

DIY diffusers range from the simple use of paper towels / kitchen roll, to self-made little softboxes or pringles cans, used as a light tube. I own an older version of the Cygnustech – the latest version comes with a focusing light as well and an additional diffusion layer that lets through even more light.Nevertheless, creating your own modifier will provide the most individual solution and will teach you a thing or two about lighting on the side. What I did not like so much, in comparison with the other 2 diffusers, is the separately sold ‘roof’, which is supposed to channel the flash to the front and intensify the light output. Different photographers appreciate different kinds of diffuse light; some prefer sharper shadows and higher-contrast light, while others prefer a minimum of shadows and lower-contrast light. Personally I’m among the second kind. How to Diffuse the Light from a Flash

Because I had to get close to, say an insect, to obtain images of its eye or antennae, I found either my body or camera gear often shaded it from the natural light. When I moved position, the subject became unattractively side lit. Even more often the problem was the harshness of full sunlight or not enough light to make an image. If i go on a planned fieldtrip my primary diffuser is the AK, simply because i will leave it on the camera setup all the time and it is stable and offers me the most freedom in my personal workflow. For instance, once I had to photograph circuit boards, and they needed to be perfect. We wanted to be able to read all text on the circuit board and on each chip. Flash wouldn’t work at all. I used continuous lights mounted on a copy stand, and I held foam in front of the lights to fully even out and diffuse the light.

Flash Diffuser or Macro Diffuser?

Flexibility. Does the diffuser work lenses of different sizes? Does it work off-camera, too, and is it adjustable? DIY reverse lens macro hood made from a soft plastic endcap with a hole cut out. Easy to make but finding one of these soft encaps, used in the 70s and 80s, can be a bit of a chore. Available in differing grades but I've always found them still to show a hotspot. Also, expensive alternative to multiple sheets of tracing or vellum paper which more or less do the same thing. Opaque plastic sheaths that are nestled over the flash head are sold and described as diffusers, and I suppose technically they are - after all they slightly diffuse the light. However, for the purposes of extreme macro I'd say these completely miss the point and are merely ornamental, as they do not actually increase the visible area that the eventual light comes from, and therefore must still produce specularity and hotspots. If you are using one or more Godox MF12 flashes, this is a great system as it will not interfere with the small flash units.

White T-shirt cloth is no good as it cuts out too much light, and nylon didn't diffuse the light enough for my liking, creating too much of a hotspot. Laminating paper (the opaque side) can replace tracing paper, the opaque covering from paper binders works too but that lets through a lot of light. Generally the final thing I do is cover the diffusion material (ie tissue paper) with a layer of laminating paper (the completely clear side) on my outside diffusers, and that means there's no risk of damaging the diffusion material. Obviously a hood could also benefit a macro lens but there isn't much talk of these, why not? Well, it maybe of interest, but the reason there isn't is because most decent macro lenses already have them built in - if you look at a good quality macro lens they usually have a very far recessed front element. This is an inbuilt lens hood - this is how manufacturers build in the hood for you on macro lenses, and for the same reason. Now if they do it to get more out of the lens, then that would suggest that this is probably a sensible thing to add to our DIY extreme macro setups as well =). Solution for Other Optics a good cheap alternative that I've been using for a couple of years that works for me - party poppers The Neewer 6x5 inch softbox is best for this application, as it is easier to direct the light at your subject. If using it on camera, you need to be able to tilt the flash head down, do not use a lens hood, and keep working distance large enough to avoid shadow from the lens.One solution is to use a focus light. A few flashes have built-in focus lights, like the one I showed earlier. Other times, you can potentially put a small light on top of your camera or use a ring light for this purpose. Large diffusers on arms, where the diffuser material is much larger than the flash head, is the sort of diffusion that we like to use in extreme macro. In these, the area of the diffuser (which becomes the light emitting surface when a flash is fired through it) is much larger than the flash and therefore you don't get the specularity that comes from a relatively small light source. All discussions of diffusion below assume this use for diffusion material, not the top one. Studio Diffusers This tip is perhaps most important. The perfect light modifier for macro flash photography doesn’t exist on the market. This is part of why really superb lighting in macro photography is a rare sight! The Popeshield uses a different method to attach the diffuser: it can be screwed directly into the filter thread of the lens.