Cheap DIY Macro Diffuser
I don’t think this is an original concept. I’m sure somebody else has done it but personally I haven’t come across it so far. Basically what I did is I took two “poor strobist” accessories and combined them. These two items were both discussed separately on the Strobist blog.
I needed a way to hold up these diffuser screens and the Home Depot clamps were perfect for this.
First up, I’ve got a couple of Home Depot clamps. The green ones are less than a buck a piece. The orange ones, for some undetermined and seemingly illogical reason, are more expensive.
Next, there’s the Ikea cutting board, made of translucent white plastic. I’ve also got a red one. I picked up 3 of the white ones and a red one. Each of the big ones came with a smaller, half-sized board. The smaller ones can come in handy when you need to quickly hand-hold a diffuser in front of a flash. Total price for all 4 boards was less than 10 bucks if I can recall correctly.
What follows next is a combination of the two. The clamps have heavy duty springs which bite powerfully on anything between their jaws. Clamping one of these at each end of a cutting board makes a free-standing flash diffuser. I really love the light coming through these boards: it’s soft and milky white. This setup is great for lighting small objects and doing macro shots.
