Sommar Straw Grid

Well shoot, my laziness has bit me in the ass. Not all too uncommon I'm afraid.


This week I was going to introduce an easy way to make a grid from Sommar (apparently 'summer' in Swedish) straws . . . but dash it all I was beaten to it, sort of. The current post on Strobist, at the time of writing, links to another DIY lighting blog which already goes into detail. So, I'm going to sit back and link you there. Why beat a dead horse?

These are used by merely sticking them to your flash with Velcro, or by sticking in the end of your favorite cheap-o homemade snoot. (I used matchboxes for mine, a style choice)

Here's the link to Lighting Mods. (don't get too creative with naming now. ;-) )

However that is only for assembly, and I've got some of my own opinions to throw in. Used in the linked demo are black straws, I use white. Why? Mmm, preference mainly, arguably you may get a minute amount more light. I won't argue that point though. However, benefits of the Sommar solution do include:

1. You don't have to be 21+ to steal a bar's straws. I am, but have bad luck with stealing . . . in the past, right.

2. There are many colors of Sommar. I have and use white, as stated, and blue when I'd like a little cooler tint. There are also orange (for warmer), and pink (backgrounds maybe?) iirc. (sounds like an excuse for me to go to Ikea again) On top of that, each pack of Sommar comes with the obvious color (100), and clear (100). So in fact its like two sets of straws for the price of -CHEAP! That's enough for 4 or so grids depending on your small flash's face.

3. Even if a bar doesn't mind you yanking a bunch of their straws, the Sommar pack contains 200 units and cost $1. Each of my grids have 78 holes, I was able to use 39 (long part cut in half) straws for each. I don't feel right about taking 78 straws from a bar (you'll want at least 2 for redundancy if nothing else), maybe I'm too nice. Whatever.


I can't tell you what degree of grid a straw is equivalent to, but with enough practice using them it won't matter too much if your flash's power is adjustable. If it isn't, I'll be addressing another great Ikea grid solution in a near future post which is much less restricting.

*A note on assembly.
Rui Leal, the writer of the demo, uses glue to painstakingly assemble his grid. Notice I emphasize painstakingly? As noted at the beginning of this post, I'm lazy, which leads me to the most efficient methods possible, while maintaining a level of quality.

Use tape.
I used the white, thread lined packing tape. It adds no color cast, and all you need to do is lay out a strip, and simply place the straws on it in a row, do it a couple (6 in my case) times total, and tape the bunch together.

Example

Trännö Seating Solution

This week we'll address seating.

I ride a motorcycle, and while most photographers don't travel quite as light as myself, the less gear you need to haul the better. Right? I like the Trännö folding stool when I know, or even think, I may want to give a butt a rest, or y'know, whatever. You never know when a decent looking seating solution may be required.

The Trännö is a $5.00 3 legged folding stool. It comes not only with a handy adjustable sling attached directly to one leg, but a rain-resistant (-proof, if not for the weave) bag with its own sling. But wait, there's more . . . The bag can fit up to 2 lightstands when not need for the Trännö. It weighs almost nothing, and I can attest it'll hold around 200lbs. without problem.













Unfortunately the Ikea, United States, site doesn't list it for some reason. There shouldn't be a problem finding in stores but you may be out of luck in the short term online. I'll update the entry upon its addition.


Psst, RSS.

Midweek update: Lighting 102 & Arizona

A quick Midweek update . . .

I recently got back from visiting my aunt in Arizona, fun-stuff. I'm all for dry heat over humid heat, but there's a point where hot is hot and it doesn't much matter. I got some fun middle-of-nowhere shots. No exaggeration in that statement either, merely for documentary purposes I was taking landscapes to show-how-nowhere 'nowhere' can be. I saw a horny toad also, and we tried to hunt a cow, but it eluded us. I think it was a ninja cow. My proof of this? It was black, there you go.

I didn't use any Ikea-found modifiers though, so enough of that.


If you. too. have been in the middle of nowhere for some time, then you may not realize that David Hobby, Strobist, has kicked off Lighting 102. This is his follow up to last year's Lighting 101 series on his Blog, which is a small strobe bootcamp of sorts. He will be basically teaching a class for free on lighting, complete with themed instruction, related assignments, and . . . some REALLY stiff competition as far as being noticed. Honestly, I'm convinced that many of the best Photogs in the biz read his Blog, and participate

You should participate too! I am. Its great practice, especially as we all love our personal work, sometimes working within constraints and rules helps us grow as much as fully exploring our own vision freely.

Here is a fun site, the Camera Shutter Life Expectancy Database. I just found this and while it may not be too scientific, it gives you a good feel of what to expect. Don't know how to check your shutter actuations? Try Opanda's IExif. After installing just load a jpg and scroll to the bottom.

I feel like I'm forgetting something . . . Oh RIGHT! Don't forget to RSS Ikeaphile for easy checking of updates.

Oh, that's right, a great photographer and good person all around gave me a great compliment recently, so go check out her Blog. Its added to the bottom of the 'Other Useful Blogs' section to the right, A Day in the Life.

Kappe + Sova Light Bank

Hi there all,
this is the first actual installment of Ikeaphile. (The Launch not included)

We're going to begin simply today with 2 items I use together very often, cobined they can make a very effective light bank.

Kappe Clothes Rack - $4.99

















Sova Fitted Sheet (white, Full size) - $6.99
(no image, come on its a bedsheet, you know what they look like)

Step 1: Assemble Kappe
Step 2: Unpack Sova, give it a good shake, throw it over the Kappe
Step 3: Start taking some nice pictures with some beautiful soft light

I'll add now, that I recommend using the Sova Flat Sheet (White, King) -$12.99 over what I've chosen, I just happen to have a Full mattress (also from Ikea) so that's why I got it.

Example of the results:
With Kappe



















Without Kappe















While I fully agree, Fender is not going to use either of these shots to promote their product, as they're pretty poor images, they do show the benefits of this setup:

1 - Increased relative light source size.
The flash used for both of these was a throw away Quantaray Q-15 flash, very small light source, gives nasty specular highlights. Both downfalls are negated.

2 - Much softer transitions to shadow.
This ties in with the relative source size increasing, although this also helps eliminate shadow too. Notice the bottom of the stand on the right, almost no shadow with our $12 light bank, and what shadow there is -is nice and soft with a smooth transition.

3 - Specular accent.
Also having to do with relative light source size, the highlight we receive from the Kappe accents the edge, adding dimensionality to the object and helping to pop it off the background.

So there you are, now go and experiment!

Don't tell me you can't find an Ikea . . .

Next project (6.17.07) we'll address seating, cause while I don't deny its usefulness, there're occasions when some just don't need an $85 (+tax & shipping) chair.

There will likely be update(s) between now and then, so check up.

Did I mention to add the Ikephile RSS to your browser? Well, I am now, so do! :D

LAUNCH!

Hello,

Welcome to the first post of the Ikeaphile, moí.
I'm slightly obsessive over attractive design, so I can easily spend hours browsing an Ikea store, or even their website just looking. (alright, some drooling is involved too)

The aim of this Blog will be, no, not to stroke my ego, but expand others' thinking in regards to lighting styles and equipment through cheap stylish solutions anyone can get from Ikea. Occasionally certain solutions may include items needed from another location but the focus will be heavily on Ikea products. Each post will be pretty photo-rich so everything will be easily understood.

I'm making it a goal to update with relative regularity for everyone's benefit, as I get a feel for how responsive you, the readers, are I will post more frequently. So don't hesitate to let me know what you think with your comments & emails, please.

This being merely an introduction, the first official post will be 6.7.07 (that's June, I'm in America).

What is an Ikeaphile?

Ikea [ī-kē-yah]
noun
1. An awesome international home store

-phile
suff.
1. One that loves or has a strong affinity or preference for.

So if you have a love of, or strong affinity for, an awesome international home store (Ikea) you qualify. Furthermore, if you are any level of photographer this stuff is for you. Even if you can afford Chimera and Hensel stuff, this can still be a lot of fun for you.

In the Strobist tradition, there will be a Flickr group for readers to post their experiments in for C&C, and to share our Ikea-love in the forum.

Finally, if you have already found your own Ikea solutions for photography, LET ME KNOW! I know you're already out there, and the stuff I've seen so far has been very creative, useful, and well, functional in a real environment. I'd love to blog about you.

Hope we can all enjoy this, and heck, maybe learn something along the way.


Be sure to use RSS for easy checking of updates.