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How about some DIY.... V-Flats
anonymouscuban
Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
A while back, I read a book on portrait lighting. It talked and used "v-flats" extensively throughout different lighting schemes. As I was reading the book, I thought that these v-flats were pretty cool and they should be pretty easy to make. My first thought was to make them from a couple of sheets of drywall, painted white. I never did make them because I don't have a lot of room and thought it would be a pain to move and store them.
Well recently, I thought to Google v-flats and I found several sites that talk about how to make them from 4'x8' sheets of foamcore. I called around a few local sign shops and found a place that would sell them to me at about $15 each. Well, I was at Lowes today and I happened across some insulation boards. I've seen these before but never thought of using them. Well, after checking them out for a few minutes, I decided they'd work pretty well.
They come in several thickness. From 3/16" to as thick as 2". I bought the 1" thick ones. It seemed to be thick enough to hold its shape but not too thick to make them hard to store and they were under $10 each. I bought 4 sheets thinking I'd make 2 v-flats.
Here are the sheets. They have print on one side but all white on the other. I plan to paint the printed site black so I could also use them as flags:
It can be simpler to make these. I held two other together and ran duck tape along the edge, basically binding them together like a book.
After I taped them, I stood them up and realized that 4'x8' is just way too big for the space I have to use them in. So I first cut them down to 7' tall. They were still too wide so I decided to cut them length wise down the middle... two feet. This makes them a lot easy to move around and fit nicely into my space. They will also be a lot easier to store.
Here they are cut down. The nice thing too is that I made two v-flats out of two sheets so just over $20. In this shot, I have my AB400 inside the v-flat shooting towards the center of it. You can see that not too much light spills forwards and most is reflected back.
Here are a couple shots from the other side of the v-flats. I tried them with the 7" reflector on the strobe and also without it. BTW, both strobes are at 1/4 power.
Here you can see the pull back. Again, v-flat on camera left is bare, one right has the reflector. Not really sure if one configuration works better than the other. Both reflect the light back nicely and light the BG pretty evenly. Again... not much light spill back towards where your subject would be.
Here I've also fired the main light, the large softbox to camera left. With the v-flats being white on the back, they reflect the light from the main back at the subject. Not sure if this is good or bad, but it demonstrates that these can also be used as large reflectors. Again, my thoughts are to paint the back of them with flat black paint. That should eliminate any bounced light when using them for high key setups but I can flip them to the white side when I want to use them as reflectors.
And finally, some test shots with them. Here are my two girls... my wife and Potato. The only PP I did on these was some sharpening.
Is she not the cutest!!!
Not bad for all of $22 and about 15 minutes. They won't last forever since they are made of styrofoam with a thin plastic coating on each side but at that price, if they last for a few months, it's well worth it. Also, if you decide to do this and want to paint them, make sure to use water based paint. Oil based will eat right through the styrofoam.
Hope you find this useful. Enjoy.
Alex
Well recently, I thought to Google v-flats and I found several sites that talk about how to make them from 4'x8' sheets of foamcore. I called around a few local sign shops and found a place that would sell them to me at about $15 each. Well, I was at Lowes today and I happened across some insulation boards. I've seen these before but never thought of using them. Well, after checking them out for a few minutes, I decided they'd work pretty well.
They come in several thickness. From 3/16" to as thick as 2". I bought the 1" thick ones. It seemed to be thick enough to hold its shape but not too thick to make them hard to store and they were under $10 each. I bought 4 sheets thinking I'd make 2 v-flats.
Here are the sheets. They have print on one side but all white on the other. I plan to paint the printed site black so I could also use them as flags:
It can be simpler to make these. I held two other together and ran duck tape along the edge, basically binding them together like a book.
After I taped them, I stood them up and realized that 4'x8' is just way too big for the space I have to use them in. So I first cut them down to 7' tall. They were still too wide so I decided to cut them length wise down the middle... two feet. This makes them a lot easy to move around and fit nicely into my space. They will also be a lot easier to store.
Here they are cut down. The nice thing too is that I made two v-flats out of two sheets so just over $20. In this shot, I have my AB400 inside the v-flat shooting towards the center of it. You can see that not too much light spills forwards and most is reflected back.
Here are a couple shots from the other side of the v-flats. I tried them with the 7" reflector on the strobe and also without it. BTW, both strobes are at 1/4 power.
Here you can see the pull back. Again, v-flat on camera left is bare, one right has the reflector. Not really sure if one configuration works better than the other. Both reflect the light back nicely and light the BG pretty evenly. Again... not much light spill back towards where your subject would be.
Here I've also fired the main light, the large softbox to camera left. With the v-flats being white on the back, they reflect the light from the main back at the subject. Not sure if this is good or bad, but it demonstrates that these can also be used as large reflectors. Again, my thoughts are to paint the back of them with flat black paint. That should eliminate any bounced light when using them for high key setups but I can flip them to the white side when I want to use them as reflectors.
And finally, some test shots with them. Here are my two girls... my wife and Potato. The only PP I did on these was some sharpening.
Is she not the cutest!!!
Not bad for all of $22 and about 15 minutes. They won't last forever since they are made of styrofoam with a thin plastic coating on each side but at that price, if they last for a few months, it's well worth it. Also, if you decide to do this and want to paint them, make sure to use water based paint. Oil based will eat right through the styrofoam.
Hope you find this useful. Enjoy.
Alex
"I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."
Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums
My Smug Site
Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums
My Smug Site
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NIKON D700
Trudy, wanna go to Lowe's with me? haha JK
:hide Should I maybe ad that sometimes I call my dog chicken bone??
So, how's your living room these days??
I gotta say, it is SO nice to see your improvement and your constant new ideas. Way to go!! Seriously! Way to improve your skills!
Your doing great work!
I am seriously impressed, and thanks for the DIY tip.
Sam
Trudy... so glad you can use this idea. It's so simple and IMO, very effective. Like I said, they have quite a few thicknesses. The 1" seemed the best for this application and they were cheap. The thicker boards start to get a bit more expensive... up to $30 a sheet. I'm thinking that the thinner ones could also be put to use as reflectors since they are a bit easier to handle and can be bent to a certain degree.
Cool. Make sure you post pics if you make some. BTW... I used a box cutter to cut them to size. You'll need a long board to use as a straight edge if you want the cut to be straight. I used a drywall tee but not everyone has one of those.
Thanks Angie. My living room is a work in progress. In the 9 years we've owned this home, I think we've used it a total of 4 times. It's gotten more use in the past few months as a "studio" than it ever did as a formal living room. Now if I can just find someone to take my Pool Table, I can move the couches that are in the LR to the family room and have a lot more space to shoot. I'm learning to work in the confined space.
OH... and yeah... Potato. If you see her, she looks kind of like a potato, hence the name. Her brother's name is Meatball. Not as cooperative of a model as Potato, which is odd because he's the calm one of the two. I got lucky and snapped this shot before he grabbed his bone and left.
Sam... thank you brother. Glad I can contribute something back to the Dgrin community. I'm a huge DIY'er. I've remodeled my entire house basically by myself. I think I've posted photos of my work. Well, I'm starting to use those DIY skills in my photography. I just got a sewing machine and have some ideas on some diffusers and modifiers. I will be sure to share anything I make.
Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums
My Smug Site
Glad to hear your living room is finally getting some use! I always love seeing what you (guys) come up with!
www.snaploonphotography.com
I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind! The answer is twelve? I think I'm in the wrong building. - Charles M. Schulz