We make the reflector with our own hands

The reflector for flash is, perhaps, the most accessible equipment that you can easily make yourself. With this money and time, this business will take you very little, but in practice you will see how much better the quality of the pictures will improve - no more sharp shadows and red eyes that are frequent companions when shooting with flash, which is called "on the forehead ".

We make the reflector with our own hands: what we need

Softbox is a closed structure, which consists of two parts - a diffuser and, in fact, a reflector. For its manufacture we will need:

1. A4 cardboard sheets in quantity of 10 pieces. You can buy them in the clerical department of the store. Also suitable and more dense material, for example, the one that is used for boxes. You can also buy several plastic folders for documents.

2. The film is a self-adhesive in black color - we will glue it with the reflector of light from the outside. In this case, it is better to choose a material that does not have a glossy surface but a matte surface - it is simply soiled less.

3. Self-adhesive film, mirror or foil. It will take about a meter in length (with a half-meter width of the roll).

4. Sheets of white A4 paper. It will be necessary for drafts.

5. Stationery knife or scissors - to whom it is more convenient to work.

6. A simple pencil.

7. Ruler.

We make the reflector with our own hands: we measure, draw, cut out

We measure the flash, and then, in accordance with the dimensions obtained, we make a layout from the draft sheets. All cut out. After we make sure that all angles converge, we transfer the patterns to the cardboard.

When we moved all the drawings onto the cardboard surface, cut out and rot the sheets along the fold lines.

We make the reflector with our own hands: we paste soft boxes with film

Determine where the outer part of the softbox will be. All external surfaces of the reflector are covered with a film of black color. So that she lay flat, without air "bubbles", glue very carefully and gradually. Surplus film is cut off.

Also we do the reverse, the inside, for gluing which we use a mirror film. It, by the way, has two protective layers - one covers an adhesive surface, and the other - a mirror one. To avoid scratching, the second layer should be removed at the very end of the job.

We make the reflector by our own hands: we collect the construction

To assemble the reflector, we also use a black film, the stripes of which glue together the sides of our design. The result should be a truncated "pyramid".

Now it's up to the little thing. We need to attach a diffuser to the reflector. The material reflecting light can be plain white paper or translucent plastic (again, a folder for documents with a not very dense cover is suitable). Strips of black self-adhesive attach the diffuser to the box.

And the last. In order to keep our reflector on the flash better, you can use the following solutions to the problem:

1. That part of the softbox that contacts the flash is treated evenly with a transparent silicone sealant on the entire surface of the reflector attachment. We give a day to dry.

2. We fix the reflector to the flash in a less "presentable" way, namely with the help of rubber bands for money.

It is worth noting that in the practice of studio photography, it may often be necessary to change the "temperature" of light towards warm tones. To do this, you can make another reflector, in which the silvery inner surface should be covered with golden paint or initially use a golden self-adhesive. Therefore, the second option for attaching a softbox to a flash is still preferable - so you can easily change reflectors depending on what effect you want to achieve in photos.