DIY project: Speedlight Mounted Softbox

I like to shoot wildlife pictures in my backyard or even on the balcony. We live in the woods and we see birds or other animals all year long. Especially in the winter, enhancing the color by using subtle fill flash makes sense. Famous wildlife photographer Moose Peterson uses a softbox for the same purpose on his balcony, and I actually learned about it on his blog. So, why not just do the same?

I began making plans to build my own softbox when I saw Larry Becker's very detailed tutorial on his blog "Larry Becker's Cheap Shots". This was exactly what I was looking for. He made his for the Nikon SB600 speedlight, the same that I use. I like to create things on my own but I'm all against inventing the wheel twice.

And here it is! I didn't change much. Found a nice guy in a sign shop here in town, who gave me a strip of black Coroplast for a few bucks that I used for the body of the softbox. At the moment I'm using a white report cover as a diffuser but I believe it swallows too much light. I will replace it as soon I find the frosted material that is a little more transparent. I didn't have gaffers tape, as recommended by Larry, but I used black vinyl electrical tape instead to cover all edges.

How does it work? First I did some indoor tests . The shadows turned out very soft, much better than with the bare flash. Last weekend I did some more testing on the balcony. It was bitter cold but that didn't reduce the fun I had waiting for birds and grey squirrels. The morning sun came very bright from the left hand side. The speedlight with the softbox mounted stood three feet to the right, 30 degrees tilted down, and pointing toward the bird bath. I had several good shots of the Tufted Titmouse and other birds. I liked this one in particular, because of how the flash made the trails of the water drops and the rising steam from the bird bath visible.

Exposing for the shadows on the right side of the Grey Squirrel would have blown out the highlights. The soft fill flash took care of that and without the flash being too obvious.

The softbox is very lightweight, folds flat, and fits easily in the computer pocket of my photo back pack. Taking it in the field will not be a big deal. Because it is my first softbox, more testing needs to be done but I already like what it does for my photography on the balcony. Check it out at "Larry Becker's Cheap Shots". He has more really good tips on inexpensive photography solutions. Thank you for this one, Larry!

August 2013: More images made with the softbox: Click HERE and HERE

December 2011: New post "Softbox out again", see HERE

Sigma 50-500 F4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM

Known as "The BIGMA"

!!!  April 14, 2012: There is a newer post that summarizes my experience with this lens after two year of using it mainly for wildlife photography. Please feel free to click HERE if you like to jump over to the new post.

I found this lens under the Christmas tree last year. After three months of playing with the new "tool" I'm still at the beginning of a learning curve. However, the Sigma 50-500 has helped me so far to take some sharp pictures of birds and White-tailed Deer.

If you like to make images of wildlife, birds, etc., and your budget does not let you seriously think about the big Nikon primes, then this is the lens you should consider. It is not super-fast and the focus is not always easy to obtain in low light at the longer end of the lens range. But it produces sharp images if you provide good support and maintain a good long lens shooting technique. Zoom and focus ring have a nice feeling with a little resistance for good fine tuning.

What I really don't like is the lens creep. Unfortunately the lock works only at 50mm. Not a big deal, but I don't understand why little things like this have not been fixed after the first users complained about it many years ago. However, this lens has fulfilled my expectations so far, and I believe it has a very good price-performance relationship.

Nothing stands still and so has SIGMA just announced that the 50-500 f4.5-6.3 DG HSM will soon be available with Optical Stabilization (OS) function. According to their press release the OS function offers the use of shutter speeds approximately four stops slower than would otherwise be possible.

Spring has almost arrived and the first migrating birds show up already here in Iowa. I hope this lens will help me to make the images I have in mind. Let's get back to work…

Non-fictional fun

I'm just about to finish Joe McNally's book "The Hot Shoe Diaries - Big Light From Small Flashes". I have never had so much fun reading a non-fictional book. He is one of the great American photographers and photojournalists whose work is published in magazines like National Geographic. He works with light and creates amazing pictures by using small hot shoe flash lights.

In his book Joe McNally lets you participate in the process of creating his wonderful images. I've been following his blog for a while and I've already gotten used to his unconventional writing style. Serious when it comes to facts and technical content, but really funny how it is put in context. Be forewarned if you are a non-native English reader like me. You may learn a few new words and spelling suggestions which your English teacher didn't necessarily tell you about. But all this makes reading the book real fun. And while you are still giggling, you may have learned something new that can play a role for your own photography work from now on.

Summary: Highly recommended!

Did I use a hot shoe flash for the two pictures in this post? You bet!