How to build your own ringlight for fashion shoots / portraits.
After seeing some inspiring photos on the lighting dpreview forum, I decided to build my own ringlight. A professional ringlight costs over 1000 USD, so that was not an option for me. Ideally it should be cheap and good looking; I will let you be the judge of that.
There are a number of options for the light source. I will summarize them and give a quick internet link to an example:
1. Regular light bulbs.
Here is an example of a single light in a baking shape. It has a hot-spot and is not so professional looking.
http://www.aaaarrrgggggg.com/article.php?story=20050420211837735
Another possibility is mounting multiple bulbs on a wooden frame in a circular pattern. This will give softer light, but you will see distinct light spots in your models eyes. This can be either a plus or a negative.
2. LED ringlight
Good for macro work, however not enough light output to use for portraits.
http://www.digi-darkroom.com/showthread.php?t=7451
3. Flash
A good alternative is to mount multiple flashes onto a ring-type deflector. You get great color reproduction. However, you don’t have a modeling light.
http://www.dennisonbertram.com/hackmaster/2005/02/build-your-own-ring-flash.htm
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/199410
4. Circline Fluorescent tube.
This is what I will be building. It is a bright and continues light source. Building it will also be cheap (as I am Dutch). Here is the post which gave me the idea:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=13283621
How does it work?
Fluorescent lights need an electric starter. A high voltage starts the light, after which a low voltage maintains the light output. Most people buy the lamp including starter module from a shop. However, the lamp stand I will throw away immediately and the circular lamp I need to replace with a better color temperature lamp. After a couple of days of googleing, I found a store that sells them separately and my project begun…..
The supplies:
I spend 12 dollars at my home depot buying the following supplies for the ringlight holder and tripod mount:
In addition, I purchased the fluorescent light and ballast/starter (25 USD). Make sure you get a daylight fluorescent tube with a CRI (color rendering index) of at least 80. This has a color temp of arounf 6000K
http://www.prolighting.com/fc12t9-d.html
http://www.prolighting.com/1fcorfccibar.html
The tools you will need:
- screwdrivers
- drill with metal bit
- soldering iron
- basic knowledge of electronics (don’t sue me if you get fried)
Let’s get started! Cut a hole in the plastic planter trays (this is where the camera lens will come through). Fix the two trays to each other with three screws. Then attach the clamps that will hold the lamp into place. The ballast is best placed at the bottom for stability. Create a hole next to each side of the ballast for the wires. I also put aluminium foil in the trays to maximize the light coming out.
Basic front:
mounted ballast:
Follow the directions on the ballast to solder the electronics. I have added a switch between the black wire from the power socket to the ballast. This way I can switch the light on and off, without pulling the plug out of the socket.
The circline light has four metal connectors coming out of the back. If you bought a complete lamp, you will have a nice connector. I however, just wrapped the wire around the connector and soldered it into place. Then wrap some electric isolation tape around them, to prevent shorting out (this goes for all connections).
Finally, attach the tripod mount onto the back. For this you will need to drill into metal, in order to connect the camera mounting plate. Then apply two layers of black paint from a spray can and bob is your uncle.
Here is the final result:
Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be having a model over this week to try it out
Cheers,
Marius
After seeing some inspiring photos on the lighting dpreview forum, I decided to build my own ringlight. A professional ringlight costs over 1000 USD, so that was not an option for me. Ideally it should be cheap and good looking; I will let you be the judge of that.
There are a number of options for the light source. I will summarize them and give a quick internet link to an example:
1. Regular light bulbs.
Here is an example of a single light in a baking shape. It has a hot-spot and is not so professional looking.
http://www.aaaarrrgggggg.com/article.php?story=20050420211837735
Another possibility is mounting multiple bulbs on a wooden frame in a circular pattern. This will give softer light, but you will see distinct light spots in your models eyes. This can be either a plus or a negative.
2. LED ringlight
Good for macro work, however not enough light output to use for portraits.
http://www.digi-darkroom.com/showthread.php?t=7451
3. Flash
A good alternative is to mount multiple flashes onto a ring-type deflector. You get great color reproduction. However, you don’t have a modeling light.
http://www.dennisonbertram.com/hackmaster/2005/02/build-your-own-ring-flash.htm
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/199410
4. Circline Fluorescent tube.
This is what I will be building. It is a bright and continues light source. Building it will also be cheap (as I am Dutch). Here is the post which gave me the idea:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=13283621
How does it work?
Fluorescent lights need an electric starter. A high voltage starts the light, after which a low voltage maintains the light output. Most people buy the lamp including starter module from a shop. However, the lamp stand I will throw away immediately and the circular lamp I need to replace with a better color temperature lamp. After a couple of days of googleing, I found a store that sells them separately and my project begun…..
The supplies:
I spend 12 dollars at my home depot buying the following supplies for the ringlight holder and tripod mount:
In addition, I purchased the fluorescent light and ballast/starter (25 USD). Make sure you get a daylight fluorescent tube with a CRI (color rendering index) of at least 80. This has a color temp of arounf 6000K
http://www.prolighting.com/fc12t9-d.html
http://www.prolighting.com/1fcorfccibar.html
The tools you will need:
- screwdrivers
- drill with metal bit
- soldering iron
- basic knowledge of electronics (don’t sue me if you get fried)
Let’s get started! Cut a hole in the plastic planter trays (this is where the camera lens will come through). Fix the two trays to each other with three screws. Then attach the clamps that will hold the lamp into place. The ballast is best placed at the bottom for stability. Create a hole next to each side of the ballast for the wires. I also put aluminium foil in the trays to maximize the light coming out.
Basic front:
mounted ballast:
Follow the directions on the ballast to solder the electronics. I have added a switch between the black wire from the power socket to the ballast. This way I can switch the light on and off, without pulling the plug out of the socket.
The circline light has four metal connectors coming out of the back. If you bought a complete lamp, you will have a nice connector. I however, just wrapped the wire around the connector and soldered it into place. Then wrap some electric isolation tape around them, to prevent shorting out (this goes for all connections).
Finally, attach the tripod mount onto the back. For this you will need to drill into metal, in order to connect the camera mounting plate. Then apply two layers of black paint from a spray can and bob is your uncle.
Here is the final result:
Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be having a model over this week to try it out
Cheers,
Marius
