When you don’t mind packing some extra weight and bulk, sealed lead acid (SLA) battery packs are great. They last forever and recycle the flash very quickly. Just be careful when shooting at full power that you don’t melt your flash head! I also like that SLA batteries are supposed to be charging when not in use. This means they’re always ready to shoot when you are.

Making one is pretty simple if you can drill and solder. See for yourself!

You can go with as large or small of a battery as you want. I went with a PowerSonic PSH-655-FR ($11 each). This is a “high rate discharge” battery and can handle any flash demands you throw at it. I thought this size battery would be the best compromise between size and performance, it has worked out great for me. It is rated at 6 volts, 5.5 Ah and 21 watts per cell. I also got the PowerSonic PSC-61000A-C 6 V – A-C Type charger ($40) and made a cable so that I can charge two battery packs at once. This charger is nice in that it automatically switches to a float charge.

To house the battery, I got a 6″x4″x2″ Project Enclosure from Radio Shack. I wanted the option to power two flashes from one battery so I got two two-pin CB style sockets for the case. I also added a switch and a fuse (5A). Because the pins on the connector are open and exposed (I couldn’t find any caps), the switch is to prevent any accidental shorts. The fuse is an extra safety measure in case something shorts the pins while the switch is on. The green thing is just a template I made to mark the enclosures for cutting.

edit: the previous wiring description was incorrect. Thanks, Michael Bass, for pointing that out. My battery packs were wired correctly, just the description was off. That’s what I get for rushing…
Wiring it all up is rather simple. Go from the positive battery terminal to lead 1 of the fuse, lead 2 of the fuse to lead 1 of the switch, lead 2 of the switch to pin 1 on both CB connectors. I used a lighted switch so I also had to add a resistor, which I used to pull power from lead 2 on the fuse. Then from the negative battery terminal go to pin 2 on each CB connector (then to the switch light, if you have one).

edit2: Here’s a diagram for the visual learners

To attach two wires to one prong of the “CB socket” I used a female blade connector backwards:

On the sides of the enclosure I attached metal D-rings with clips, which I got from Strap Works, my go-to place for webbing and hardware (I love how you can get the metal hardware powdercoated in a variety of colors). On the inside of the enclosure I had to remove those small “rails” running down the side (they’re for holding a PCB) so that the large washer could lie flat. With these D-rings I attach a strap I made that lets the battery pack hang from the swivel bracket handle on the light stand.

Finish product:

For cables, I ordered Quantum battery pack cables from ebay and cut the ends off so I could use my own. This part is pretty self explanatory. Just make sure you have the right connectors to match the jack on your flash and those on the battery pack, then keep polarity consistent.

Generally, the inside part of the plug below is used for the positive wire while the barrel is the ground. That’s how I wired it.

Soldering the wires to the CB style plug was a little more difficult but having a set of “helping hands” really helped…

Put the same style CB plugs on the cable for the charger. Since I made two battery packs, I split each terminal on the charger into two leads. I heat-shrinked the joint together and put the wires into expandable braided sleeving.

When charging, be sure to flip the switch ON. The loop velcro you see on the front is for a little strap I made that goes around the battery pack and light stand tube. It keeps the battery from swinging around when I need to move the stand.

All in all, it’s a relatively low cost project that yields great results. I’m glad I did it!

I wanted to make an external battery pack but I didn’t want to use “dummy batteries” to connect it to the flash, I wanted a jack. Whenever I modify/make something I try to make it look as though it came like that from the factory, or could have. That was my goal for this, a clean install. I chose to mount the jack in place of the “bracket fitting,” which is next to the “external power source socket”. I don’t use flash brackets so I didn’t mind ditching the fitting. As far as I knew, no one had ever done this before so I had no idea if it would even fit, but I was confident I could make it fit. So I just started drilling…

Proceed at your own risk. Don’t blame me if you break something lol

I don’t have photos of the disassembly process (sorry!) but it’s only a few screws. First, remove the batteries. On the bottom of the flash are four screws that hold the base on. Remove these then the foot assembly should lift off. Disconnect the little wire harness. Now, looking from above, rotate the flash head 90 degrees. You’ll see four screws, two on each side. I did this many months ago so I’m going by memory but I think you only need to remove the two on the front half of the flash body. With the screws out, the flash body is only held together with little clips/tabs along the seam. WIth the battery door open, work it apart. This part takes a little finesse but it will come apart.

With the flash apart, you can get to work. The external power source socket screws in from behind its mounting plate. You don’t have to remove it but I did just so that it was easier to work with while drilling and whatnot. The following pictures explain how I mounted the jack. Cut the wires for the jack longer than you think they need to be as it’ll make routing them easier. I’m not sure which gauge wire I used but it wasn’t as thin as 26 AWG, probably more like 20 or 22 stranded.

To make room for the jack I had to file down the corner of the pcb, which I marked in blue. As long as you don’t file across any copper traces, it’s perfectly fine.

Solder the other ends of the wires to the appropriate battery tabs, as seen below, under the “+” and “-” markers. By appropriate, I mean make sure you stay consistent with your polarity; this jack should be wired the same as the jack on the battery pack and both ends of the cable need to be consistent.

The hardest part of this project was routing the wires so that the flash could be put back together. The tolerances are very tight so you have little room for new wires.

Since you have the foot assembly off, now is a good time to add a 1/8″ jack for a wireless trigger if you haven’t already. This is much easier. Just drill the hole for the jack and connect the wires as shown. Again, make sure this jack is wired the same as the jack on the trigger itself.

Here is the exterior, along with another flash I modded with a 1/8″ jack.

Getting the flash back together is a little tedious but just be patient. Be sure to attach the battery door before you start to reassemble everything. Once it’s back together, it should look something like this.

You can even reuse the rubber cover if you cut a hole in it, which gives it a cleaner look.

My next post will detail how to make the battery pack and cable that connects the pack to the flash. Stay tuned!

As promised, here is the dual speedlite bracketry for the Amvona softbox. The single speedlite version was more than adequate for most situations but I wanted something that could easily overpower the sun behind a model.

Materials used:

Tools used:

(you could get by without the RotoZip and chop saw but they expedited the process so I used what I had available.)

I wanted the brackets to be easily disassembled so I used wing nuts/screws all around. First I needed to find a way to attach the speedlite brackets to the softbox bracket. There were already two small holes along each side so I just enlarged them. Then I roughed up the inner side of the bracket around those holes to give the epoxy something to stick to, trimmed the T-nuts (not the claw/spike kind), then epoxied them in place.

Unlike my single speedlite version, the speedlites are no longer anchored to the middle circle part (the white styrene) so I used a thinner piece that was easier to cut. This piece is just to block excess light leakage. Again, I covered the back in gaffer’s tape for a nicer look.

With the nuts epoxied in place it is now possible to use just a thumbscrew to attach the speedlite brackets. I made my brackets with a slot in one end for adjustability so that any speedlite could be used. I don’t have measurements of each piece so you’re on your own here. Just hold your speedlite in the position you want it and map out the lengths. It’s all right angles and straight lines so it shouldn’t be too hard. To make the slots I drilled a hole at each end, anchored the bracket to a table, then used a rotozip to rout a straight line between the two drilled holes. After that, I used a small file to make the line straight and large enough to fit the bolt body.

To prime and paint them I used a background stand covered in plastic as a paint rack. Use multiple light coats for good even coverage. You may think a thick layer of paint is more durable but it’s actually more prone to chipping so only paint enough to reach the color you want.

Once it’s painted, bolt it on! For a more “professional” look, I dipped my wing nuts in black Plasti Dip (several times). I think they look and feel much better.

I haven’t designed a real “business card” yet but I wanted something I could hand out in the meantime to those who ask about my work (I know, I know, my gallery still isn’t up…). All I know is that when I finally design one it’s going to incorporate spot glossing/UV, which isn’t exactly cheap considering 500 is the minimum order quantity, so I don’t want to rush it. For now, this’ll do.

To make the images I just used illustrator to create the text and background, then simply took a picture of my display. Remember, these are negatives so if you want black text on your “business card,” use white on the screen.

If you wanted to get fancy, and incorporate color, you could even use slide film. Developing may take longer though, unless you can get it done locally (most photo labs have to send out anything that isn’t C-41).

I had the film processed at Walmart, which was $1.76 (no prints/CD) and it only took 30 minutes.

Quick, cheap, effective!

Keeping them in a film canister protects them and makes dispensing them quite easy. Stashing a few in your wallet works equally well.

I’d like to introduce to you the tacticool strobist bag. I was in the market for a bag for my new Gitzo 1541T tripod but wasn’t happy with anything I found. Most were too bulky and/or long, which defeated the purpose of having travel-sized gear. Speedlites are my strobe of choice for their portability and convenience so in that vein I also use Manfrotto 001B Nano light stands (19″ when collapsed), and double-fold umbrellas. Luckily, I found a bag that fits everything! You can find it at County Comm (I love this place).

Meet the Maratac Extreme SAT-COM bag.

Maratac Extreme makes great stuff so I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. It was designed to carry a military satellite communications antenna but it makes for a perfect lighting gear bag. It comfortably carries two double-fold Westcott umbreallas, two Manfrotto 001B light stands and a Gitzo 1541T, which still leaves room for some small stuff and a couple speedlites.
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Inside is a long pocket along the base that I use to hold the umbrellas:

Next goes the light stands:

And finally, the tripod:

Once you’re up and shooting, the bag does double duty (once filled with ballast) as a perfect apparatus for stabilizing the tripod:

Along each side is a zippered pocket. One goes the full length, the other side is divided into two pockets:

The strap unbuckles, which can make getting things in and out a little easier depending on how tight/short you have the strap adjusted:

As you can see, there’s plenty of PALS webbing, ready for MOLLE-compatible pouches (like for strobes):

As if the badass-factor wasn’t high enough already, it was only $35! Eat that, all you dedicated “photography bags!”

Since we’re kind of on the topic, here’s the Gitzo posing for a glamour shot:

I’d like to start by giving credit to Honl Photo for the design idea. I had the supplies already so I wanted to see what I could come up with.

For those of you who don’t want sticky-backed velcro on your flash, this is the perfect solution. It’s quite simple to make and only takes a few minutes if you have a sewing machine.

Supplies:

• 1.5″ wide loop velcro, about 10.5″ long and non-adhesive-backed
• 1.5″ wide hook velcro, about 1.5″ long and non-adhesive-backed
• a piece of bicycle inner tube roughly 11″x1.5″
• needle and thread/sewing machine

I started by trimming the inner tube slightly narrower than the velcro
so that it didn’t stick out from underneath. Then I sewed the inner tube to the loop velcro and let a piece of the inner tube stick out past the velcro a little to act as a pull-tab. On that same pull-tab end is where the small square of hook velcro goes, sandwiching the inner tube. I used the standard box-X on each end.

Now you can use a variety of velcro accessories like grids, snoots and bounces without having to use stick-on velcro.

Oh, and to the guys who feel that sewing threatens their masculinity, just think of a sewing machine as a [potentially dangerous] power tool. Have you ever impaled your fingertip with a needle? I hear it isn’t a pleasant experience…

I was in the market for a softbox and came across a great deal on an Amvona Dynaphos softbox that I couldn’t pass up. The softbox came with a speedring, which was just a flat, circular sheet of metal with a pattern cut out of the middle that allowed Amvona hot-lights to be removed with a quarter turn. Luckily, it was easy to remove and replace with whatever I wanted. I could’ve modified that metal speedring that came with it but it was pretty beefy and would’ve taken longer to cut. To make life easier, I opted for a piece of 3.2mm styrene (plastic) that I got at a local hobby store (it was with the model train accessories). The actual material isn’t important, you could use styrene, ABS, plexiglass, wood, and so on, as long as its fairly thin and sturdy.

First, I cut out a styrene circle equal to the size of the original speedring. Then I cut a rectangular hole in the middle that was large enough for the head of a speedlite to pass through, with room to spare. Around this, I siliconed a piece of foam. It made a pretty firm seal around the head of my 580ex but to be sure it didn’t fall out, I drilled a few holes and used paracord/550 cord as a way to secure it. On the back of the styrene, I covered it with gaffer’s tape to give it a more professional look. After this, I bolted this new “speedring” into the frame and was good to go. The red arrows indicate how the frame mounts to a light stand (I’ve received many questions on this). One end is threaded for 1/4″-20 and the other, 5/8″, so that it can be mounted on any light stand. It works surprisingly well for what it is. If you need more power, stay tuned for my dual speedlite revision.

I had a shoot to do but my “real” softbox hadn’t arrived yet so I had to improvise. I had everything at my house except for the diffusion material, which was only $2 at a local fabric store. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Large cardboard box. A cube will work best but use what you have.
• Aluminum foil
• Spray adhesive and a little duct tape
• Diffusion material. I used white nylon that I found with the wedding gown fabrics at Jo-Ann Fabrics

First, you’ll need to remove one of the sides of the box. This open end will be referred to as the front. Then, using the cardboard you just removed and/or something else stiff, tape it inside the box so that it creates a 45 degree angle going from the top back of the box to the bottom front. Next, spray the inside of the box with your adhesive (I used 3M Super 77, which I had lying around, but anything will work) and line everything in foil. Cut a rectangle the size of your flash head, roughly centered, on the top of the box. I cut a rectangle large enough for two flashes but one flash turned out to be more than enough. Finally, cut out a piece of diffusion material that’ll fit over the open end of the box and tape/staple/glue it on. You’re done! With your flash head in the down/”L” position, the flash will rest right on top of the box with the head pointing down into it. The angled piece inside of the box creates nice, even lighting, as opposed to firing the speedlite from behind, directly into the diffusion material, which would produce a hotspot.

The portrait below was made using this cardboard softbox.

My photo gallery isn’t up yet but I can’t wait at least want to start adding some worthwhile content to the blog. Most of the posts will detail DIY projects but I may add some reviews, lighting diagrams or whatever other tidbits on photography that I think may be of interest to the masses. Feel free to comment, ask questions or make requests. Enjoy!