Built a frame for diffusion panel

Just finished building a 4' x 7' frame for my diffusion panel. Took all of about 10 minutes to measure and cut. Now all I need is for my wife to dig out her sewing machine, stitch up the edges of the material and sew on the four elastic corner holders and I'll be all set. 1 down 3 to go. I'm sure anyone interested could easily figure out how to build it without instructions, but if you want the dimensions to cut, let me know.

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Show us some pics when you completely done and maybe some of your final setup. Don't forget some example shots!!

Are you using these for portraits?

I love the car in the BG with the boxes on top!

Oh, nice support system you built there. Mines leaning on a ceiling fan right now I plan to build a 2nd panel and tie the 2 together, but I like your solution!

Photodawg1 wrote in post #4169597
I love the car in the BG with the boxes on top!

LOL... I'm the original owner of that fast and sweet '91 Z28. It's covered with the clear drop cloth because we are currently remodeling and doing a room addition to our house and the contractor is using the other side of the garage to cut the tile, and does that create a lot of dust. The wife piled the boxes on the car so they would be handy when she needed to empty all the kitchen cabinets & cupboards and stuff. No way she's going to pile the full boxes back on it though.
photosytes, I'll post more when I have it totally complete, and yes I intend to use these with some Alien Bees and have the ability to shoot full body shots.

whiskaz wrote in post #4169713
Oh, nice support system you built there. Mines leaning on a ceiling fan right now I plan to build a 2nd panel and tie the 2 together, but I like your solution!

Yeah, I plan on having a white one clipped to a black panel, but decided to add the support in case one needed to be free standing. I don't trust myself enough to let it lean against a ceiling fan. Bad things could happen.

Did you glue some of the joints, so that the whole thing does not twist up into a warped shape rather than holding the fabric taut in a flat plane?

Wilt wrote in post #4169892
Did you glue some of the joints, so that the whole thing does not twist up into a warped shape rather than holding the fabric taut in a flat plane?

Not yet, and I won't do that until I have the material ready to slap on it. I don't want to glue anything that isn't neccessary, and I don't know what is or isn't yet. I was hoping that I could get some of that elastic rope/bungee style cord and put it through all the pieces and tie it together so that when I tear it down everything stays together.
I also think I am going to remove the two 90 degree bends at the support, replace those with tees, and add a length of PVC to give it extra support in the middle.

Wilt wrote in post #4169892
Did you glue some of the joints, so that the whole thing does not twist up into a warped shape rather than holding the fabric taut in a flat plane?

First - My DIY projects are nothing to look at. I'm lucky if they get completed at all but when they do, don't judge them based on looks. I sewed elastic straps to all 4 corners of my material and it's putting some force against all 4 corners. No bending though and no glue.

Those fittings are pretty tight already. If I were slamming water through 'em, I'd probably apply glue. I was going to myself, but pulling them back apart is too difficult to bother :P

I'd like to rebuild it though so that it would break down to something smaller for storage or transporting.

Oh and as for sewing - I tried to hem one side of it (I got my wife a nice sewing machine, right, and I'm the first one to use it... she still hasn't). I got one side done and decided it wasn't worth the effort to do that other. Sewed the elastic onto the 4 corners and called it. It still diffuses light nicely.

whiskaz wrote in post #4171200
First - My DIY projects are nothing to look at. I'm lucky if they get completed at all but when they do, don't judge them based on looks. I sewed elastic straps to all 4 corners of my material and it's putting some force against all 4 corners. No bending though and no glue.

Those fittings are pretty tight already. If I were slamming water through 'em, I'd probably apply glue. I was going to myself, but pulling them back apart is too difficult to bother :P

I'd like to rebuild it though so that it would break down to something smaller for storage or transporting.

Oh and as for sewing - I tried to hem one side of it (I got my wife a nice sewing machine, right, and I'm the first one to use it... she still hasn't). I got one side done and decided it wasn't worth the effort to do that other. Sewed the elastic onto the 4 corners and called it. It still diffuses light nicely.

It doesn't frey apart on you by not being seamed? That will be a big time saver if I, err, she doesn't need to sew it. Maybe that's why it's called ripstop, LOL.

Looks good Randy. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished and in use. Glad you didn't go to the extreme I did when I built my first one. It was more cool than functional.

Are you using 3/4" PVC so you can use the Photoflex C-Clips to join them?

TMR Design wrote in post #4171538
Looks good Randy. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished and in use. Glad you didn't go to the extreme I did when I built my first one. It was more cool than functional.

Are you using 3/4" PVC so you can use the Photoflex C-Clips to join them?

Hi Robert, yes this is the 3/4" PVC. I've already hacksawed a few 3/4" couplers and turned them into clips. All I need to do is glue them back to back. But I'll go check out those Photoflex clips.

A few minutes ago I finally pulled the trigger on an AB800. I'm hoping to get another one as a Christmas gift, so I didn't buy two at this time.

I was watching my Dean Collins DVD and saw him using a huge panel in the studio as a reflector, so I'll make another one and try and use that as my fill light for right now. Either that or one of my other flashes.

I'll be sure to add some shots of it in use when I have everything. In the meantime you can go check out the G&N section thread ("Some new shots of the wife") and see some shots of why I want the B800 and diffusion panels. The off camera flashes just don't have enough juice for full body shots.

shooterman wrote in post #4171244
It doesn't frey apart on you by not being seamed? That will be a big time saver if I, err, she doesn't need to sew it. Maybe that's why it's called ripstop, LOL.

It hasn't yet (but it's only been a week). I had to cut off some excess width and it didn't look bad. The sewing job I did probably looks worse It's really not pretty at all, but functions well!

Congrats on the AB! You should be able to do a lot with just one light. I went down the road of thinking that I was limited, but you're not, so much. I'm always fighting with trying to learn with what I've got (which is likely to teach me more anyway) and bogging myself down with equipment!

shooterman wrote in post #4171587
Hi Robert, yes this is the 3/4" PVC. I've already hacksawed a few 3/4" couplers and turned them into clips. But I'll go check out those Photoflex clips.

A few minutes ago I finally pulled the trigger on an AB800. I'm hoping to get another one as a Christmas gift, so I didn't buy two at this time.

I was watching my Dean Collins DVD and saw him using a huge panel in the studio as a reflector, so I'll make another one and try and use that as my fill light for right now. Either that or one of my other flashes.

That's cool Randy. If you are making clips that work then you don't need the C-Clips but they are fairly inexpensive and convenient.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Clips_for_Lite​panel.html

TMR Design wrote in post #4171732
That's cool Randy. If you are making clips that work then you don't need the C-Clips but they are fairly inexpensive and convenient.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Clips_for_Lite​panel.html

I assume you're talking about the Collins on Basics DVD, or another from the FineLight series? Aren't they the greatest? I watched them over and over to really understand it all because as you've noticed he moves at light speed.

What you might want to do, since you're going to use large panels as reflectors, is to make an extra black and extra white. This way you can control the type of reflector by placing a black panel behind the white to prevent any transmission out the back, or you can add a second white panel that will allow some transmission and acts as a great reflector.

"The Best of Dean Collins on Lighting", the 4 DVD set. Very expensive but very worth it. I've only gotten around to watching only the 1st hour of DVD 4, but so much is in that one hour. It blew my mind to see him produce main, fill, background, and hairlight all from one single Metz flash. Even my wife was impressed!

If B&H sells the clips I'll add that to my cart too. I'm getting one of those heavy duty Impact light stands that you recommended in another thread for the Bee.