DIY Softbox Diffuser

It’s been several months since I had made a quick and dirty DIY project so I was kind of looking forward to doing another one. I was cleaning out my daughter’s room today when I found some leftover school materials and the words “softbox diffuser” immediately came into mind. So, I decided to make one.

I had a template printed before so I scrounged inside my document storage to look for it. Being a quick and dirty project, I didn’t want to spend too much time making the diffuser. I should be able to complete it an hour and half, tops. I used the following materials that I found from my daughter’s stuff:

• One translucent PVC folder
• One black PVC folder
• Silver craft paper
• Double stick tape

I first traced the template on the PVC folder and since the material was translucent enough, drawing was easy. I drew using a grease pencil because a lead-based pencil would require a bit more work (repeating the lines) because the lead won’t easily leave the marks that I need on the material.

Next, I cut out the shape of my diffuser then I proceeded to make four trapezoids: two silver and two black. The silver trapezoids will go inside the diffuser to bounce the light from the flash head. The black trapezoids will go on the outside of the diffuser – sort of to give it a nice look. I used double adhesive tapes to attach the four trapezoidal shapes.

Once I got everything attached to my base material, I proceeded to bend the diffuser into the shape I want. After bending the thing, I excitedly got my flash out of my dry box and proceeded to attach my diffuser to the flash head. What do you know?  In my haste, I forgot to devise a way to attach the diffuser to the flash had. So into my daughter’s bedroom back I went to find an elastic hair band. I found one that was covered with some kind of soft cloth. With band in hand, I proceeded to attach the diffuser to the flash head.

N0w, I need to test it. As I was the only one in the house, I had no choice but to use my old, trusty “model” – my daughter’s teddy. So, here’s proof of the pudding:

All in all, I think my little DIY softbox diffuser works and I had fun making it. Took me just a little over an hour and a half to finish. If my wife sees it, she’s gonna say that I should have just bought one and it would have been better looking than this one. True, but doing DIY with minimal to no cost is better and is more fun.

I can’t wait to get it out on the field and use it.