Outdoor wind box

[Steve Baggett]

Spring is nearing and I'm going to build me some sort of "diffusion and wind box" to soften the light and (more importantly) help control the swaying of flowers in light wind for close shooting (1:10 to 1:5 range with a 180 macro). What I have in mind would function like the Lastolite outdoor Cubelite (#3687) but be much cheaper, of course. I'm looking for helpful ideas and suggestions beyond what I've already found searching the forums. It should be relatively light, with 3 hinged sides perhaps, and maybe should fold up like a small version of a "dressing screen" we see in the movies. I need suggestions on what materials to use for the "diffusion" panels and frame structure, as well as any clever tricks to make it as portable and useful as possible. I need to be able to place it around flowers in the field or in someone's flowerbed without causing damage. I may occasionally add a colored "backdrop" over the rear panel, but controlling mild wind is foremost in my needs. I figure you clever field shooters out there have solved this problem and can give me some hints, links, designs, and admonitions. Thanks in advance, ya'll.

[Dave Schneider]

I think I would pay a trip to REI or some other outdoor store and see if there are any tents that would provide useful components. You may be able to find collapsible poles for a tent fly that would work. If there was a cheap enough tent you could even but that and replace the fabric with white nylon. I'm thinking that a self supporting dome shape may be easier to deal with that panels. Just a thought.

[Ralph Barker]

Interestingly, Steve, I've been thinking about doing something similar. My thought, so far, has been to use either rip-stop nylon or a similarly translucent cotton cloth from a fabric store. My idea is to make what amount to fabric tubes that would be sewn onto the backside of the main sheet at the "hinge" points, with the loop large enough for 3/8" wooden dowels to be pushed through. Sharpen one end of the dowels, and they can be pushed into the ground. Smaller, spacer dowels could be used between the poke-in-the-ground dowels to maintain tension on the fabric. By using fabric, the whole thing could be rolled up for convenient transport and carry. The same design could also be made with opaque fabric of various colors for macro background purposes.

Then, all one would need is a couple of round side-view mirrors, attached to the end of similar dowels, to stick in the ground and use as mini reflector spots. Or, maybe polyester mirror scraps from TAP Plastic, instead. I've also considered making miniature versions of the "Hollywood Arms" from Matthews Grip Co out of Tinker Toy pieces, to which little scraps of mirror or whatever could be attached and easily positioned for macro work.