Introduction: Soft Handheld Studio Light - Trash to Treasure

Had this old, broken lamp (structurally broken). 1 out of 2 projects for my Trash to Treasure

- I screwed off the lamp shading at the end to examine the lamp

- The stem portion was snapped from the base and was deemed useless unless welded

Supplies

- Broken Lamp

- Wax Paper

- Tape

- Any working lightbulb

- A power source adapted/ adaptable to your lamp

Step 1: Removed Stem Portion

I inserted a lightbulb to view the hard light that the lamp would create (shown next step).

- Made sure the lamp was functioning with no overheating to the bulb

Step 2: Hard Lighting

The light produced was harsh for photos, casting unwanted shadows and contrast in photos when unwanted.

- Put the lamp two foot away from plant to compare lighting to soft lighting

Step 3: Re-screwing Lamp Shade

At this point, I had already established that I wanted to use wax paper as a diffuser for the light; much like a non-dense cloud.

- Two parts here, a screw contraption and the shade

Step 4: Wax Paper

Adding the wax paper exponentially diffused the light, dissipating the shadows to appear softer (shown next step).

- Tape to secure the wax paper to the shade

Step 5: Soft Lighting

The shadows appear much less sharp in comparison to the previous steps.

- Same camera placement, light two feet from plant

- Same image from before shown

Step 6: Photo Results

This was 1 out of 2 of my Trash to Treasure projects - Both for photography!!