Diffusing some el cheapo lighting
 

I got a pair of 500W halogen bulbs, work lights I believe, and they provide excellent lighting considering I only spent $20 on them. However, I've had to bounce them off the ceilings and walls because they're way too bright to shine on anyone's face. I was wondering where I could purchase some sort of translucent white material to clip on in front of the bulbs, so that I could point them straight ahead. I would just clip a piece of paper in front of them, but obviously they get way too hot to do that. I'm just looking for something white and translucent to help soften and diffuse the light, that I can easily clip on. Any suggestions?

http://www.leefiltersusa.com/PDFs/Li...PdfIndex.html#

Here's a link to some literature about diffusion material. You could always lamp down. (put a lesser wattage bulb in)

You are best off building a softbox, or bouncing them, like you said, check out this article:

http://dv.com/features/features_item...1/bjohnson0401

Mate go to the supermarket and get yourself some ovenproof baking paper. Remove the wire cages from the front of the lights and wrap them in the paper, a couple of layers should do the job, make sure you fill in the holes on the sides. Put the cages back on and your in business.

Uh... I would disagree with Adrian- Do not remove the cages. They are there to keep you safe in case the bulb blows. As far as wrapping them with wax paper, just make sure you leave some room for them to breath. Wax paper will indeed make a good diffuser. Also, you might consider using umbrella reflectors. They make the light much broader and softer.

Adrian is speaking about bakers parchment, not waxed paper. Baking parchment can withstand a 450 degree oven without browning.It's also known as silicon paper. Comes in a wide roll for under $4.

I would also agree that it would be bad practice to remove the safety screens.

My mistake, I meant the same thing <G>

Adrian does say in his post that you have to put the cages back on.
I think Keith has a really good idea with the umbrellas. They are cheap and much more versitile than diffusion paper. I've seen them as cheap as $10-$20 on Ebay. Should be easy to clamp them to your light stands with about $3 of Home Depot parts.

I got a pair of umbrellas off ebay for about $10 ea. And I must of missed where Adrian said to put the cages back... My bad :)

I know the idea is to save money and not spend it, but a lobo clamp or D200 grip head would really make things easier. the d200's are around 420 ans a lobo (wescott or lowel) around $25.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh2.sph/...ID=F59DBA14190

The lobo will clamp an umbrella to almost anything.

Thanks Dylan. Yes, don't leave the cages off, that would defeat the point of wrapping them in the baking paper, as well as create a safety issue.

As Bryan pointed out don't use the waxed stuff. I've used the baking paper on the same lights and it does a good job if you are totally strapped for cash. One problem with these lights is that the colour temp is very low, about 2800°K and result in a very warm light. It look nice if it is your only light source but it dosen't mix well with daylight. To correct this some blue gels clipped on to reshaped wire coat hangers will help cool the light a little.

Any particular blue gel you can reccomend?

Lee are very good but expensive and only come in roll or large sheets. I used to get off cuts from a friend back in Australia who did stage lighting for bands but here in Japan gels are hard to get.

Do a search on Google and you should find some good stuff.

Here is a link to Lee Filters available at Film Tools in Burbank, CA. You will see that a single sheet, which is all you need, is about $5.50. I recommend you use the 216 diffusion. You can also get "blue frost" for a diffusion with blue correction built in. http://store.yahoo.com/cinemasupplies/leedifsheetx.html

BTW, those wire frames around the lights are for keeping fingers out and other materials from touching the globe. They will provide very little protection if a globe pops, sending small pieces of hot glass flying, so be careful with those lights.

Every little bit helps. Safety first.