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Hands on experience with the Light Blaster!

Posted on by Mezame

Heya guys! DIYPhotography recently sent me a copy of the Light Blaster and here I got the chance to check it out and test it on two of my collectibles. Special thank you to Udi especially who sent me this awesome device!

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Gravity didn’t agree with me when I played Jenga with the boxes.

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Just reading those words make you more awesome.

This image of Hot Toys‘s Selina Kyle and Batman which you will see later were both taken with the help of the Light Blaster.The following walls of text are the results of my own personal opinions/review after a hands-on experience with the Light Blaster.The Light Blaster is both easy and a challenge to set up. It is by itself a unique and interesting creative kit that works like a projector, casting light from a strobe/speedlight onto a slide and then through a lens before casting the image on a wall/backdrop.

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Any image can be used as long as you place it on a 35mm slide or cut it onto a transparent sheet that fits the catch.

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This one goes here. That’s easy.

Attaching both the lens and the strobe/speedlight onto the Light Blaster’s main body was easy. Fixing the main body onto a light stand was easy. I was genuinely surprised at how sturdy the whole thing came together. Initially, I felt it was too plasticky and light but hoisting the whole thing in one hand proved otherwise after everything was attached. It held its own and both my lens and my speedlight did not fall off the main body. That’s a very good thing! Slotting in the slide for creative backgrounds into the Light Blaster itself was easy too. Everything felt secure and steady.

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Are we ready to go after setting the hardware up? Not quite.

Now here’s the challenging part. Focusing the lens to get the sharpest image onto a white wall was really tough as I didn’t have a measuring tape with me. Positioning was a little tricky too as placing the Light Blaster at the side, though preventing you from casting the slide’s image onto the figures, made the background image stretched out. Placing the Light Blaster right in front of the figures will cast the slide’s image onto the figures. Not quite what I wanted.

After experimenting with 2 speedlights (one on the Light Blaster and one on a reflective umbrella), I got what I thought would be the perfect placement. And so after almost 73 images of testing and experimenting, the image here was what I got.

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Toy Photography by The Art of Mezame

I love how my flat white wall now has textures, and I love how it looks like both Batman and Selina were both in Gotham City when the shot was taken. Or maybe some sewers or catacombs. I don’t know.It really was supposed to be a city.Unfortunately, I couldn’t translate the image of the city onto it clearly. Maybe I can try another angle tomorrow or work with a wider space. Shooting this in my dining room proved to be quite a challenge in itself. It didn’t help that I was using the 70-200mm too. Maybe I could use the 24-70mm next time, and use a smaller aperture.So much to experiement! Here’s the list of gear that I used for this experiment. I had my Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 II USM and a Canon 580EX II on the Light Blaster. I had my Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS II USM on my Canon EOS 5D Mark III. I also had my other Canon 580EX II firing onto a reflective umbrella as key light. All my speedlights are controlled by my Phottix Odins.

EXIF data:
Exposure – 1/200 sec at f/22
Focal length – 70mm
ISO – 250

The Light Blaster is just amazing. I am pretty sure I can nail it for toy photography, with more experimentations. I gotta try the Light Blaster on human models too. The initial test proved that it has a lot of potential. I love it, really. I can imagine already what else I can apply it on. Oh, and the slide designs can be expanded to include custom prints too!

2014-08-10 21.47.07This is not a hairdryer.

Final words: If you don’t have it, you should get it. But if you’re not the sort who’s patient and into experimenting with photography, mmmmm… well… stay boring then I say, go get one, or rent one, or borrow one. It’s awesome. You can do so much with it! I’m gonna take my time with learning how to use it. It does need some time to get used to. I might want to experiment with smoke and water soon with it. The possibilities are endless. Have a go with it and have fun with it Take note: This was just an experiment. I didn’t really pose both the figures because I was more interested in trying out the Light Blaster. I’ll do a proper shoot once I get the hang of it the Light Blaster.