New soup container Strobist style hack

A friend bought some PF Changs for us, and one of the items was in a large soup container. My mind was working once I saw it. I have done a "similar" mod to a smaller soup container. But this one was more of a portrait style light mod.

Disclaimer- yes, it does look silly. Show up with this to a paid gig and prepared to be laughed at. However, the same can be said of the Fong stuff. People say it looks like a taco tip container!

So here is the setup:

What you can see is the soup container with a dual paint job. Inside is half painted white with plastic friendly spray paint. The outside is half painted with plastic friendly spray paint. The top is the same but it is completely covered to help bounce the light out the front.
I measured my strobe on the bottom, and cut out with a box cutter. (very carefully!)

First, here is a bounce light shot:

While very easy and helpful, there are always shadows on people's face. This is caused by the light coming from above and not in front. A straight up strobe to the face is usually over whelming.
Setting up an umbrella is not always easy nor quick. So I thought, why not try to do a quick and dirty mod?

Here is the result:

Not saying it is perfect, but it is a drastic improvement in the quality of the light source.
The downfall is that the strobe has to stay in one direction- I cannot go to horizontal grip for shots with this mod. If I did, I would be lighting to the side and not the front!


[update with self photos, thank goodness for timers]

1/8 power bounce off ceiling:

Notice the shadows and barely lit. Normally in these conditions I go up to 1/4 power and adjust from there.

Strobe test- 1/8 power with mod:

Strobe test- 1/8 power direct with built in diffuser:

Strobe test- 1/8 power direct:

And yes, I couldn't see for a little bit. Yozzers.