Photography DIY: V-flat

Assembly

Begin by creating a hinge between the two R-Matte Plus 3 insulation panels. (Note: Because I have 8′ ceilings, I wanted my panels to be 7′ tall, so I cut off a foot of the length before creating the hinge. You can leave yours intact if you have higher ceilings.) Lay the two panels about an inch apart, silver side up. The silver scuffs easily so don’t put them silver side down on concrete. Next, use the chrome duct tape and cover the gap.

To improve durability (and the semiprofessional appearance of your gear), seal all of the edges with chrome duct tape, too. This will keep the foam from coming off the edges and leaving foam dust everywhere.

Next, fold the two panels together face to face and put a strip of tape down the back side of the hinge. For this, I used 3″-wide black gaffer’s tape. If you’ve maintained a gap while applying the front (chrome) side tape, when you put this second piece of tape on the back side of the hinge, you should be able to fold the V-flats a full 180º. Now put your V-flat panels upright in your studio, opened to around 90º with the silver sides facing inward.