Surfing around on some photography websites, I saw several places where people made a snoot for their flash using a Pringles can (like this one).  Having recently started working on garage photography projects, I figured I could use a few of these myself.  Wanting more flexibility out of my lights, I used a constant light source instead of building the snoot to fit my flash.

I went to Home Depot and bought the items shown on the left of the image:

• 11 Watt LED bulb
• A socket for the LED bulb (This is a normal light socket you see on most of your lamps)
• A 12 foot extension cord

Adding a can of Pringle’s to the weekly grocery list completed the material list.

To prepare the Pringles can, trace the outline of the circular end of the socket on the plastic cap of the Pringles can and cut a hole for the socket.  I then cut off the bottom of the Pringle’s can using a hobby knife.  It was easy to run the blade of the hobby knife around the base of the can where cardboard meets metal.

I cut off the end of the extension cord where you normally plug in other cords.  I connected that end of the extension cord to the socket and pushed the socket through the hole in the plastic cap.

Screw in the LED bulb, snap the plastic cap/socket assembly on the Pringle’s can, and you have a great snoot.  On the right of the above image you see the finished project.  Later I added tape to the plastic cap to stop light from leaking out the end of the can with the plastic cap and socket (see image below).

It cost $11.99 for the material (not counting the can of Pringle’s) and less than 10 minutes to finish the project.  After I tried the light out on one of my garage photography projects, I immediately went and bought the material to build two more of them.

The great thing about the 11 Watt LED bulb is the lack of heat buildup when the LED light has been on for an extended period.  I spent several hours with the LED bulbs on and never had to worry about the Pringles can heating up.  This makes it easy to set up your shot without having to cool the lights every so often.

Below is the Pringles snoot in action.  I taped a dowel to the can, then used some small clamps to hold the dowel to a light stand.