DIY

I entered the world of photography when digital cameras where already on the rise, and as a result, I learned photography on digital. That being said, I am a sucker for anything analog... the sensation of using real organic materials to produce photographs excites me.

It's not every day that you come across a camera that's big enough for the photographer to stand in. But that's what photographer Ross den Otter built for the recent Capture Photography Festival in Vancouver, Canada: he shot portraits from inside a 4x8x8-foot camera obscura.

If you're going to be shooting in an area where you're genuinely concerned you might have your camera stolen, it's probably wise to prepare. And if you prefer the DIY "on-the-cheap" approach, then this simple 'theft-proof' camera strap may be exactly what you're looking for.

Rugged cases like Pelicans are great at protecting your gear: they're waterproof, climate proof, indestructible, and make a great apple box when you need to sit or stand on something.

A few months ago I was blown away by some photos taken by one Victor Danell with a modified Helios 44 lens. His process was to “polish” the glass elements with a strong abrasive and sand the inside of the barrel in order to increase how light bounces around.

Here's a quick DIY build for cash-strapped studio photographers who are sick of gaffer's tape-ing their reflectors to light stands. YouTuber Joe Edelman will show you how to build not one, but two DIY studio reflector holders for 10 bucks total.

If you want a neat example of creativity in action, look no further than photographer Andrew Tihi's recent portrait adventure. Watch as he uses a backlit bus stop advertisement to help him capture a glowing portrait against a white backdrop.

So what is a "Universal Tripod L-Bracket"? Well, I'm not sure, because I couldn't find another on the market quite like it. Some tripod manufacturers make L-brackets specific to their own tripod, but I found nothing universal.

If you have an old film camera or point and shoot lying around collecting dust, why not put it to some practical use? This quick video will show you how to use the camera's flash to light product shots and portraits on the cheap.

If the tripod thread on the bottom of your camera or favorite accessory breaks, don't go throwing the whole thing away or sending it off for an expensive repair. All you need is about $25 and some DIY know-how to fix it yourself.

Photographer Josh Gladstone of PhotoChemicals made this 11-minute video showing how you can use new Instax instant film on an old Kodak instant camera.

The new music video for the song "Sunday Morning" by musician Ryan-O'Neil was shot in infrared with a DIY modified entry-level DSLR.

Here's a simple tip that'll come in particularly handy for the smartphone photographers out there: you can use an old phone's LCD screen as a cheap, portable polarizing filter.

London-based DIY computing company Kano has created a new kit for people who would like to assemble and program their own digital camera. It's called the Kano Camera Kit.

The Film Look made this 2-minute video showing how they created customized lens caps to help better identify and keep track of them.

When photographer Ben Money got back in to film photography a couple of years ago, he decided to set up a dedicated darkroom station for himself at home. But because he didn't have a permanent room to use, he ended up create a self-contained rolling darkroom that takes up just 5-square-feet of space in his garage when collapsed.

Here's a simple idea that might just solve some of your storage woes. If you're looking for a place to store your collection of camera lenses, try organizing them in a clear plastic shoe holder—the kind you hang on the back of a closet door.

Faced with a massive bank of windows in a new studio space, YouTube's Koldunov Brothers came up with a creative and customizable "daylight control system" that lets them alter the amount and shape of the light they let in.

Portrait photographers looking to diversify your background options listen up. There's an affordable background material you need to know about, and a great DIY portable background stand you can build for just $25.

Affordable, high-quality high speed cameras a tough to come by. But that might soon change, thanks to Kickstarter and years of work by one diligent engineer.

I recently built a Trash Cam out of a trash can, large format lens, and Sony a7S II. The project was an attempt to find an inexpensive housing for a large format lens.

This is an incredibly simple idea, but somehow we've never seen it done before. Forget expensive motion controlled timelapse sliders, why not use that old electric toy train you have collecting dust in the attic?

I recently built my own DIY large format camera using scraps. The idea of this camera started with vintage profile spotlight that I wanted to restore, only to discover that some of the internal lens elements were shattered. The only lens element that was undamaged was the front element. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that this element can project an image circle big enough to cover an 8x10 area.

Ever since embarking on a cross-country move last August I’ve been meaning to display some of my cameras and, at last, spurred by a recent PetaPixel post, I finally did.

Typically, the term “gobo” is reserved for the lens filters and patterns that are affixed to theater lights. The terms “flag” or “cucloris/cookie” are actually more accurate for what we’re going to be using in this post, which is an object placed between the light and the subject, but not attached to it.

Unless you have the dough to get a lab scanner, it is a painful process to scan your own film. Luckily one day all the photo labs dumped their Pakon F-135 to the market, and I remember you could get one for ~$250 a pop.

When beautiful vintage photographic technology meets state-of-the-art photo equipment, the results are almost always interesting. Case in point, check out this frankencamera created by graphic designer Arber Marra using his Sony a7S and a 19th century lens he found at a flea market.

The time had come. I’d been trying to justify keeping my X100S and X100T for some time but, in reality, since T had arrived, S had been spending increasingly lengthy spells in the cupboard. So, with a heavy heart, I decided to sell. The obvious route was on eBay, so I cleaned the camera up and took a couple of snaps before preparing my listing.

I know, I know. It’s been done before, but not by me, so I gave ‘er a go. It started when I discovered a blog post online: DIY Foam core 8×10 camera by Cory Norton.