We've shared a number of projects over the years in which photographers create working cameras using wood, but we haven't seen a wooden lens yet... until now. That's what photographer René Smets of Lummen, Belgium, recently made, and the results are impressive.
I've been doing increasingly more portraiture outdoors over the years and most often have been relying on speedlights for their small size and portability. One problem I always faced was choosing a stand to use for supporting the speedlight.
After sharing his DIY square "ring light" build here back in July, photographer Isiah Xiong is back again with another DIY project. This time, Xiong is explaining how he built a DIY version of the $300 the Eyelighter reflector for around $40 to $50 in materials.
You can find the step-by-step tutorial in the 3-minute video above.
Check out the rugged Panasonic lenses in the photo above. No, Panasonic didn't quietly release ruggedized versions of the 100-300mm and 42.5mm that you didn't hear about. The lenses were upgraded do-it-yourself-style by photographer Nate Cowlishaw at home using rubberized undercoating designed for the undercarriages of cars.
Photographer Jack Watney wanted a lightbox for years, but he lives in a small apartment and doesn't have space to store a large, dedicated lightbox. So, he decided to build one himself using an IKEA Lack side table that costs just $10.
Here's a look at how Watney made the lightbox with the Lack and eBay components in just a couple of hours.
Want some cheap and simple do-it-yourself photo equipment? Check out the IKEA store near you. In addition to being affordable options for home items, a number of IKEA products can also be repurposed for your next photo shoot.
French photography website Shootr.fr recently published the above 2.5-minute video that shares 6 different hacks you can do with IKEA items.
YouTube woodworking guru Matthias Wandel just posted this video about how he recently discovered that he can use his tripod as a simple DIY camera stabilizer for some casual filming. After doing some experiments with a DIY glidecam system, Wandel found that he actually got the smoothest shots by simply pointing the legs of his big and heavy Manfrotto tripod out and running around with his camera attached to it.
Love someone who loves photography, and planning to pop the question soon? Check out this homemade ring box Matt Chalker made for his photographer girlfriend recently. It opens and closes like the aperture on a camera, and it took about 50-60 hours to make.
Back in May, a body painter offered to collaborate with me for a photo shoot with airbrushed models. This offer gave me a reason to finally experiment with black light photography, which I've wanted to try for years now.
Over the past year, Dutch artist Mathijs van Oosterhoudt has been developing a new camera system. No, it's not a high-tech digital system that's intended to go up against the major camera companies. Instead, it's an open-modular camera system that's intended to teach people how to build complex cameras. Its name is The Focal Camera.
Back in 2011, we shared a simple tutorial on how you can create a sturdy camera strap using about $7 worth of paracord. Hamburg, Germany-based photographer Bo Ismono recently published the 3-minute video tutorial above on how you can use paracord to make a cheap, simple, and durable wrist strap.
Over the past half year, Latvian photographer Gvido Mūrnieks has been testing out a DIY ring light he made for himself. The light is large enough to shoot with longer focal length, but at the same time it's small and light enough to quickly throw into the trunk of your car on the way to a shoot.
Here's a neat little weekend project you can try doing if you're looking for new lighting ideas. The Angry Photographer on YouTube posted this 10-minute video tutorial on how you can create a custom light reflector for around $5. All you need is black card stock, some colored glitter, and some strong glue.
Photographer Arvid Larsson recently made himself a portable instant camera that's powered by a Raspberry Pi computer camera and thermal receipt printer.
Photographers are familiar with the ring light, which produces a pleasing ring-shaped highlight (or “catchlight”) in a subject’s eyes. It’s often used in the fashion industry to create images you see in many magazines. The Square Ring Light is just like that — except it’s a square. I find it makes a unique, almost otherworldly catchlight that really draws attention to the eyes.
As long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with the small and wondrous world of macro imaging, predominantly as a macro videographer, but also in the stills realm as of late.
One thing that is a constant in any form of creative imaging is the need to constantly update, modify and adapt the base equipment we are dealt when we make our already-expensive gear purchases. Recently, I've been focusing my attention on adapting photographic flash guns for macro photography.
Having failed woodworking at school, probably the worst thing I could have done is venture into the world of wet plate photography.
Back in 2012, I learned the dark art of the silver stuff, just around the time the wave of interest was starting to build worldwide. However, as I live in New Zealand, an island nation, it has taken a while (and is still taking a while) to reach us. As a result, getting anything wet plate-related is quite a task. One does not simply walk into a store and buy a 'wet plate kit'.
Photographer Nick Fancher is the author of Studio Anywhere, a photographer's guide to shooting high-quality portraits in unconventional locations and with low-budget tools and materials.
As one of his latest projects, Fancher built a v-flat catchlight with interchangeable white shapes as a flexible tool for portraiture.
Want to scan some film but don't have a scanner handy? You can actually do some high quality digitization using some LEGO blocks, a smartphone or tablet, and a camera with decent resolution. Filmmaker Zachary Antell uses a method using those components, and his results are pretty impressive.
Here's a quick look at how I created some homemade "petzval swirl" bokeh that mimics photos taken with the new Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art lens.
Editor's note: This DIY tutorial uses a specific product called Compound 9, but you could use the same ideas/concepts with different materials and/or objects.
Hi, my name is Christian Segeth, and I'm the inventor of a product called Compound 9, which is hand-formable carbon that lets you 3D print with your hands and some hot water. Today I’m going to explain how I built an extremely simplest speed-controllable camera slider. My build offers a constant movement speed and butter-smooth sliding, which I've rarely found on YouTube's DIY camera slider tutorials.
Design technologist Roo Williams was recently tasked with creating a better way to capture corporate employee headshots. What he came up with is a Raspberry Pi-powered mobile photo booth that's controlled entirely through the subject's smartphone through a special website. He calls it the "Pi-Booth."
I recently went to great lengths to solve a simple problem. I have a Manfrotto monopod that requires a little screw to attach my camera to the monopod. Without it, I can't use it. The screws are cheap and no big deal... but, they are too easy to lose.
Want to play around with pinhole photography by building your own cardboard camera? Photographer Raymundo Panduro of Pixel Análogo has just released a free template for building a 35mm sprocket camera.
Freelensing is the use of a lens decoupled from your camera, manual orienting the lens on various angles to tilt and shift the lens to alter the focal plane. Freelensing is a great method of isolating your subject or creating interest in an otherwise flat or busy scene. This technique has been around for ages but helps achieve a similar look to that created by a tilt-shift lens used often in wedding photography.
Need to do a quick tracking shot on a table but don't have any dedicated camera equipment for doing so? A book and some fine powder can be a cheap and easy way to get the shot in a pinch.
Having an overhead camera rig can be useful for certain types of photography, including product shots, how-to images, and food photos. If you enjoy the challenge and joy of building your own equipment when you can, an overhead rig is another opportunity to do so. You can create one with some cheap materials and some basic workshop skills.
I'm photographer John Nakatsu of K+J Studios based out of Seattle, and in this post I will share a step-by-step account of how I made a photo booth for weddings and events.
In video productions, microphones are often covered with a synthetic fur cover that's commonly referred to as a "dead cat" or "windmuff." The hairs block wind from hitting the microphone, greatly reducing the amount of wind noise that gets recorded.
If you'd like to use the same technique for your own casual projects, you can make a DIY dead cat for your camera for less than $2.
I’m what I’d call a professional hobbyist when it comes to photography. I try to make it my life, but my passion sometimes overrides my business sense for it.
I’ve usually done photography in phases. There was my fisheye phase, natural light phase, reflector phase, speed light phase and so on. Eventually a friend of mine let me use his Profoto AcuteB system for a random adventure at the Renascence Faire, during which I knew I was hooked onto high-end strobes. Eventually he bought a B1, which I borrowed enough times to just buy one of my own.
Photographer Jim Winters of Miami, Florida, created this crazy-looking DIY shoulder-mounted "triple axis" rig for taking pictures of planes at airshows. He calls his invention the TRIAXEZ.
Photographer and entrepreneur Gary Fong lost his house to a devastating fire earlier this year, but he didn't lose any of his most valued possessions thanks to precautions that he took. After the experience, he realized that cinder blocks can be used as a cheap way for photographers to gain some fire protection for their data without having to shell out big bucks for commercial solutions.
Hobbyist photographer and motor racing fan Carlo Bingen was at a race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium yesterday when he cane across this photographer taking pictures over the chain link fence. While many people would be content with shooting through the fence gaps with a telephoto lens, this guy created a DIY platform that lets him stand over the top.
Want to play around with studio lighting from the comfort of your own home without dropping any money on …
Want to try your hand at creating a solargraph? Photographer Justin Quinnell recorded this informative and humorous 14-minute video tutorial on how you can create a pinhole camera for 6-month-long exposures using only a beer can, some photo paper, a pin, and lots of gaffer tape (which Quinnell calls the "elixir of life").
Going a do-it-yourself (DIY) route is popular among photographers who want the benefits of a certain product without having to shell out money in order to buy the actual thing. Here's something you might not have considered though: building a DIY version of something that's patented can actually constitute patent infringement, and sharing those designs with others can land you in even deeper trouble.
Want a portable and powerful LED light for illuminating your shots? The "Sun-Blaster" is a 1000 watt equivalent LED flashlight that you can build yourself for around $40.
This is pretty impressive: photographer Pascal Kulcsar needed to digitize some old slide film left behind by his grandfather. Rather than purchase a film scanner, Kulcsar decided to combine his technical ingenuity and love for LEGOs to create a DIY slide film scanner using LEGO pieces.
Moscow-based artist Dmitry Morozov has created a strange DIY camera unlike any we've seen before. It's an 8-bit instant photo shooter created with an old Game Boy, a camera, a thermal printer, an Arduino board, and a gun.
Here's an idea for a fun weekend project and/or personalized gift: make some custom candles that feature your photographs. It's actually incredibly easy, and you may already have the necessary materials lying around at home.