doityourself

Use Welder’s Glass as a $1 ND Filter for Long Exposures in Daylight

Want to shoot long exposure photos in bright daylight without having to shell out big bucks on a neutral density (ND) filter? Try using a piece of welder's glass -- the kind that protects your eyes while welding. The 13-minute video above by photographer Mathieu Stern provides a nice overview of this photo hack.

How to Build Your Own Set of LED Studio Lights for Just $250

Buying a professional portrait lighting setup like the much-loved Kino Flo lights is just not within everybody's budget, especially if you want LEDs. But you can actually build a reasonable alternative for just a couple hundred bucks and about an hour of manual labor.

Build a DIY Flickr Auto-Uploader with Raspberry Pi

Flickr generated a lot of bad feelings back in March 2016 by making its Auto-Uploadr app a Pro-only feature. If you're not Pro but would still like the convenience of automatically uploading new photos, you can build a custom gadget that does it for you.

The $5 Raspberry Pi Zero is Now Camera Compatible

We've shared a number of do-it-yourself camera projects involving Raspberry Pi in the past. If you're interested in trying your hand at one, it's now even cheaper: the ultra affordable $5 Raspberry Pi Zero now has a camera connector.

How to Renovate, Clean, and Paint a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye

The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye was introduced in 1949 in USA and France. It’s a bakelite camera which produces 6cm x 6cm images on 620 film. It came in two different models: Standard and Flash. You can differentiate between the two by the nameplate on the front.

How to Build and Shoot With a DIY Rain Machine

Below is a walk through of how I created ONE image for my portfolio, I will add some of the other images, but I don't have them in my portfolio. This is because this was the start of a series of images and I had set out to come out with only one from each shoot.

DIY: How to Make Your Own Flash Diffuser for Macro Photography

When it comes to macro photography, DIY solutions for would-be macro shooters looking to get better results without emptying their wallets abound—from reverse lensing, to DIY macro tubes, to full-blown light boxes. Today, we'll add to that list by showing you how to make a simple DIY flash diffuser.

The Cheapest DIY Camera Stabilizer Might Be a Shopping Bag

Here's a neat, simple, and cheap little trick that'll help you get smooth footage when shooting video or a hyperlapse with your DSLR. If you don't have the money or the need to pony up for a serious stabilization system, try using a shopping bag instead!

Turn a Pelican Case Into a Tether Station with a $2 Bicycle Quick Release Bolt

I like to keep the amount of kit I have to carry with me to a minimum. Every single pound counts when you're scrambling up the side of a snowy mountain, and if you've ever had to pay excess baggage charges at the airport you will probably appreciate my 'less is more' mentality!

How to Make $60 Flexible LED Panels for Thrifty Photo Lighting

Want to add some flexible LED panels to your lighting kit without breaking the bank? This 19-minute video tutorial by DIY Perks is for you. It's a step-by-step guide on how you can assemble your own LED panel for about $60 by buying high CRI LED strip lights (~$25), a PWM LED dimmer (~$8), an articulating DSLR camera arm (~$18), some faux leather for the backing, some wiring and a solder gun.

How to Shoot Bullet Time by Swinging an iPhone on a String

Skier Nicolas Vuignier recently shared a viral video in which he created "bullet time" footage of himself skiing by swinging an iPhone 6 around his head using a special contraption he built himself.

The original 3-minute video can be seen above, in case you haven't watched it yet. It amassed well over 3.5 million views in just a couple of weeks.

How to Make a DIY Studio Portrait Backdrop for $46

Many moons ago I was enrolled in a class on portraiture by Don Giannatti that studied and sought inspiration from the greats in photographic portraiture. The final artist studied was William Coupon. Coupon is known for his formal painterly backdrop portraits. Being the dutiful student I turned my assignment in post haste, or rather several months late. Either way, I learned that creating a painted backdrop had to be neither difficult nor costly.

50mm f/0.75 X-Ray Lens Turned Into World’s Fastest E-Mount Glass

The Rodenstock XR-Heligon 50mm 0.75 lens is an old lens that was made for medical X-ray imaging by the German optics company Rodenstock. You can find them for sale on eBay these days for $50 and up.

Greek photographer Haris Antonopoulos and his buddy Thanasis Ioannidis recently decided to take one of these lenses and turn it into the world's fastest lens for Sony E-mount cameras through a physical conversion.

I Built Myself a 16×20-Inch Camera in 10 Hours

While sitting in a coffee shop last Friday, I really didn’t want to answer any more emails so I went to a bar instead, ordered a pint and sketched out a bit of a doodle for a big camera. I then called my buddy Zach who shares my open schedule and vague ability with power tools, and he stopped by my studio an hour later.

I explained what I wanted to do and showed him my napkin doodle. I think his reaction was something along the lines of “I have no idea what you’re talking about... but sure”. So we went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of wood and some screws. 

Tip: Use a Snowboard Rack for Tripod Organization

If you're a casual photographer, you probably don't have so many tripods that you have a hard time storing and organizing them. But if that is a problem that you or your studio struggle with, here's a clever solution: you can use a snowboard rack as a tripod storage solution.

The New York-based Lixi Studios shares this finding in the 3-minute video above.

4 Giant Camera Costumes That Actually Take Pictures

Halloween is just around the corner, and if you're looking for a photo-related costume this year, one fun idea that has appeared over the years is creating a DIY giant camera that's fully functional as a camera. Here's a look at 4 examples we've seen so far.

How to Make DIY Anti-Fog Inserts for Your GoPro with Paper Towel

If you want to prevent your GoPro lens from fogging up when you're in cold and humid environments, GoPro sells Anti-Fog Inserts that you can stick into your camera case. If you'd rather not pay $15 for 4-use inserts, you can actually make some makeshift anti-fog inserts for yourself using some paper towel strips.