If you’ve ever found folding up a reflector to be difficult, here’s a short and sweet video tutorial on how to make it fit back into its bag.

(via NYIP)

Camera toss photography involves having your camera shoot photographs while it’s being tossed wildly into the air. The problem is, you’ll usually want to play around with this kind of photography at night, when long exposure times will create pretty abstract images. If catching your camera on its way down in the dark isn’t something that sits well with you, you might want do try what Flickr user Robert Couse did — protect your camera using an inflatable swim tube, a piece of cardboard, and some gaffers tape.

(via DIYPhotography.net)

Image credits: Photographs by Robert Couse-Baker

If you’re looking to buy used camera gear on sites like eBay or Craigslist, a trick you can use to find a good deals is to search for listings that contain spelling mistakes that keep most people from finding them (e.g. “Canom” instead of “Canon”, or “Mikon” instead of “Nikon”). With less exposure — and therefore less competition — you may be able to win the auctions at far below the item’s value.

Obviously searching for various typos by hand isn’t very efficient, so there’s special typo search engines designed to do the hard work for you. A few that you might want to try out are: FatFingers, TypoHound, TypoBay, and TypoBuddy.

(via Phototuts)

Image credit: keyboard shenanigans by cc511

Rather than using more expensive bags or cases for moving around your lighting gear, you can buy a bass guitar bag for $30 or $40 to get the job done. The length allows you to store light stands, the velcro straps inside help secure them, and the multiple handles and straps on the outside give you a number of options for carrying the bag.

(via DIYPhotography)

Image credit: Photograph by Udi Tirosh and used with permission

What you see here is a non-manipulated photograph by Wolcott Wilhelm showing a Chevy muscle car with a see-through hood that shows the engine underneath. It was created by splitting the exposure time between having the hood up and having it down.
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Having a camera with you may get you better customer service at places like restaurants, retail stores, and hotels. Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott writes,

The last thing employees want to see when they’re delivering a substandard product or service is a shutterbug. If they think you might take a snapshot, or a video, of their incompetent actions, they’re far likelier to do the right thing. The presence of a camera alone is often enough. Try it sometime.

If you already carry a camera with you everywhere you go, then you’re already set! If you don’t, you might want to think about bringing one along whenever you’re in need of customer service.

Try These 5 Secret Weapons For Better Customer Service (via Lifehacker)

Image credit: Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-D Lens by Harshit Sekhon

Last year we posted a tip on how you can use jar openers to remove stuck lens filters, but have you ever thought of using them as a cheap follow focus? Tony Carretti was shopping at Bed, Bath & Beyond when he came across a twist jar opener in the kitchen aisle that he realized could be used on his camera.
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You’ve likely seen this DIY trick before, but it doesn’t hurt to share this for those who haven’t. Instead of carrying around a tripod or monopod, you can easily stabilize your camera using a washer, some string, and a bolt. It’s a cheap and easy stabilizer that you can carry around with you in your camera bag for those moments when you wish you had a steadier hand.

Need to hold down the shutter release for extended periods of time, but don’t want to shell out money for a remote shutter release? Flickr user Dennis Calvert found that a pencil eraser and hair tie do the job well, allowing you to do star trail photographs with bulb mode.

Do you use a similar “hack” to keep your shutter release button pressed?

Image credit: DIY Intervalometer by Dennis Calvert

Here’s a clever trick to keep in mind if you use SD cards for your photography: if the locking mechanism on the side of the card breaks off and renders your card unwritable, covering over the area with a little scotch tape magically makes your card useable again.

(via Lifehacker)