YouTuber Debunks Viral Photography ‘Hacks’ She Found Online

Professional photographer and YouTube Jessica Kobeissi recently decided to take on some of the viral “DIY photography hacks” that she’s seen online, and see if they work as expected… or at all. As you might imagine, for the most part, the answer is “not really.” But it makes fur a fun video actually investigating these hacks.

Kobeissi mostly pulls videos from popular sources like 5 Minute Crafts, and shows how several of the results (if not all) were probably taken with high-quality lighting in a studio. In some cases it’s totally nonsensical and fake; in others, the “hack” might be useful or accurate on some level, but the final image presented by the video is definitely taken with studio lighting or created in Photoshop.

More often than not, catchlights tell all.

She tackles 5 hacks in all, and all-but-one seem like the final shots were more-then-likely not captured as advertised. As Kobeissi explains at the end of her video:

My issue with these hack videos is that they show you a final picture that wasn’t taken under the circumstances that they advertise […] As a photographer, I’m like, “at least be realistic when you’re showing people what these hacks do.”

Check out the full video up top to see all five photography “hacks” in action, and feel free to drop some more examples in the comments that you think need to be debunked.

Discussion