DIY

We've seen a lot of creative setups for faking that 'bullet time' look—one guy strapped his GoPro to a ceiling fan—but this creation filmmaker Luca Amhofer is the most versatile and functional DIY rig of its kind we've ever seen... and it's dirt cheap to make!

Are you stressed? What better way to de-stress is there than to break things while making cool photographs at the same time? You can break anything, from spaghetti to fancy glassware, there is no limit. It will take you about half an hour to build the Arduino circuit and write the code for this sound triggering photographic system.

I recently needed a way to trigger a flash from an Electron app, but there wasn't anything out there that suited my needs... so I built my own.

Want an unusual digital camera that you can put together yourself? Check out CROZ, a do-it-yourself camera that features a transparent case that allows you to see all the internal components.

Plenty of photographers these days try their hands at making their own cameras, but Swedish photographer, inventor, and camera maker Mats Wernersson recently did something a little more unusual: he made his own 90mm f/2.8 lens from scratch.

If we wrote it once, we've written it a thousand times: you don't need expensive equipment to capture high-quality studio photography. As photographer Dustin Dolby of Workphlo demonstrates in this video, even that expensive cosmetics look is doable with cheap speedlights... and skill.

Here's a fun little experiment to try one night this week. Take that box of crackers (biscuits if you're formal), polish off the last few hangers-on, and then use that box to create some interesting DIY lighting effects with your off-camera flash.

This short DIY tutorial by Caleb Pike over at DSLR Video Shooter shows you how to create a great smoke effect for your product shots or B-roll footage—no fancy smoke machine required.

I finally did it! After sitting in my fridge for a few months, I managed to developed myself a roll of CineStill 800 pushed to 3200 ISO, and the results look great! The great thing: it's actually pretty easy to develop pushed C-41 film at home.

If you have a film or digital camera that can shoot double exposures, there's a free do-it-yourself accessory you can use to get creative with the technique: it's the half lens cap.

My name is Richard Evans, and I recently built myself a 4x5 camera. Here's a look at the camera and what I did.

A couple of weekends ago I was playing about with some ideas for a new portfolio shot involving a wall clock. Now, this clock happens to look a bit like a pocket watch, and a pocket watch normally has a chain (see where I'm going with this?). So I figured: "what if instead of a chain, I use some wispy light trails?"

Lensbaby's creative selective focus lenses like the Composer Pro will run you around $400; even the relatively affordable Spark costs $90. If all of that sounds too expensive for your taste, you should definitely check out this hacked version Mathieu Stern created for just 30 bucks!

There are a ton of options out there for building your own product photography lightbox, but this is one of the simplest and most functional creations we've seen. For under $50, you can build it for yourself.

If you do a lot of basic product photography, you might want to check out this video. In it, you'll learn how to build and operate your own 360° product photography turntable, and it'll only cost you about 15 or 20 bucks.

Need a home studio for some product photography? COOPH has some great ideas for you. In this inspirational little video, the magazine shows you how to build a DIY photography studio at home using mostly household items.

Did you know you can transfer the image on a Polaroid instant print onto paper? It's called an "emulsion lift," and this video tutorial by photographer Matt Day shows you exactly how to go about doing it.

Last fall, in preparation for a fair for my wedding photography business in Helsinki, I wanted to create something out-of-the-ordinary that would attract attention to my booth. A friend of mine suggested a type of vintage camera that visitors could look through.

Vintage camera with a mini slideshow inside? Sounds like a plan!

Photographer Mathieu Stern made this 2-minute video walkthrough on how you can remove fungus on the glass elements of a camera lens.

Want to shoot soft focus photos without shelling out money for a specialty lens (like a Lensbaby)? You can build your own soft focus lens to play around with for about $15.

While joking around with a friend recently, photographer Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography decided he would try his hand at building the ultimate selfie stick. What resulted is a monster selfie stick that Forbes has named the Stork Mach 1.

If you've done research into underwater housing, you'll know how expensive they can be. In some instances, they cost more than the camera. Certainly, when you pay the premium price you're also purchasing assurance, functionality, size, etc. However, rebel that I am, I didn't want to pay the premium, so I built my own.

Have a photography loving fella or gal on your list this year? Feeling crafty? Running out of time to get them something? If you answered yes to these questions, these last-minute DIY gift ideas for photographers might just be your saving grace.

For many of us, photography is just a hobby; for 22-year-old James, it's an escape from the constant pain his terminal illness keeps him in day-in and day-out. When his illness threatened to take even this away from him, one of the UK's top engineers stepped in and created a DIY rig that lets James keep shooting.

CDs... remember CDs? Me neither. But they were apparently a thing for a while, and if you have a box cutter and an old CD case lying around, you already have everything you need to make this fun DIY star filter to spice up your Holiday shots.

In 2015, Hugo Cardoso embarked on an interesting experiment: built a 35mm slit-scan film camera. That experiment was a big success, which left Cardoso only one choice going forward... go bigger! So he hunkered down at his work bench and set about creating a medium format version.