Do It Yourself

Need something fun to build this weekend? This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to turn an old bicycle wheel and some fabric into a simple DIY softbox that you can use for photography or, just as a cool studio accent light.

I recently found myself with a spine injury, which proved to kinda be a big road block to my photography. My photo projects usually involved lots of driving and walking, two things that proved to be extremely painful due to my crappy health. One day, sitting around bored, I decided to create a camera that was as immobile as I was. Armed with a rough sketch, and a misguided sense of self-confidence, I built a 20x24 camera over a weekend.

I needed a monitor hood for quite some time but wasn't willing to pay the retail prices charged for them, so I decided to build one myself. In this tutorial I'll show you how to build your own DIY monitor hood for less than $12.

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.

Photo lens experimenter and prolific YouTube filmmaker Mathieu Stern is at it again. This time, he took one of his old, cheap (do we even have to mention that?) Russian lenses and made one small modification to create what he calls a 'bokeh explosion.'

Give weird lens lover and filmmaker Mathieu Stern some credit: he can pretty much make any lens you put in front of him work... including one made from a discarded lens tube he found in a 'trash' box at a flea market.

Ready for some rapid-fire DIY tips? A team of French photographers who goes by the moniker "Shootr" has put together a simple photo hacks video that offers a few creative ideas for your next portrait shoot.

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.

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.

Those who have known me long enough are aware of my passion for Rolleiflex cameras. Back before I got deeper and deeper into alternative photography I used to shoot my TLRs all the time.

When the selfie-stick craze began happening a couple of years ago, photographer and educator Russell Squires decided that he wanted to go beyond using "a lightweight flimsy stick" and a smartphone, so he decided to try shooting selfies with his 4x5" large format camera.

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.

The first autofocusing camera was invented 40 years ago, so how did weird lens lover Mathieu Stern manage to 'hack' AF capability into a 120-year-old lens from a folding camera? Well, it turns out there's an adaptor that will let you do just that.

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.

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.

Photographer Tyson Haslam recently built himself a giant do-it-yourself camera for shooting large format photos on X-Ray film.

I entered the world of photography when digital cameras where already on the rise, and as a result, I learned photography on digital. That being said, I am a sucker for anything analog... the sensation of using real organic materials to produce photographs excites me.

It's not every day that you come across a camera that's big enough for the photographer to stand in. But that's what photographer Ross den Otter built for the recent Capture Photography Festival in Vancouver, Canada: he shot portraits from inside a 4x8x8-foot camera obscura.

If you're going to be shooting in an area where you're genuinely concerned you might have your camera stolen, it's probably wise to prepare. And if you prefer the DIY "on-the-cheap" approach, then this simple 'theft-proof' camera strap may be exactly what you're looking for.

Rugged cases like Pelicans are great at protecting your gear: they're waterproof, climate proof, indestructible, and make a great apple box when you need to sit or stand on something.

A few months ago I was blown away by some photos taken by one Victor Danell with a modified Helios 44 lens. His process was to “polish” the glass elements with a strong abrasive and sand the inside of the barrel in order to increase how light bounces around.

Here's a quick DIY build for cash-strapped studio photographers who are sick of gaffer's tape-ing their reflectors to light stands. YouTuber Joe Edelman will show you how to build not one, but two DIY studio reflector holders for 10 bucks total.

So what is a "Universal Tripod L-Bracket"? Well, I'm not sure, because I couldn't find another on the market quite like it. Some tripod manufacturers make L-brackets specific to their own tripod, but I found nothing universal.

If you have an old film camera or point and shoot lying around collecting dust, why not put it to some practical use? This quick video will show you how to use the camera's flash to light product shots and portraits on the cheap.

If the tripod thread on the bottom of your camera or favorite accessory breaks, don't go throwing the whole thing away or sending it off for an expensive repair. All you need is about $25 and some DIY know-how to fix it yourself.