DIYPhotography.net

Photographer Matt Kenney came up with quite a clever way to provide external power to his battery operated strobe (Canon 430EXII).

Instead of building a specialized case with a dedicated battery, or drilling a power socket into the flash, Matt went for the shelf product and used one of them $6, 6V flash lights (about a dollar a volt). I always prefer off the shelf products to making something new, always. Matt then went ahead and equipped it with a 6V rechargeable battery, and a charging jack.

On the strobe side, Matt used wooden batteries to allow the power to flow. IT get a recycle time of 1.2 seconds for full pop (holdya'rhorses SB900 users, it will heat up soon enough).

Matt was kind enough to allow me to share his picture tutorial on DIYP Click to continue ›

"As long as you hit that wire with the connecting hook at precisely 88mph the instant the lightning strikes the tower... everything will be fine"...

This is just what came into my mind when I saw James kozicka's sparkles lightpainting. James was king enough to share his method of making this image. James, the floor is yours: Click to continue ›

Photographer Paulo Rodrigues (Flickr) gave a nice tip on the DIYP Flickr pool.

Problem: I have a ton of modifiers that I attach to my studio monoblocks using speedrings, I can't get them to work with my hot shoe strobes. This becomes an issue if you are using both hot shoe flashes and monoblocks. Modifiers usually get mounted on a speedring to allow them to attach to a monoblock. Whereas "hot shoe" based modifiers usually use a strap or some clipping device to attach to a speedlight. Click to continue ›

If you've been following some of the video tutorials we've had here at DIYP, you probably noticed the skateboard dolly that was featured here a few weeks back.

Photographer and videographer Martin Taylor shows us how to build a much fancier dolly which is partially based on a skateboard. This dolly however, is smaller (will fit on table), has a head mount that can support an SLR and can be set to move in circles. It's all Martin from here. Click to continue ›

Controlling your strobe from a distance has always been a priority for off camera flash photographers. If TTL works for you, you can extend your TTL cable quite a bit using a simple Cat5e hack.

But what if you could do this remotely. and I mean skipping the whole walking to the flash and adjusting it bit. (Or asking your assistant to do so, assuming you have an assistant). Up until now remote controlling your strobe like this was a benefit saved for Profoto Air Remote ($325 remote only) and profoto heads, or Radio Popper Jrx owners (Strobist review here).

Now this very exciting feature is available for the oh so cheap YN460 manual flash ($69 + about $10 in remote parts) - read the howto after the jump. Click to continue ›

The post below shows a simple way to capture video while taking still pictures. Sure, there is some added weight and yea, video will not get a dedicated person and will just "follow along", yet, this is a neat way to achieve video with just one person shooting, This is also a great instructional tool for yourself to see how you interact with your model, what things work and what makes them shrink.

There are two versions for this mod - a dueler which mounts a DSLR with a video camera and a 9Shooter that also has sound attached. From now on it is all Elliot McGucken. Click to continue ›

We have featured some awsome gel holders on the site before. But never one with this simple approach. It is fast to mount, easy to use and leave no residue on the strobe.

It also fits any size flash and any size gel, how cool is that?

Thanks, Jerry R Hamby, for this awsome build. Click to continue ›

UPDATE: Martin Just added an explanatory image of the model along with a sketchup model for the matte box. See image and links at the bottom of the page.

DIYP don't often feature video or iPhone hack. It does, but not often. When I see a hack that is both video and iPhone, though, the little geek inside of me simply commands a post.

Reader Martin Taylor came up with a very cool teleprompter project. It requires nothing more than an iPhone, a Fresnel sheet magnifier and a sample piece of beam splitter glass. It is designed for 50mm lenses.

OK, a Teleprompter is the thing that news persons read from when they sit down. It's kinda like the scrolling opening of StarWars. (this is why it looks like newsman are watching ping-pong while broadcasting the news). The cool thing is that the camera sits right behind the teleprompter so it looks like the anchor is looking straight at the camera. Click to continue ›

Lumiquest has a pretty nice solution for diffusing on (or off) camera strobes by dressing them with a small and light weight softbox.

Reader Julian Schüngel came up with a similar device that can be constructed from one A4 sheet of paper (and kicks the crap out of my similar design that needs 6 sheets). Oh yea, it has build in barn doors too. Click to continue ›

Not a long while ago the net was exploding with Corrie White's Fun with Water set on Flickr. Her control over those drops, their color and their timing was remarkable indeed.

This is why I am very exited to share Corrie's very extensive guide for water drops photography.

The guide is for all levels going explaining the setup, lights, optional use of a drip mechanism and post. Click to continue ›