DIYPhotography.net

Following yesterday's post about using prime lenses as a compositional tool, we had an interesting discussion in the comments, about Primes Vs. Zooms.

I thought it would be interesting to ask DIYP readers about their favorite lens. Please also let us know why what you're using it for. Please leave your answers as comments.

I'll go first:

My dearest is the Nifty Fifty (50mm 1.8), which is one of the first lenses I bought waaaaay back. I still think it is the best value-for-money lens out there, and I find it perfect for portraiture.

[image by Dr. RawheaD] Click to continue ›

One of the first lessons in almost any photography course will probably have a section about perspective.

This is done for an obvious reason, perspective is one of the tool we, as photographers have to control on how our photographs look.

Though this is a well chewed subject and is familiar to all, some photographers tend to forget it in the passion of shooting. The solution to that problem is prime lenses.

Benjamin Von Wong is a commercial and editorial photographer based in Montreal. In this post we try to get inside his brains with some Q&A about a recent concept shoot: Mrs Scissorhands.

If you are just in it for the awesome lighting jump to the last part. If you want the whole enchilada, we start right after the jump.

Oh yea, we'll be seeing a lot more of Ben here on DIYP soon. Click to continue ›

I always love sharing images by readers and sometimes it is not the high end productions that are shared, but the ones that will produce a smile on the last day of the week.

Aside from being fun images, the couple below are also great little projects to run during the weekend with your kids.

Here are two great photos posted in the group pool / blog comments. Click to continue ›

Turns out that mixing water and starch creates a mixture that interacts with sound in an interesting way.

Photographer Chris Tomkins send this video along with some instructions on producing the mixture and getting onto a tray over a sub woofer.

For some reason , the images taken while the basses are thundering resemble little people. This is true for lots of similar experiments. interesting.

Click to continue ›

After doing a similar multiplicity project with water, Vik J. shows us how to use Jello and water to create amazing repeating patterns and light painting.

If you're looking at a hot and humid weekend forecast, try this instead of going to the mall.

Stuck for something to do on a rainy day? Find yourself a piece of glass, some gelatine and water. I never realized that these simple things could provide so much fun! Click to continue ›

Way, waaaaaay back we had a tutorial about how to shot a burning bulb. IT was actually one of the first posts on DIYP to hit Digg (that was pretty big back in the days).

Till this day, it remains one of the most read posts on the blog and is a personal favorite. This is why I was happy to discover two bulb related tips from Flickr user Steve O that make those awesome images even more awesome.

The first tip is about how to make a small crack in the bulb. That crack allows air to get in and burn the filament while keeping some of the smoke inside the bulb's glass.

The second tip is about creating a small hole to extend the time it takes the filament to burn. Both tips with their photos after the jump. Click to continue ›

Nothing is more fun than throwing stuff through a water wall but photographing them.

A wall of water is a fascinating thing by itself. It can get even more amazing if you throw stuff through it.

In this tutorial, Jack Long will explain how he built the water wall and how he uses it to take spectacular photographs.

There is a slight use of power tools so the regular disclaimer applies, don't do anything stupid, and get assistance if you don't feel comfy around heavy machinery that spins fast. We also have a non-regular disclaimer about using water and electricity, make sure you take the necessary precautions with the splashes and all. Click to continue ›

A picture is an interesting subject if you look at it through the eyes of Doc Brown. It captures a single moment in time and spreads it over space.

But what if you could do it the other way around? Capture a single instance of space and spread it over time?

Well, this is just what Vimeo user lastfuture set out to try. There are no coding hints but I find the experience very interesting.

I was sitting in a train traveling through The Netherlands recently when for some odd reason I decided I had to take a video of the landscape passing by. I had no real use for it but decided to try and make something of it. I remembered slit-scan photography, a method where a slit is moved across the picture plane essentially taking a temporal image, where different times of the scene are captured on different parts of the film.

For our American friends the 4th of July poses a great opportunity to go out and have lots of fun with fireworks.

And there is only one thing better than playing with fireworks, and that is photographing them. Here are some great tutorials to incorporate fireworks of all kinds into your photography. Click to continue ›