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20 Kick Ass Projects From Last Year

Dec 4, 2014 by Laya Gerlock 6 Comments

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It has been a year since I started writing for DIYP and it has been a wonderful experience sharing works and tutorials to the world, including getting to read comments (and the occasional troll which gives me a laugh from time to time) and for this one year anniversary post, I want to run down and make one blog about my personal and favorite tutorials.

PRODUCT SHOTS:

How To Put A Granite Tile To Good Use

granite tile

One of my favorite cheapo items for product shots is a piece of granite tile. Check out the things you can do with a tile – it’s more than you think.

A Clever Way To Photograph Glass

how to shoot glass

A tutorial on how to photograph glass, it is not a trivial matter to shoot, but using a few tricks, you can make it work.

El Bokeh Wall

el bokeh wall (1)

el bokeh wall (2)

How to create bokeh backgrounds using only aluminum foil.

High Speed Photography With Minimal Gear

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A step by step tutorial on how to create splash product ads with multiple exposure and minimal gear.

Stunning Product Shots With Iphone And Ipad Lightpainting

light painting with ipad and iphone

Create stunning product shots using only an iPhone and a an iPad.

How To Shoot A Perfect Watch Using Only An Ipad

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Than a year later tried this technique again with a different approach. On how to shoot a watch using only an iPad.

Self Challenge: Shooting The 4 Elements In A Single Exposure

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We need to challenge ourselves from time to time, I did a four elements still life shots 3 years ago but needed to photoshop it to achieve the look that I wanted, so to challenge myself I wanted to shoot it straight out of the camera. It took about 3 hours to shoot but totally worth it.

BACKGROUNDS:

Create 4 Different Background Styles Using Only 1 White Seamless Paper

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4 different backgrounds copy

I only have one white seamless paper in my studio as my main background, the reason is you can actually create 4 different looks using only one white seamless.

A Simple Technique To Create The Illusion Of Different Spaces Using Only One Light

gobo background

Another simple diy that can make a lot of difference in creating shadows in your background. And for this I only used an illustration board.

PORTRAITS

Can DIY Modifiers Compete Against Pro Grade Modifiers?

Diy modifier challenge

I have a lot of DIY projects, maybe this is one reason I became a writer for DIYP :) So, I did a shoot using only DIY modifiers to test if it can compete against pro grade modifiers.

The 2 Stops Underexposure “Magic Bullet”

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Here I share one of my favorite techniques when shooting outdoors, underexposing the ambient light and using a flash for my mainlight. Check out the step by step tutorial.

Awesome Cold Look With Cto Gel And Tweaking White Balance

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cto gel (2) copy

Using the same technique as the 2 stops underexposed background, I added more twist by putting a CTO gel on my flash to get a different cold tone look.

LIGHTING

Analyzing Light – How To Breakdown The Lighting Of A Photo

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I still believe that one of the best ways to learn photography is by looking at pictures and trying to analyze how it was done and doing it yourself. So here is how I do it.

Lighting Techniques: All The Things You Can Do With One Speedlight

things you can do with one light (3)

things you can do with one light

Lighting techniques, building DIY modifiers, and minimal gear tutorials are my favorite things to write about. So here is an article on all the things you can do with one speedlight from portraits to still life.

How To Build A Basic 4 Light Setup

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A 4 light tutorial you can use for Portraits or Product.

DIY’s:

Wood Table For Product Photography

wood table 2 copy

wood table copy

I’m still fascinated with food photography and product shots with wood table or wood texture in it, so I diy’d my own.

How To Build A Kick Ass 4 Feet Diy Ring Light

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I wasn’t a writer back then for DIYP, but from time to time I contributed some of my DIY projects. Here is a ring light way back then. 

Repurposing A Kfc Fried Chicken Dinner As A DIY Ring Flash

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Now a smaller version of the ring flash, using a KFC bucket.

DIY Florescent Tube Light Beauty Light Thingy

flourescent lights (2)

flourescent lights (1)

Another diy light using fluorescent tubes and also creating a different catchlight.

So, go out there, shoot and share!

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

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Related posts:

How To Build A Kick Ass 4 Feet DIY Ring Light How Not to Be an Ass: Music & Concert Photography Etiquette Use these eight warm-up poses to kick off your next portrait session Leica wants to kick off your street photography with new $1,549 camera kit

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: food photography, laya gerlock, lighting, lighting tutorial, one light, strobist, studio, tutorials, underexpose, wood planks

Laya Gerlock: from diyphotography.net

About Laya Gerlock

Laya Gerlock is a Portrait and Product photographer based in the Philippines. His passion is teaching and sharing his knowledge in Photograpy and has been doing this for 6 years. You can follow his work on his web page, follow him on Flickr and if you happen to come by Cubao, Quezon City (To Manila, Philippines) he gives a great workshop!

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