8 creative camera hacks in under 90 seconds that you can try yourself

Photographers are always coming up with ways to try and think a little differently. Sometimes they add a little uniqueness and interest to our shot. At other times they lets us get shots we otherwise might not be able to get at all.

In this video, photographer Peter McKinnon shows us us 8 different camera tricks he actually uses. They involve fairly every day objects you can find around the house. A belt, cellphone, and a knife are just some of the items Peter uses to bring something unique his photography.

You might have to venture out for a trip to the coffee shop for one of them, but it’s a nice little list to experiment with. Maybe they’ll work for what you do, and maybe they won’t.

• Belt Sling – Suspend your camera in a belt to give more stabilised and steady video shots.
• Coffee Hood – If you’ve ever found flare a problem while photographing friends in the local coffee shop, this one’s for you!
• Dream Chap – In the past, we might have used vaseline. Today, the cool kids are using a chap stick.
• Cello-lens – cellophane around the edge of the lens out of focus can be a neat effect to help draw your eye towards a subject.
• Shade Blend – Like the cellophane, this can give an interesting look and draw your eye over to the main subject.
• Knifeblade – Only do this one under adult supervision, folks. It’s a neat reflective effect that I’ve seen attempted quite a few times in post.
• Torch Flare – Let’s go a bit JJ Abrams and shine flashlights right into our lenses to produce some custom flare.
• Smartflare – This is pretty much the same technique as above, but using your phone’s LED instead of a flashlight. You can also use it in a similar fashion to the knife blade, but with a bit of a different look.

Ok, so they may not all be things you’ll use in your own photography, but hopefully they’ll spark a few ideas. Who knows what you may have laying around your house that you can repurpose for your photography.

Have you used any of these techniques? How did they work out for you? Can you suggest any other similar quick tips? Let us know in the comments.

[via DigitalRev]