8 creative camera hacks in under 90 seconds that you can try yourself
Dec 15, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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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]
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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6 responses to “8 creative camera hacks in under 90 seconds that you can try yourself”
Or you could spend an extra few minutes using a decent setup?
These are neither hacks nor useful ! Would love to see his DSLR drop off his belt though…
Potentially useful in a pinch.
The idea of smearing anything on the lens abhors me, regardless of dreaminess of the effect, honestly.
nicely put together video but nothing in there for anyone who’s serious
I like the idea of working w/ things on hand repurposed in pursuit of a good photo…I may not use these specific examples, but the general idea is the key…. :-)