Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
It’s called Bertha, it’s a gigantic camera built out of a desire to find out what photography can reveal beyond certain limits.
From the first moment I started experimenting I sensed that there are still many ways to go, past and present can merge, just as old and new technologies, historical knowledge can find new contemporary interpretations.
Hyperlapse has become increasingly popular over the last couple of years, especially as gimbals and drones capable of shooting such sequences have become more prolific. But one area where we haven’t seen a lot of hyperlapse is on the water.
Well, Daniel Riley over at rctestflight realised his autonomous boats were slow and accurate enough that they just might work for something like this. So, he refined his design, stuck a gimbal and a camera on top, and the results are pretty awesome.
These days, if you want to shoot large format, you might have difficulty finding replacement parts. Large format cameras aren’t exactly as common as they used to be, and there aren’t many companies making spare parts for older ones these days, or creating custom pieces for odd-sized cameras.
In this video, though, photographer Markus Hofstätter walks us through how we can make our own ground glass focusing screens at whatever size we need.
Photographer Steve Kazemir makes amazing droplet photos and has some unique ideas for taking them. He has come up with an automated double drop system to create some colorful and playful droplet photos. Steve built it from scratch, from cheap components that you can easily find on Amazon, eBay, Home Depot or in your own garage. In this video, he shares with you how he did it, so you can try and make your own, too.
For my latest project, “we are the dead“, I decided to build a room in which to shoot my pictures. I had absolutely no idea how to do this, but there were some facts I needed to consider:
Most cameras these days offer some kind of built-in WiFI or Bluetooth control that allows you to fire your camera from an app on your smartphone. But not all of them do. The Ricoh GRII is one of those cameras that actually does offer some remote control via an app or USB remote, but sometimes you still want that tactile feel of pushing a shutter button, and the immediate response it gives.
One GRII owner, Steloherd, has created his own method of firing the camera’s shutter via a traditional mechanical shutter release cable. It attaches via the camera’s hot shoe, and then the cable just screws into the top to push down the regular shutter button.
A few months ago, photographer Nick Sherlock shared with us his epic 3D printed 300mm long extension tube. Then he needed something to hold this beast and provide him with more stability, and he once again put his 3D printer to work. Inspired by the legendary Zenit Fotosniper, Nick designed and printed his own rifle-style grip. It doesn’t only look cool, but it gives him way more stability when using his macro setup.
Note: As of August 26, 2019, the most incredible home-built camera rig award goes tomingul’s 8-Degree-Of-Freedom robot! It takes up an entire room and can be given gcode to perform some amazing camera effects. My rig isn’t as cool, but much more mobile and simpler to build.
Camera sliders are fun tools to use for making dynamic timelapse videos, and they come with some cool features. This is a clever little gadget that moves like a camera slider but folds much smaller. Eggtimers are also commonly used to make a similar effect. Some high-end gear can slide and rotate the camera at the same time for a particularly cool effect. But how do you build one that one that could go up to 11?
How many times did you have a great idea for a video, but then you realized you don’t have the budget high enough to get all the gear you need for it? Well, the DIY approach always comes to the rescue in these situations. In this video, Dan Mace shares five of these DIY ideas he calls “sh*tty rigs.” Some of them are just hilarious, but hey – they work!
We’ve all seen Eric Pare’s DIY light tubes for light painting, but these ones from Adam Rahn at DroiMedia are a little bit different. These ones are designed for video. They’re to emulate lights like the Quasar Science and CAME-TV tubes. These DIY options are relatively inexpensive, easy to build and allow you to customise them to your own shooting needs.
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
His videos have over a hundred million views, have been extensively published by news outlets, and has even received recognition from a few film festivals, such as International Ocean Festival
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