You Can always square your photographs in post, but true inst-edicts will not stop there. How about permanently squaring your DSLR’s view finder (Canon 40D in this instance). Now This is some real insta-commitment coming from Maciej Pietuszynski. Here is what you’ll need:
When you look through your DSLR viewfinder what you see? Some of you see nothing (mostly because cap is on) and some of you see what normally you don’t wanna see (like cats and other too cute stuff for pros like us).
But what to do when you wear SquarePants that don’t fit your viewfinder and your pocket is empty. Too empty to buy a hasselblad or other real heavy muscle-pulling-men 6×6 format camera. Na.. we are only here to have fun. So…
I can’t help you with that but I can help you to see your world in the right way. And by “The Right Way” I don’t mean LSD tripping, just overcoming the rectangular confinements of your DSLR viewfinder.
Be warned you need more than basic screwdriver skills to pull this mo. If it does not feel comfortable, just don’t do it. If you still want to do this (which we absolutely don’t recommend), find a clean, well-lit dust-free place and let’s get started:
Open the small door that’s holding the focusing screen, (this is a bit different for each camera so you will have to consult your camera instruction manual).
Take out the focusing screen, be really gentle with it and don’t scratch it.
Use tape to cover both sides of the glass masking it into square form like the picture above. Make sure you go nice and slow on this one, making it a perfect square. The tape does not have to be yellow, actually it is dark enough inside your camera that any colored tape would do :)
Put the screen back in to the camera.
Now we have nice insta-square view.
To be perfectly honest, this mod does not affect your pictures, it is just a small framing help.
Some final words: I used my old DSLR for this, I will never do that on fresh new camera.
That all folks. Happy New Year!!!
About The Author:
Maciej Pietuszynski is a photographer based in Dublin, Ireland. You can follow his Blog here and his awesome Flickr here.
P.S. Maciej is quite the modder, You can see his shower head tilt-shift here and his Aerial photography rig here.
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