I’m not sure what these items are for – but they can be great for photography

Although I’m not obsessed with photo gear, I can’t withhold from buying knick-knacks I can use for photography somehow. In my rich collection of toys and other crap, there are some items I’m not even sure what they’re for. However, it turns out that all of them can be useful for photography, in a few different ways. In this article, I’ll present you with some of these things, and some ideas how you can use them as a photographer.

1.This prism

Once I saw a couple of photos by my friend Katarina Kosanovic. It was obvious they were taken through some kind of prism, and she shared the photo of it too. It’s a tear-shaped, glass prism; it’s rather heavy and with the hole on the top. It took me ages to find one because I didn’t know what to look for. The word “prism” would give me a triangular one in the search results. But, eventually, I found the one I was looking for. It’s described as “Feng Shui Suncatcher,” whatever that is.

If it weren’t for Katarina, I wouldn’t even know this thingy existed, and I’m really grateful to her for the inspiration. Make sure to check out her prism photos, too.

2.This glitter sheet

I was in a stationery store with my boyfriend, when I saw something like this.

“I gotta have it!”

“But what are you gonna do with it?”

“I don’t know, but it’s purple and has glitter… I’m sure I’ll find it a purpose.”

And so I did. It makes a great background for shooting small items and creates lovely bokeh. You can get it in different colors, too. I guess kids use it for arts and crafts or something like that.

3.This shiny foil

I wrote about this in one of the previous articles. I saw it in a Home Depo-like store, and I had absolutely no idea what it was for. I just knew it could make a reflector. So I bought some and made a quick and simple two-sided DIY reflector. It took me ages to find what it actually is and get a link. I learned it’s used for heat insulation, although I’m still not sure how. But if you watch Better Call Saul, you may get some other ideas as well.

4.These glowing… thingies

This is an absolute winner of ridiculous items I have at home. My brother brought it from a cruise ship where he worked as a musician during winter holidays. He told me everyone had these during the New Year’s Eve celebration. I have no idea what they’re called, where you can buy them and if they have any other purpose but glowing in the dark. But if you wanna play with optical fibers, maybe this will do.

I used my glowing sticks as a photographic subject here:

They can also be used for light painting and some trippy (self)portraits. Although, for now, I’ve only tried the latter.

Even when I can guess (or google) what some of these things are supposed to do, I’m not sure how they’re used. But I like the way I repurposed them. Do you use any of these for photography (or for their actual purpose)? And do you have any knick-knacks you use for photography, but don’t know what they’re actually supposed to do?