Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
We have featured iPhone getting some altitude on balloons before, yet we never featured an camera and an iPhone going into space.
The camera was pulled by a weather balloon 19 miles into space and back. Overcoming, extreme chill, strong winds and overwhelming speed. It would also have to land on outside water.
The experiment marked mission successful, with the pod surprisingly landing only 30 miles from launch spot.
Surprisingly, the iPhone was only tagging along as a GPS module.
A long while back I read a semi-theoretical post about using a room corner and a brolli as a full-fledged setup.
As a preparation for an on location job I decided to test that premise, and took a few head shots at my basement studio.This will add up to the butterfly one light setup I reviewed earlier.
Mind you that this little setup can be brought up in any place that features a corner, that is just about anywhere.[Read More…]
We’ve had our share of dual strobe mounts before, but this is a first for a triple mount. And you’d need every bit of that light if you are shooting a big modifier like the Westcott’s 28″ Apollo monster.
This tutorial shows you how to make one (or print it out and go to the local shop so they make one).
The detailed instructions were written by Eric Au (Flickr), Calgary based photographer and industrial designer. Always helps to have a Shop at the garage… I wonder how many comments will persuade Eric to go and make this into something you could buy at B&H.
Traditionally, during this time of year, there is a lull in work flow. Not a lot of contracts are signed during late September and October. Things pick up again in November. Typically, I use this time to hone some new technique or try out some new gear. A tiny bit of hackground (pun intended) for you readers, I am photographer and an industrial designer and it was inevitable when those two would collide. I’ve been hacking and developing my own brackets and equipment ever since I could hold a saw.
I use a lot of off camera flash for location work, I sought out to design and develop something that is the size of a palm, but have every feature and the strength of the Lightware Foursquare. Although I currently own and use a Foursquare, it is still not compact enough to throw into my bag (taking into account the handle assembly which makes it work really well).
Instead of trying to copy and reduce the size of a Foursquare, I decided to subtract some light, using 3 instead of 4 Speedlights (I use only Nikon Sb800s). I started with the largest hex, t6160 aluminum I could source locally, 2”. A piece of hex stock offered 6 open, flat sides to mill into features to mount the flashes, the spigot and umbrella thumb screw.[Read More…]
We have had a post before where we shoed how to use a canon G9 camera and a bunch of opensource photography software (mainly CHDK) to create amazing timelapse movies.
This time we are taking it up a notch and adding some movment to the movie. The idea is simple, using a mechanical kitchen timer (I used a fancier one 🙂 and a bolt we created a rotating camera. Movie with tutorial and samples after the jump.[Read More…]
If you remember a while ago, I was full of pain about my crappy you-get-what-you-pay-for radio slaves. When they worked, it was a match made in heaven. Sadly, they did not always work.
Long story short. I made a change. In this two posts series, I will first detail how and why I came to select Pocketwizard as my radio system and then share my first impressions after using it for more than a month.[Read More…]
The cardboard light tent is a constantly popular post here at DIYP, and no wonder it is one of the easiest ways for shoot a small product [note to self, make a really huge cardboard tent].
However, it is not the only way to create good small scale product setups. A while back David Hobby had a great derivative of that box which he titled the lunch box.
Photographer Steve Bennett uses a similar concept to create a table top sized diffusion screen with built in spill control.[Read More…]
With Halloween just around the corner I thought that showcasing a nice scary photograph may be inspirational. Of course, since this is DIYP there’s a hack in it. It is using an optically triggered hacked slave flash that was fitted in a Lantern.
Photographer Victor W used a small flash scavenged from a Kodak disposable camera to create a scary watch man photograph. (sorry victor, but watchman at night with threatening faces are scary, if you wanna see Victor’s nice side see here).[Read More…]
Update: The giveaway is now closed. Thanks to the good fellas @ThinkTank for making this great giveaway. Winners at bottom of the post.
Our good friends over at ThinkTank Photo are giving away a very cool Sling-O-Matic 30 Camera bag (Valued @ $189.00). I know, I know, there are plenty of camera sling bags out there. But, there is only one bag (Well, at least as far as I know) that allows you to sling the bag over your right OR your left shoulder.
Oh yea, did I say it can carry a laptop? I did now. Details & giveaway entry after the jump.[Read More…]
The following post about creating a polycarbonate panoramic head was written by Barry Young. It is a slick design that uses semi-fixed drilled holes for vertical panning and polycarbonate for an even slicker look. In Barry’s words:
Both of my DSLRs, an Olympus E1 and a Sigma SD10, are somewhat limited (by today’s standards) in the number of megapixels they churn out. That doesn’t mean that I intend to upgrade them any time soon.
Occasionally though I want to capture a particular scene in the highest resolution I can and so, like many other photographers, I too have had a go at creating my own DIY panoramic head.
As you can see it is very much like many others you will find on the net, the main difference being that it is made of 12mm transparent polycarbonate, which makes it look slightly different from the norm.[Read More…]
Steve Hermitage who made it a point to create and share wonderful photography home projects, like the bubble world that was featured here before, just released another great weekend project. So if he forecast is rainy and it looks like you are about to stay home. Get a bottle of wine and two glasses. one for you and one for the camera. Here is one fun project for this weekend.
Using a computer screen Steve created simple patterns which he then uses to shoot empty glasses of wine. The way the glass breaks and distorts the light creates interesting poppy patterns.[Read More…]
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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