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The Comprehensive Guide To Macro Photography

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When we photograph something very small we call it a macro photography. I would imagine we should call it Micro photography, but I don’t have control over the jargon.

Shooting small things poses great challenges and comes with high rewards. In this tutorial I to get all the info that you’d need to take macro shots. starting from equipment through subjects and tip and wrap up of some of my favorite macro photographers on Flickr if you need some extra inspiration.

When we talk about macro photography we tend to think about small things that we shoot from a close distance. This definition works for me as an on-the-nose definition and is probably right for just about 95% of all macro images.[Read More…]

Friday Fun: Bat Bokeh And Angry Birds

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I always love sharing images by readers and sometimes it is not the high end productions that are shared, but the ones that will produce a smile on the last day of the week.

Aside from being fun images, the couple below are also great little projects to run during the weekend with your kids.

Here are two great photos posted in the group pool / blog comments. [Read More…]

Make a PVC Table Dolly for Under $20 [video]

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A while back we posted a tutorial on how to make a PVC video dolly. This dolly works great for in house on floors or tables or any other smooth surface.

The guys at Fugal Film Maker (kinda like DIYP, only for video) made a video version of constructing a very similar dolly, so if you had any questions about what goes in where or how to use the skateboard wheels your questions will be answered.

The video is a bit old, but still worth a watch if you just started videography and looking for inexpensive hacks.[Read More…]

A Shotgun Camera Tripod – Mounting A Camera Next To The Driver’s Seat

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Sometimes you’d wanna mount a camera next to the driver. This gives you a great POV as the shotgun passenger.

For stills you may wanna do this if you want to catch the dial going up to 88 MHP without breaking the law or shopping the speed in.

But I find this technique to be more relevant for videographers that want to use the shotgun POV as part of their story telling.

While a Gorillapod may be an option for smaller cameras, big cameras need more support. In this tutorial, Boris Georgiev is going to show us how to build a very simple and cheap shotgun mount.[Read More…]

How to Build A Cycwall – The Sexy Way

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We’ve had our share of building cyc wall guides. (A cyc wall or a Cyclorama is a curved background that gives you that infinite white look. If you wanna freshen up on what it is used for, visit here).

I am not sure if you’ll remember any of them other tuts, but I am sure you will remember this one, if only for presentation qualities.

The guys (I am taking a wild assumption when saying guys) at EyeHandy put up a complete cyc wall how-to presented by a model. It includes the entire process from measuring, through carpentry and painting.

I am placing the video after the jump as this may be NSFW for some.[Read More…]

Steel Wool Light Painting

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Anybody who does not like fire raise their hands. What no hands up? OK, I am not really surprised that the readers of this blog like fire.

In that case you’ll be happy to learn that the guys over at Photo Extremist released a video guide [after the jump] on how to make steel wool light painting. We sued to do lots of those in the boy scouts at the end of year fire display. We did not even used the whisk, just put some metal wire around the steel wool.

When you go out and do this, make sure you protect both yourself (goggles, gloves, long sleeves) and the surrounding (fire extinguisher, no dry leafs and so on). Those sparks seem small but they are nasty.[Read More…]

Shoot Sculpture People Made With Starch And Sub-Woofer

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Turns out that mixing water and starch creates a mixture that interacts with sound in an interesting way.

Photographer Chris Tomkins send this video along with some instructions on producing the mixture and getting onto a tray over a sub woofer.

For some reason , the images taken while the basses are thundering resemble little people. This is true for lots of similar experiments. interesting.


[Read More…]

The Gelatin Photo Project

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After doing a similar multiplicity project with water, Vik J. shows us how to use Jello and water to create amazing repeating patterns and light painting.

If you’re looking at a hot and humid weekend forecast, try this instead of going to the mall.

Stuck for something to do on a rainy day? Find yourself a piece of glass, some gelatine and water. I never realized that these simple things could provide so much fun![Read More…]

Give A Bulb The Hot & Cold Treatment For Interesting Burning Bulb Shots

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Way, waaaaaay back we had a tutorial about how to shot a burning bulb. IT was actually one of the first posts on DIYP to hit Digg (that was pretty big back in the days).

Till this day, it remains one of the most read posts on the blog and is a personal favorite. This is why I was happy to discover two bulb related tips from Flickr user Steve O that make those awesome images even more awesome.

The first tip is about how to make a small crack in the bulb. That crack allows air to get in and burn the filament while keeping some of the smoke inside the bulb’s glass.

The second tip is about creating a small hole to extend the time it takes the filament to burn. Both tips with their photos after the jump.[Read More…]

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