fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

 

Submit A Story

How to build your own giant Roger Deakins style DIY ring light

by 3 Comments

Ring lights are a big love-hate thing in the world of photography. Some people are actually quite passionate about the catchlight it can present in a subject’s eyes – believing that there’s only one way to use a ring light. But ring lights can produce some wonderful light on your scene, especially when used off-camera.

And that’s how this giant ring light is intended to be used. Inspired by Oscar-winning DP, Roger Deakins, Todd at Shutterstock shows us how to build our own in this video. It’s fairly straightforward to do if you’re comfortable with basic tools.

[Read More…]

Breaking down how much you should charge for video work

by Leave a Comment

Charging for video work, especially when you’re quite new to dealing with clients, can often be quite difficult. You don’t want to quote ridiculously high and scare off the potential client. But you also don’t want to quote far too low and risk not being taken seriously. Or, worse, them accepting it and you making no money for your time and effort.

So, how much should you charge? In this video, Caleb Pike chats with producer and director Corbyn Tyson about how to price up and quote for a video shoot. Now, every client’s needs will be different, and you’ll need to adapt this to your own workflow, but it should give you some idea of where to start with even modest projects.

[Read More…]

Here is the craziest Steadicam shot ever from the Eurovision contest

by 10 Comments

Back in the days before gimbals were invented, we had the Steadicam. Now, I am not saying that Gimbals are easy, but getting a good shot from a Steadicam is somewhere between science and art.

Speaking of art, did you catch that Eurovision contest yesterday? it was Epic. So epic that we felt obliged to share an email we got about Eurovisions and Steadicams.

The shot above was taken at the 2009 Eurovision contest while Belarus were playing their song and it’s stellar. Before hitting the play button below, see if you can guess how the shot above was taken. Then see the clip below

[Read More…]

This $200,000 Lamborghini is “the world’s fastest purpose-built camera car”

by 3 Comments

The Lamborghini “Huracam” is the creation of Incline Dynamic Outlet. Because a $200,000 Lamborghini Huracan isn’t excessive enough already, they decided to strap a $500,000 camera rig to it. They claim it’s the world’s fastest purpose-built camera car, and I don’t doubt it. IDO co-founders, Nathan Garofalos and Chris Fuelner spoke with Jalopnik recently to explain.

[Read More…]

Create cinematic shots with just a tripod and a camera strap

by 1 Comment

When I was in college in the early 2000s, I still vividly remember how much I had to improvise to make my shots look like a real movie. Back when sliders and gimbals still weren’t available to the masses, we had to create makeshift rigs with PVC pipes and ride skateboards for tracking shots.

Of course, a lot has changed since then. These days, even amateur filmmakers now have access to all sorts of accessories online to achieve cinematic shots. However, I think it’s still important to instill in people the value of DIY ethos in filmmaking.  You can’t always bring a carload of gear to every location, so learning how to shoot quality footage with minimal equipment will benefit you in this line of work.

[Read More…]

How to stop making five biggest mistakes new cinematographers make

by Leave a Comment

Making mistakes is an inevitable part of our learning process. Still, it’s good to learn how to avoid them, so we can grow and make our work better. Nerris Nassiri from Aputure shares five biggest mistakes all beginner cinematographers make. But to be honest, photographers will recognize themselves in some of these, too. Did you make them when you were still new to cinematography/photography as well?

[Read More…]

DJI announces new high end filmmaker tools and becomes first to adopt ProRes RAW video

by 1 Comment

With NAB often comes new announcements from DJI. This year, there are two big ones for serious filmmakers. There’s the DJI Force Pro, offering full remote control and manoeuvrability over the Ronin 2, Ronin-S and other gimbals. Also announced today are the new DJI Master Wheels also offering remote gimbal control with high precision in a more traditional style cinema tool.

DJI have also confirmed that not only is there a new Apple ProRes RAW codec on the way, but that they’ll be the first to implement it, too. Coming to the DJI Zenmuse X7 camera, announced last October, ProRes RAW seems to be Apple’s new standard for RAW video adding to the current mix of RED, ARRI and CinemaDNG options. Of course, ProRes has a long lineage as an industry standard, so it may win out in the long term.

[Read More…]

7 things photographers need to know about shooting video

by 4 Comments

With more photographers taking to video now, it’s good to be armed with a little information about the basics. It seems like there might not be much real difference between photography and videography, especially as we often use the same kit for both. But there are some important techniques and principles that you need to take on board. In this video, Matti Haapoja from TravelFeels talks about seven of them.

[Read More…]

How to film yourself when nobody’s around to help

by Leave a Comment

Filming myself is probably one of the more difficult things I’ve ever attempted to learn with a camera. It’s so easy when you’re filming other people when you have all of the camera’s controls at your fingertips and are able to quickly adjust. Filming yourself, though, is an entirely different set of skills. But they’re essential skills if you’re looking to start vlogging, which I have.

I’m still no expert at it, and I still have a lot to learn. But you know who is an expert at filming themselves? Peter McKinnon, that’s who. In this video, Peter provides a whole slew of advice to help you film yourself. It’s full of lots of little tips and tricks to make life just that little bit easier and get you thinking a little bit differently about how you approach it.

[Read More…]

Recent Posts