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Turn one light into many and create fake window light sources using mirrors and gaffer tape

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Mirrors are… well, they’re not really a modifier but they can certainly be used as one, so that’s what I’m going to refer to them as here. Mirrors are probably one of the most misunderstood and underused modifiers out there when it comes to lighting, but they can be extremely helpful.

I’ve been using mirrors for my own photography, especially small product stuff, for quite a while now and they’ve been excellent for throwing a little extra light in places. This video from Nate’s Film Tutorials shows us how we can use them for larger subjects to turn one light source into many and even to create the look of things like fake window light, complete with frames and blinds.

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This amazing and surreal short film was shot entirely using practical effects

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Forever is the short film creation of German filmmaker Nicolas Arnold. He was commissioned in July 2018 to create a “Motion Response” for Australia’s upcoming Pause Fest 2019 tackling them theme “The Future is Intimate”. Four months later he’d completed the absolute eye candy you see above.

Already a very impressive film, I was blown away when I saw just how much of this was created in-camera and that it isn’t just some CG special effects reel. Nicolas posted a behind the scenes video showing some of his design and practical effects processes and it’s just as amazing as the film itself.

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Here’s a simple exercise you can do to find inspiration

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Inspiration, much like emotion, happens to be one of those things we can often get lost within and struggle to recall without the helpful nudge of others around us. The problem with this when it comes to creating new work, is that it relies on you to remain as current or observant as possible in order to find things around you to spring board from.

That approach isn’t exactly a problem per se, I mean hell, who doesn’t find inspiration in the world around them? Be it movies, music, lyrics, sounds, other photographers works, comics etc… there’s truly an endless field to pick your flowers from but sometimes we want to start from a fresh foundation. A new idea, something more unique or off the cuff.

Here’s what I propose in order to get some new ideas off the ground. Write yourself 3 random categories right next to to each other, they can be anything, I’ll go for: Prop, Mood, Colour.

Now write yourself random words that you think of under each category:
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How to use vintage equipment to produce 3D photographs with modern cameras for $30 or less

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3D photography has been rapidly coming back into fashion over the last few years, and with dual cameras now slipping into our mobile phones, it doesn’t seem too far off until the masses are able to easily produce it.  Until then, we still have to get a little creative sometimes when it comes to producing 3D imagery.

In this video, Mathieu Stern of the Weird Lens Challenge introduces us to the Stereax, a device sold in the 50s which would mount onto the front of your camera and allow you to capture two separate viewpoints on the same frame of film, to be able to then view it in the future in all its 3-dimensional glory.

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Laser pointers and mirrors brought this album cover photo to life

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If internet anecdotes are anything to go by, laser pointers are good for nothing more than endlessly teasing your cat. But, as this video shows, it appears that isn’t the case.

Photographer Kim Manchul shows us that something as simple as cheap lasers and a handful of mirrors can create an incredible ethereal image worthy of an album cover.[Read More…]

If You Want To Make Things Hard, Combine 4 Mirrors, Ground Fog And A Light Blaster To Create An Image

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There are these moments I have, lying in bed, closing my eyes and there it is: that idea that won’t let me sleep. Most of the time the idea get stranger and stranger as time goes by, because instead of being asleep, which is what I probably should do, I get inspired.

So I wake up and there it is: The telephone call, asking if you want to buy four mirrors. A few moments later I am standing with my first cup of coffee in my kitchen to realize what just happened:

  • I decided to build a ground fog machine
  • I just bought four giant mirrors
  • There should be some strange light, probably Light Blasting some structures somewhere…

I didn’t sleep very well the next night either, because I started testing my DIY-ground-fogger.

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These Beautiful Broken Mirror Sunsets Are Anything But Bad Luck

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It is a common belief that a broken mirror yields seven years of bad luck. So I was obviously wondering what was Bing Wright thinking when he went ahead with his Broken Mirror/Evening Sky project.

While the sunsets look absolutely real, Bing tells us that he “took photos of sunsets and projected them in the studio. Mirrors reflect projection. The resulting image is a reflection of a reflection of a…“.

As for the mirrors themselves, if you believe in bad luck it is even worse than the initial appearance as “The mirrors were randomly broken- the mirrors are 11×14 inches. Broke a lot of and used only ones with good break patterns“, which means that more mirrors were broken than just the 16 mirrors that were actually shot.[Read More…]

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