fbpx

DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

Search

 

Submit A Story

Five filmmaking tricks and techniques that you need to learn

by Leave a Comment

Everybody’s always looking for tips, tricks and shortcuts to make their lives easier. Whether it’s photoshop, filmmaking, or just about any part of our lives. With filmmaking, especially, there are a lot of different things to learn and experiment with. So videos like this one from the folks at Film Riot are always welcome.

In it, Ryan Connolly gives us five of his favourite filmmaking tips that he’s used regularly over the past 10 years. Things that every filmmaker should at least try and know a little bit about for those times when it might just be the perfect solution to a problem that pops up.

[Read More…]

This is how famous breathtaking stunts were performed before we had green screens and after effects

by Leave a Comment

Silent films of the early 20th century had some pretty breathtaking stunts that would be made using a green screen in modern days. Just think of Harold Lloyd’s famous clock scene or Charlie Chaplin’s roller skating scene. Some of the stunts they filmed even seemed quite dangerous, but this video shows that it was, in fact, all a matter of perspective and clever planning.

[Read More…]

Here are four green screen tricks you can make without the green screen

by Leave a Comment

Green screen is a popular and useful tool for creating all kinds of visual effects. You can DIY it, you can even paint it, but there are some awesome green screen tricks which don’t even require it! In this video, Jordy and Yannick of Cinecom.net demonstrate four of these tricks you can pull off without using an actual green screen, but by chroma keying smaller objects.

[Read More…]

How to use Photoshop’s “Blend If” feature like a pro

by 1 Comment

Blend If is a very useful Photoshop tool. Jesús Ramirez of Photoshop Training Channel calls it “the unsung hero,” and he wants to teach you how to use this handy feature. In his video tutorial, you’ll learn some theory about “Blend If” and how to use it to replace the sky, create special effects and apply textures in Photoshop.

[Read More…]

How to turn smoke into low lying fog for your next spooky photo shoot

by 1 Comment

Low lying fog can be fantastic for those creepy photo shoots, especially out on location. Or, perhaps you’re trying to recreate the look of a particular 80s pop music TV show. Whatever your reason, low lying fog often works much better than a more elevated smoke-filled atmosphere choking your subject.

In this video from Jay P Morgan for The Slanted Lens, we see how to make a smoke machine produce low lying fog. And all you need is a cooler and a big block of ice.

[Read More…]

How to make your own DIY air-powered blood squibs

by 1 Comment

Movie special effects usually come with a big price tag. They can be complicated, requiring specialised (and licensed) skill sets. Some are also very dangerous if not performed correctly. Blood squibs are no exception. They’re the packs that you see explode whenever somebody gets shot in a movie or TV show.

Traditionally, squibs hold a small explosive charge that detonates on demand. You’ll generally need to be licensed in order to create and use them, and there are all kinds of safety checks. There are safer options, though. Such as this one shown in this video from John Hess at Filmmaker IQ. We see us how to make our own (relatively) safe squibs using a very minimal list of ingredients..

[Read More…]

Watch: 28 years of Photoshop in only 3 minutes

by 1 Comment

We all use Adobe Photoshop, at least up to some point. It’s definitely the most used photo editing software in the world. What’s more, it’s one of the world’s most used and most famous pieces of software in general. This short and fun video will guide you through 28 years of Photoshop in only 3 minutes.

[Read More…]

Aerial Perspective – The depth your images have been consciously missing.

by 2 Comments


Something I’m going to be touching on today is referred to in the painting world as “Aerial Perspective”, a way, if not “the” way to create depth in your images. When you see pictures of mountains, or landscapes you’ll often notice that they are coated with fog, clouds, smoke, steam, etc in order to make the background appear further away.

[Read More…]

How The Amazing “Through The Mirror” Trick Shot From Contact Was Taken

by 7 Comments

If you saw Contact, you know it is a marvelous film, not only for its plot, but also for its wonderful cinematography. In one of the more memorable scenes in the movie, Ellie (Dr. Eleanor Ann) discovers that her father died, and runs to the bathroom medicine cabinet to get his pills. It is a single shot that follows Ellie from the bottom of the staircase all the way until she reaches out to the mirrored cabinet and opens it, only to reveal that the entire shot was taken “through the mirror”.

How is this possible without us seeing the cameraman?

[Read More…]

Recent Posts