Photography — tips and tricks for aspiring photographers « Photography

How To: Develop Kodachrome Film (B&W Hand Processing & Kodak's K-14 Process)

Remember KODACHROME? That color reversal film from Kodak? The film that was the inspiration for Paul Simon? The only brand of film to have a state park named after it?

How To: Stop Saying "Cheese"! Here's How You Smile More Naturally for Photos

I hate having my picture taken. It's awkward, and I almost always end up thinking, "Is that what I look like all the time?" Most of us think we look awful in photos, probably because we all subconsciously act and carry ourselves a little differently when we know there's a camera on us.

How To: Choose a narrative theme for a photo series

This instructional photography video provides some helpful tips on how to build narrative ideas surrounding body of photography work that you'll want to create. You can use these techniques when building a book, a web site or a series of consistent images for your story. You will not only make your photography work more interesting, but working with narrative will train you to become a better story teller.

How To: Build a Weatherproof Camera Enclosure for Long Term Time-Lapses

There are plenty of ways to create time-lapse photos and videos, but most of them are taken over the course of several hours. If you want to do a longer term shoot over several weeks or months, you'll need a battery that can last that long, and you probably don't want to leave your DSLR sitting somewhere for that amount of time anyway.

How To: Load film into a Hasselblad back

This is a how-to video featuring the A12 film back for a Hasselblad 500 series camera. Watch this photography tutorial to begin using your antique Hasselblad camera and all of its confusing parts. Once you are aware of the unique film loading process for this camera, you can adopt this camera into your photography practice and begin shooting.

Quick Tip: Use a Wired Headset as a Shutter Release Trigger for Your DSLR Camera

Whether you're trying to get an unconventional angle or just want to include yourself in the picture, there are plenty of times when a remote trigger can come in really handy. Of course, if you want to buy one, you have tons of options. But if you already have an Xbox 360 headset, all you have to do is plug it in. YouTube user Gurnarok accidentally found that by plugging his Xbox headset into his camera's remote port, the on/off toggle triggered the shutter release and flash.

How To: Protect Your Camera from Rain with This Hands-Free DIY Umbrella Holder for Your Tripod

When you're shooting in the rain (or other extreme weather conditions), there's a lot more to think about since cameras and water don't exactly mix well. An umbrella will protect your gear, but unless you have someone to hold it for you, it can be a pain to use.

How To: Load 120 film onto stainless steel reels

Ever try to load a roll of film onto a reel and into a sealed developing tank in complete darkness? If you have, you know that anything unexpected can throw a kink into your personalized process of developing photographs. This video demonstrates how to load film onto stainless steel reels. If you are interested in developing film by hand, it is a good idea to be aware of all types of winding reels and developing tanks so you don't fumble in the darkroom.

How To: Build a Cheap and Easy Optical Zoom Lens for Your Smartphone

Love taking photos with your smartphone, but don't have a zoom? This tutorial by Unitips will show you how to DIY one with a few simple parts. All you'll need is 1/4" bolts, washers, and wingnuts (two each), some sheet metal, and a pair of binoculars.

How To: Create a crazy, cross-eyed person effect in Photoshop

When we think about Photoshop, we think about the desire to look beautiful and "perfect." Celebrities get airbrushed and Photoshoped all the time when they appear in magazines in order to make their faces appear slimmer, their thighs smaller, their lips more voluminous, etc. Photoshop is usually a tool that enhances beauty.

How To: Create realistic sun rays in Photoshop

Trying to design that perfect beach scene in Photoshop? Master the look of summer with help from this Photoshop lesson. In this video tutorial by Yanik's Photo School, learn how to create realistic sun rays or sunbeams in Photoshop.

How To: Control Your Samsung Smart Camera with Your Android or iOS Device

Samsung is helping photographers in getting more utility out of their cameras with their new Samsung Smart Camera App. With it, your device becomes a powerful viewfinder for your Samsung camera, allowing you to not only frame shots, but control multiple aspects of the camera, right through your phone.

How To: Take the Perfect Booty Selfie

Today you can be just like Kim Kardashian and take an awesome booty selfie. Taking a booty selfie is So Easy a Guy Can Do It!

How To: Use the Harris Shutter Effect to Get Crazy, Colorful Action Photos

Want to take vibrant photographs like this one? You won't find this filter in Instagram, and that's because it's a little more difficult than just slapping a digital filter on a solo photo. The extra RGB colors are created using a special strip device called the Harris shutter, invented by Robert Harris of Kodak.

How To: Build a 4x5 pinhole camera

Attention photography lovers! Put down the digital camera for a day and try this DIY project out, constructing a camera that dates back to as early as 4th century BC.

How To: Add Creepy Apparitions to Your Halloween Photos Using the Pepper's Ghost Illusion

Photographers have been using the Pepper's Ghost Illusion for over a century to play up the level of creepiness in their photos. Many of the pictures that claim to be real "sightings" use this technique to project a ghostly figure into the background of their images. Today, it's still used in theatre, "scary" rides at amusement parks, and haunted houses all over the world, which makes it a great photography trick for Halloween time. As shown in the tutorial below by Make's Jason Poel Smith, t...

How To: Make Your Photos More Fun with These DIY Bokeh Effects Lens Filters for Your DSLR

In photography, bokeh refers to the blurry or out-of-focus parts of a shot. Bokeh can be good or bad—it all depends on how you use it. There are tons of ways to create a bokeh effect, whether you go the traditional route with lens filters, digital with Photoshop, or even from your iPhone. With filters, you can use the blurred spaces to produce different shapes and colors. If you have a DSLR and want to experiment with bokeh, this tutorial by Chris Perez over on Apartment Therapy will show you...

How To: Make a Mini DIY Camera Tripod Using Old Disposable Razors

Choosing the right tripod stand can be a difficult decision, but if you want to avoid the hassle and save some money, making your own easy to use tripod can be the best way to go. If this tennis ball tripod isn't right for you, then maybe this disposable razors one by Instructables user Jawasan will do. This tripod stand only works for small cameras, so make sure yours is light enough before you start.

How To: Turn Time-Lapsed Clouds into a Brushstroke Painting with This Photo Stacking Technique

You can create a lot of impressive effects by stacking or layering photos, whether you do it in a darkroom or with Photoshop. The Harris shutter effect makes your photos super colorful, and double exposing or stacking negatives makes for some crazy looking portraits.

How To: Make a Super Cheap Soft Box for Pro-Looking 'Soft' Light in Your Photos

Remember the young Parker who taught us how to make fun things like the ghost trap from Ghostbusters and the cheap severed leg effect? Well, he's definitely grown since then, and in his latest video he takes a more practical approach to DIY with a cheap and easy soft box for you home photography studio.

How To: Mod Your Old Polaroid Camera for Wet Plate Collodion Photography

Wet-plate collodion photography is a process that lets you develop a photo onto a piece of glass. It has some neat applications, but it's not a simple process, and most people use a special camera to do it because the silver nitrate used to process usually ends up leaking, which would ruin a regular camera.

How To: Make a DIY Camera Bag Insert to Protect Your Gear

When you have expensive camera equipment, the last thing you want to do is just throw it all in a bag without any kind of protection. If you don't want to buy a separate bag, you can always use an insert, but they can get pretty pricey, too.

How To: 5 Incredibly Cheap and Smooth DIY Camera Mounts for Inside or Outside of Your Car

Shooting a photo or video in a car can be rather difficult without a proper mount, and if you want to secure your camera outside the car, it can be just plain expensive. Luckily, there are tons of DIY camera mounts for both inside and outside your vehicle, and most of them are pretty cheap to make. Here are some of the best.

Extreme Light Painting: Artist Uses Just One LED to Trace Entire Rooms with Light Waves

How many trips up and down the stairs do you think it took artist Janne Parviainen to create this incredible topographical light painting? Apparently, quite a few. Using only one LED, he moves around his house, tracing all of the surfaces. Sometimes the exposure times are up to 30 minutes to achieve this effect. He's done similar projects in the past, like these fun, but slightly creepy skeletons. Check out Janne's website and Flickr profile to see more of his work.

How To: Use the .thm files when filming movies with a Canon camera

What's this mysterious .thm file? Why are they cluttering up your SD card? Can they be safely deleted? This video has the answers! A .thm file is created specifically by Canon cameras when you're filming a movie, and this video shows you how to use your .thm files.

News: It's Magic! See 3D Without the Glasses

On last week's Gizmodo Shooting Challenge, submittors were challenged to create photos that could be seen in 3D, simply by refocusing the eyes to merge two appropriately placed white dots.

News: Long-Exposure Photographs of Old-School Video Games

When a person sits motionless for hours on end in front of a television screen, it's sloth; when a camera does the same, it's art! Case in point, these beautiful long-exposure photographs of old Atari games by Rosemarie Fiore:

How To: Successfully Create A Panorama With Your Camera

Have you ever wondered how to successfully create a panorama with your camera? What is a Panorama?

How To: Use the Manfrotto Super Clamp

Did you ever have trouble keeping a steady shot with a camera or camcorder when you didn't have a tripod ready? In this video, Steve from Cameras Brookwood shows you why a Manfrotto Super Clamp might just be the tool for you. A Super Clamp can open up to three inches and attaches any camera weighing up to fifteen kilograms to a post, beam, or table. To use the Super Clamp, open it fully and place it around the object that you want to attach it to. Turn the crank until the Super Clamp is snug,...

How To: Use fill flash when taking photographs

In this Click Here Photography instructional video, learn how to photograph using a fill flash to produce a great photograph. Equipment, how to set-up, and additional props are gone over. Although a fill flash takes some time to set-up & is an additional item to carry, it will produce better photographic results in certain lighting situations. Learn how to experiment with your fill flash and maximize your photo's potential with the advice, tips, and information given here.

How To: Clean a camera lens & get rid of smudges

Professional camera cleaning is expensive and usually more than you need. Follow these simple steps to keep your lenses clear and smudge-free.

How To: Learn the parts of a Diana+ 35mm camera

Watch this photography tutorial for an out of the box look at the Lomography 35mm film back for the Diana+ and Diana F+. It's great to have a vintage film camera, but these days most of the individual camera parts are mysteries to the amateur photographer. Have fun learning to use your Diana camera.

How To: Take photographs like Gregory Crewdson

In this Ovation TV original special, acclaimed photographer Gregory Crewdson shares with us his insight into his photographic techniques. Like a film, he uses a lot of production, a lot of lighting, a lot of set design. He is an American photographer best known for elaborately staged, surreal scenes of American homes and neighborhoods. Learn how to take pictures like this master artist.

How To: Make 2D Pics Look Like 3D Objects Using This Optical Illusion Camera Trick

How do you make a plastic bottle sit on top of a Rubik's Cube without a Rubik's Cube? It may seem like a brain teaser, but it's more like something you would see in an Escher drawing. An optical illusion. A three-dimensional world trapped in a two-dimensional image, which is exactly what's going on in this Rubik's Cube illusion.

How To: Take Perfect Selfies

The selfie craze has caught up and how! But sadly enough, not all of us know the tips and tricks to get it right. Watch this video if you're yet to master the art of clicking the perfect selfie.

CES 2015: The CUBE Action Camera, Polaroid's Answer to the GoPro

Polaroid's answer to the masculine-fueled GoPro comes in the form of a tiny family-friendly square, fittingly named the Polaroid CUBE. Starting at a very modest $99.99 , the water-resistant action camera comes in all different colors, shoots HD video at 1080p, allows users to take 6MP pictures, and supports a microSD card of up to 32GB. Attached to the bottom of the cube is a magnet that allows you to stick the camera in many places, including the side of a car (though the Polaroid representa...

DIY Photo Processing: How to Develop Film at Home for Cheap Using Coffee, Red Wine, or Tylenol

Not many people use film cameras anymore, so it can be hard to find the materials to develop your own photos at home since most local camera stores are closing. But it's actually relatively easy to make homemade developer, and you can make it with a few relatively common ingredients.