Hot Photography Posts
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: Turn a Sink Strainer into a Soft Focus Camera Lens Filter
Soft focus photography can produce some beautiful images when used properly. It's used a lot in beauty and glamour shots, but can be applied to other types of photos as well. Some digital cameras have pre-programmed settings for soft focus shots, but if you're using a DSLR, you'll need a special lens or filter to do it.
How To: Get a spinning effect in your photography
Learn how to make it look like the subjects of your photos are spinning by changing the shutter speed and making the background streak.
How To: Set up a big white infinity sweep for photo studio
This instructional photography video shows how to setup large white infinity backgrounds in the photo studio. The key components to this setup is include this six foot octobox softbox light, which requires quite a bit of power; a framed aluminum reflector; the background itself is vinyl floor painted white; and a black baffle to shield the camera from lens flare. Set up professional looking shoots and take great portraits with this tutorial.
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: Clean a camera lens
When cleaning a camera lens, use stiff brush to remove the dirt, then wipe lens with a lint-free cloth. Clean camera lenses with the tips in this free instructional video on photography tips from a professional photographer. Be sure to be sage and avoid scratching the camera lens.
News: Take Pictures With Your Mouth-Camera
Justin Quinnell has created a series of pinhole photographs taken from the perspective of an open mouth. Pinholes can be disposable, flexible and pretty simple to make. Play around and see what kind of interesting perspectives you can come up with...
How To: Take the fairy portrait
Learn how to create up the set and lighting to capture "the fairy potrait."
How To: Assemble a softbox in the photo studio
This one minute video shows how a softbox and speed ring are assembled quickly and easily in the photo studio. A softbox is just loose cloth with four flexible rods inside. You can use a softbox to adjust the direction of your lights for a professional studio photo shoot.
How To: Take an HDR photo with a Nikon D50 digital camera
See how to take an HDR photo set (three photos, each with different exposures) using a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera. This how-to video includes a walk through of the settings you should use to take the high dynamic range imaging photo. It pretty much works the same on most digital SLR cameras, so pay attention to this video tutorial.
How To: Make a wide-mouthed screaming face in Photoshop
Munch's The Scream is one of the world's most famous paintings, and at least since it was painted people have had a fascination with images of larger-than-life mouths screaming. This video will show you how to use Photoshop to create some cool screaming face effects, like making the mouth huge and distorted or even making it cover the entire face! The effects are cool and easy, so try it!
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: Develop Black & White Film with Caffenol
If MacGyver ever needed to develop some black and white film, this is how he would do it. Check out this awesome recipe for film developer, which uses instant coffee, Vitamin C, and washing soda to set up your own darkroom developing lab.
How To: Manually Control Aperture with Macro Extension Rings
Macro extension rings are an affordable solution to buying expensive macro lenses, but there is no way to control the aperture when using macro extension tubes without contacts. However, by utilizing a piece of paper, you can easily control the aperture.
How To: Make a Super Cheap Pinhole Lens Filter for Your DSLR Camera
There are tons of ways to make your own pinhole camera out of everything from a juice box to a pine nut. If you have a DSLR, you can make a DIY pinhole lens for it for just a few bucks. David O'Sullivan over on DIY Photography made this one using a cheap body cap and an aluminum can. Here's how to make your own. David put up a template you can follow to make things easier, so start off by downloading it, then use a ruler to draw a line directly through the center of the body cap. Cut out the ...
How To: Create an easy and inexpensive seamless white background for photography
Love the look of the seamless white background in some trendy photographs? You don't need to pay for expensive remodeling to your studio - this video explains a very simple and inexpensive technique you can use to achieve this same effect in your low budget studio.
How To: Take evenly lit professional high definition photos
You can take high resolution photos with just about any digital SLR, but whether these high resolution photos turn out impressive depends on setting, lighting, and the compliance of your subjects to pose. While photographing your friends and family in everyday life has these aforementioned conditions already set for you, if you take photos in the studio many factors can be adjusted to your liking.
How To: Use Sekonic light meters to balance flash and ambience
In this episode of Digital Photography 1-on-1, host Mark Wallace goes in depth on the subject of light metering and flash balancing. Making use of a Sekonic light meter, Mark shows how to read the light levels in a room, and explains how to interpret those readings in order to adjust flash levels, ISO levels, and alternative light source manipulation. Mark also goes over the important roles that aperture settings and film speeds play when attempting to successfully balance flash and ambient l...
HowTo: Arduino High Speed Photography Trigger
Photography guru Matt Richardson demonstrates how to build your own arduino high speed flash trigger so you can create awesome work like this. Pick up the project code here.
How To: Develop C41 black and white or color film at home
With photo labs around the world closing in the wake of the digital camera revolution, knowing how to develop your own film at home is more important than ever. This video teaches you how to develop one type of film, C41, at home using a kit. Even when there are no more photo labs left, you will still be able to make beautiful still prints from film at home after watching this video.
How To: Make a cheap studio light with soft box for under $20
This video shows how to make a studio softbox light for under 20 dollars. It is made with items found around the home or easily acquired. The author takes us through the process in a step by step manner. It starts with a cheap camera tripod upon which a plastic electrical outlet strip is attached using either a screw or strong plastic adhesive. An electrical plug with a light socket attachment is plugged into the strip to allow the light to be attached. A small cooler with a hole cut in the b...
How To: Make a pinhole camera
In the age of digital cameras and instant gratification, make the simplest camera ever invented using just a light proof box, a hole, and paper. Check out this Howcast video tutorial on how to make a pinhole camera.
How To: Create Stunning Double Exposure Portraits with Your DSLR Camera (No Photoshop Required)
There are plenty of ways to take double exposure photos, even if all you have is your cell phone. If you have access to a darkroom (or Photoshop), you can do it by stacking negatives. But if you have the right kind of DSLR, you can do it right from your camera by using the multiple exposure setting.
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: Make a Canon Shutter Release Cable
This article will show you how to make a shutter release cable for a Canon camera. It took me about half an hour once all of my materials were gathered. I came in at a total of about eight dollars. It has three switches and buttons. The black button on mine triggers the auto focus. The red button triggers the shutter. Finally, the switch triggers the bulb mode, or long exposure. This can be used to take astronomical photos that show the movement of the stars in the picture. The release cable ...
How To: Build a PVC Shoulder Rig Stabilizer for Your DSLR Camera for Under $25
When you're capturing video with a DSLR, not having some type of stabilization system can lead to some pretty awful and shaky scenes. Camera instability is not only painful to watch, but breaks the fourth wall. Once that the invisible barrier between filmmaker and audience is apparent, it may break down that magical relationship between the two.
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: Shoot stunning raindrop reflection photos
This tutorial will walk you through the steps of making stunning raindrop reflection images. Lindsay Adler (of Adler Photo Workshops) will cover equipment and techniques, and give you advice to make the most of your time. You don't need a rainy day, just the right preparation to create amazing raindrop reflection photos.
How To: Upcycle Your Old Jeans into a DIY Camera Stabilizer
Need a camera stabilizer, but don't have the cash? With an old pair of jeans, a bag of lentils, and an hour or two of your time, you can DIY one for cheap (or free)! This tutorial by Jeff Meyer on Digital Camera World uses a sewing machine, but if you don't have one, or don't know how to use one, you can pick up some fabric glue for a few bucks. You could also try this method that uses fabric glue, fusible tape, and an iron for a more secure seam so you don't have to worry about spilling the ...
How To: Create a Light Painting Vortex Using a DIY Reusable Steel Wool Cage
There's no shortage of uses for steel wool, but the majority of them tend to be on the pyromaniacal side, like DIY fireworks. This trick by Mike Mikkelson is no different—it uses a homemade reusable "wool cage" to create a spinning vortex of light, like in the photo below. You can do this with just a piece of steel wool on a cable, but Michael wanted something he could easily reuse no matter how many shots he took, so he built a small cage to house the steel wool out of chicken wire, a small ...
How To: Photograph star trails on 35mm film
This is a great tutorial for photographing beautiful star trails on a 35mm SLR camera. Because only film has low enough ASA to shoot for such long exposures, this tutorial unfortunately apply to digital SLR's.
How To: An Extensive Guide to Creating Bokeh Photography
Bokeh (which translates to "blur" in Japanese) is a photography technique referring to the blurred areas of a photograph. Basic bokeh photographs often have one point of focus, while the background falls away into a dreamy, blurred haze.
How To: Walk like a male / female model on the catwalk
Are you interested in fashion? Let's try a catwalk. For guys, walk straight and the feet shouldn't cross while walking. For girls, walk with one foot in front of the other, look straight forward and shoulders should pull back. Walk with your hands on the hip or let loose. There must be attitude on both the boy as well as the girl which will create a niche. This will help in launching your fashion career as well as maintain your posture.
How To: Make a mini tripod for your camera with a tennis ball
Turn an old tennis ball into a nifty camera tripod in just minutes. Inspired by an Instructables.com project: http://www.instructables.com/id/SDMK5MWFDO29GEZ/
How To: Shoot unique product photography with long exposures
This video shows you how to light a bottle with long exposure in photography. The end result is to have a picture of a bottle with glowing edges with a black background. For starters you set your SLR camera settings to a 30 second manual shutter speed and a f5. 6 set aperture. Put the camera on a tripod for steadiness and set up your subject. For the subject, on a table, place your bottle in front of your chosen drop cloth. It is best to choose a color similar to the bottle. Then you use a li...
How To: Learn extreme macro photography tricks
Watch this quick instructional photography video and discover how to do extreme macro photography without having any real specialized macro photo equipment. Use a couple of your existing lenses to create a super macro lens. Practice these tips and improve your photography skills.
How To: DIY your own SuperMacro lens with working aperture
In this video, learn how to take apart any old lenses you may have a fuse them together into the ultimate SuperMacro lens. This absolutely gorgeous tutorial will show you, step by step, exactly how to create this fantastic eye piece and take incredible photos with it.
How To: Repair a Lomography Diana camera shutter
If your film camera shutter has stopped working, chances are that the shutter spring has become detached. This photography tutorial shows you how to disassemble the Lomography Diana Plus shutter assembly and re-attach the spring. You will need a small screwdriver to make this camera repair.
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: Prepare a photography portfolio presentation
Putting together a print portfolio for your photography? This instructional photography video provides some suggestions on photographic portfolios and how to assemble a portfolio. It is very important to have a good online presence, a nice gallery of your work to show. But there are advantages to having a print portfolio as well.