Hot Photography How-Tos
How To: Film at Night with Your DSLR
Have you ever tried to film at night with your DLSR in place with no good lightning at all or at places were the lights are flickering? Here its the Solution in 4 simple steps.
How To: Turn a Canvas Messenger Bag into a Water-Resistant Waxed Camera Case
If you take your camera equipment with you on a pretty frequent basis, having a camera bag can help protect it and makes it much easier to keep everything in one place. A good camera bag can be pretty expensive, but with this tutorial by photographer Allen Mowery, you can turn a cheap canvas messenger bag into a nice looking DIY waxed camera bag for half the price. For this project, you'll need a canvas messenger bag, a camera insert, and some paraffin wax, which can be found in the canning a...
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: 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: 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: Take a Crazy Self-Portrait of You Holding Yourself
David Talley, a 19-year-old fine art photographer, has been widely praised for his surreal self-portraits. Many of them take hours to set up and shoot, and even more time to post-process through Photoshop or any other photo editing program.
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: Create DOF Changeable Photos That You Can Refocus—Without Buying a Lytro Camera
Last year, Lytro released their first light field camera to help photographers have more control over focusing. This innovative and revolutionary camera allows users to change the depth of focus of a photograph after the picture is taken.
How To: Build a Cheap Ring Light for Your Smartphone with Velcro and an LED Camping Tent Light
When it comes to the quality of a photo, lighting can make or break it. Too much light, and your subject looks washed out. Too little, and you can't even tell what your subject is.
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: Turn a Plastic Bottle into a Zippered Waterproof Lens Case
When you have a lot of equipment, dragging it everywhere with you can be a pain, especially when the weather's bad. Sure, you can put it in a camera bag, but a lot of them don't protect your stuff from water, and waterproof cases can get expensive.
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: Make a 50mm Lens into a Tilt Lens Using a Shower Head
There are so many ways to modify your camera using common household items, like clothes hangers, an umbrella, or even a jar of peanut butter. Here's a new, unexpected addition to the list—a shower head. Maciej Pietuszynski came up with this brilliant camera mod, which uses a shower head to turn an old 50mm lens into a DIY tilt lens. This trick works by using the part from the shower head that allows you to adjust the angle. You'll have to take apart the lens and cut the shower head in half. T...
How To: Build a Horizon-Stabilized Camera That Mounts on Your Bike or Motorcycle
There are plenty of ways to mount your camera on your bike, but there's not much you can do about uneven surfaces on the road that cause your videos to end up looking shaky. If you're on a motorcycle, it's even worse because turns force you to lean, which makes your video tilt.
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: 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: 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: 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 the Simplest Flash Bounce Ever for Your Camera
Sick of washed out photos? How about red eye? Or maybe you can't get the right shot because your flash is causing too much shadow in the background. That's what a flash bounce is for—it reflects the light off of the ceiling or another surface so that your photos look more balanced.
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 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: This DIY Camera-Mounted Flash Bounce Wall Does Wonders for Your Photos (And Your Wallet)
Everyone has taken a photo that didn't turn out quite right because of bad lighting or a flash that produced too much or too little light. A flash can make your subject look washed out, or even downright creepy with bright white skin and red eyes. But with a bounce wall, you can redirect the light to make it less harsh and reduce the shadows. It also means less demonic-looking cats. Bounce walls can be expensive, but David Hobby of Strobist made this DIY version that uses a wire hanger, some ...
How To: Give Your Photos a Surreal Effect by Stacking Negatives
Want to add cool effects to your photos without using expensive equipment? Photographer Laina Briedis created these gorgeous shots by stacking 35mm negatives of starry or cloudy skies on top of photos of people to give them a surreal, dreamlike effect. There are a few ways to go about it. Laina explained to PetaPixel that you can do this with or without a darkroom. If you have access to one, you can expose two negatives at the same time by stacking them, or expose them separately onto the sam...
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 make one for cheap. Maybe even free, if you have a bag of those legumes already.
How To: This Easy Photo Trick Makes Fireworks Look Like Brilliant Sky Creatures
Anyone who does a lot of photography knows that the right exposure can make all the difference in the world. Taking a picture of something in motion requires a long exposure, so if you've ever wondered why your fireworks photos never quite turn out right, your shutter speed could be the key. Photographer David Johnson decided to put a twist on the classic long-exposure fireworks photo. Normally, when people take photos of fireworks displays, they just set a long exposure for somewhere over 3 ...
How To: Record Videos by Digital SLRs
Looking for videography Tips
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: 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: Make a Camera Tripod Replacement with Camera Phone Mount
Materials 1 2-liter bottle or large water bottle
How To: Use Your Shutter, ISO and Aperture
Learn the Basics of Shooting in "Manual" Mode on your DSLR In this first installment of Photography Basics, we will be exploring and explaining the basics of shooting with a DSLR in various shooting modes. This first webisode is intended to familiarize the user with the basic understanding and functions of ISO, Aperture and Shutter in order to produce more professional looking images.
How To: Blur Fireworks with Your DSLR for Some Wicked July 4th Photos
Try "unfocusing" your photographs for some dreamy, evocative and somewhat abstract takes on life. Check out the two tutorials (here and here) from Michelle Geoga of Lights! Camera! Photoshop! for tips on unleashing the blur-power of your camera. You can see plenty of example images there to help you out.
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: Introducing Lights! Camera! Photoshop! – Your Complete Guide to DSLR Photography
So you just bought Photoshop, a DSLR camera and your first flash. Now what? If you have some experience with photography, but you're not completely fluent with the software and equipment, WonderHowTo's newly featured World Lights! Camera! Photoshop! is essential.
How To: Take macro photographs with the reverse lens technique
If you want to take beautiful macro photos, without having to pay for an expensive macro lens, try the reverse lens technique and use the lens you already have. This is a creative way to get great photos without spending all of your money on equipment.
How To: Set up your Canon 580EX II at the Master Mode setting
So you want to control the flashes on your camera using a remote, and you know that you need to get to Master mode on your Canon 580EX II to be able to do that. But Canon made Master mode for this particular model of camera very difficult to locate and enable. However, this video shows you every single step you need to take with your camera in order to be able to set up this particular functionality for your next shoot!
HowTo: Make a 50¢ Macro Lens
Forget splurging on a fancy digital camera. All you need to do is attach a lens from a pair of dollar store reading glasses, and you'll get your macro shot. From Sean Lee, how to make a fifty cent macro lens.
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: Choose the right sensor for your DSLR camera
There are a variety of sensors on the market for your digital SLR camera - but which one is the right for you? This tutorial gives you a good run down of each sensor with their strengths and weaknesses so you can easily pick the best one for you.
How To: Build your own 35mm lens adapter for a Canon HV20 camera
You don't have to spend lots of money for an expensive lens adapter! You can make one at home. This tutorial shows you how you can take some basic camera equipment, a little extra hardware and make a 35mm lens adapter for a Canon HV20 digital camera.