Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
A passport picture is just a small picture. at the size of 4.5cmX3.5cm (5cmX5cm American, 5cmX7cm Canadian aan there may be other sizess for different countries. Going to a photo store to take this picture can be very expensive, and making such set of pictures at home can be cheap and easy. there are several basic requirements from a passport photo:[Read More…]
Here Brian shows how to build a homemade cheap flash bouncer. The flash bouncer can be used to increase the size of a hot-shoe flash. The bouncer is great and very easy to build. An alternative to the bouncer is the home made softbox. Another option for building this homemade flash bouncer is to use polypropylene sheet, it is sterdier then cardboard. Enjoy your read, Udi.[Read More…]
In the following article Brian Zimmerman will demostrare how to make a small, home made flash diffuser. you might also want to check out the diy mini flash bouncer guide or the diy flash softbox guide as alternate solutions. [Read More…]
A stand made of 3/4″ PVC to hold a diffusion panel made of ripstop nylon that slides up and down and tilts. Sliding joint is made of a “Slip-Tee” as described in the Tinker Tubes document at “http://www.software-cinema.com/tinkertubes/tt-book.pdf”. Total cost, including 500W light stand, nylon and PVC parts is about $50. I also got a similar quartz-halogen 250W clip-on light for about $15 that I hung above to add some highlights to the hair.
A 250W light was hung above and slightly to the right and behind the subject to add some highlights to the hair. [Read More…]
In the following article, Brian Zimmerman will demonstrate the construction of a soft light panel frame. As Brian will illustrate, the soft light panel frame can be used to reduce the harshness of light, and to crate soft eye pleasing picture. THe soft light panel can be used to take portrait pictures, or still life picture. The construction is not easy, but very rewarding. Enjoy your build.
In this article Aron Brand will demonstrate how, using homemade and accessible materials, you can improve the light quality of a simple slave flash, and get a natural and soft light. This sort of light is good for jewelry photography, shooting items for eBay and portraits. Note the picture at the end of this article, not only showing softer shadows, but also pops the look of the metal, giving it more polished, expensive look. Similar methods to obtain the same effect can be a light tent, of a flash mounted softbox. Good luck.[Read More…]
All the articles in this section were contributed by Brian L. Zimmerman. Brian has done a great deal of home studio constructions and was very kind to share his knowladge. Brian has built a homemade flash diffuser, a homemade flash bouncer, homemade backgroung stands, and other soft light panels. (I bring the information here in first person form, as a direct quote from Brian). you can see more of his work at BLZphotos.com.
The articles in this section present various designs for home-made soft lighting panels and stands that can be useful in portraiture, still life or product photography. Click on articels in the section to see Brian's design for use with a slave flash (or hotlight) mounted behind the 3×4' panel on a single pole stand (what I currently use with slave flash). See the Hotlight Design folder for another lighting stand designed for use with "hotlight" illumination using the same 3×4' panel with an inexpensive quartz-halogen worklight. Soft flash folder shows a simple way to soften flash output on a typical flash unit, plus a tip for selecting nylon fabric. Other articles show designs for a flash bouncer, backdrop stand, reflector stand, and carrying case for the stands. Disclaimer: I cannot guarantee that any of these designs will give you the exact results you want, but they can give some good results with minimal investment of money (my goal), if you have the time to experiment and are somewhat of a handyman with some basic tools. I bought all the supplies I needed except the nylon fabric at a local hardware store (Lowes, like Home Depot). Ripstop Nylon is Item number 263-7783 at Jo-Ann Fabrics, 60" width @ 5.99/yard. Or maybe from looking at what I have done, you might come up with a better design to fit your own needs. I'd enjoy hearing about your own endeavors to use a home-made lighting setup. References: Dean Collin's Tinker Tubes: http://www.software-cinema.com/tinkertubes/tt-book.pdf Todd Asher's Backdrop Stand: http://home.mn.rr.com/rayzorfist/temp/ Todd's Instructions: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1025&message=4158683
© 2002-2005 Brian L. Zimmerman, BLZphotos.com
The following article was contributed by Roie Galitz, from http://www.galitz.co.il.
This Tutorial will deal with sunset photography, and will cover the following subjects:[Read More…]
If you are a photographer and using flash (either for studio pictures or for outdoor shooting), you are probably aware of the problems that a hot-shoe flash introduces: the shadows of an object are crisp-sharp, creating an artificial look to the object. When dealing with studio lighting, you can use a softbox to diffuse your shadows and this is an acceptable solution, but for the amateur photographer it does have some disadvantages:
1. A softbox is very expensive. A simple softbox like this softbox from Arri, can cost several hundreds of dollars. (See our big DIY softbox version) 2. A softbox is big, and can not be carried around.
The amateur photographer can compromise and us a flash mounted softbox like this softbox from Lumiquest, or a stoffen box. The problem with this one (although a minor one compared to the “big” Softboxes), is the cost, nearing 30 dollars. Well, I guess that for some 30 bucks is no big deal (and especially no big deal for photography equipment), but I am going to try and do even better.
In the following tutorial, I will demonstrate how to make your own flash mounted, homemade softbox (view results).
You will need two good hands, and some patience, but your reward will be a nice softbox for the cost of only 3-4 dollars. (Not to mention that wonderful feeling of cutting and gluing, like you are small kids again).
you might also want to check out the DIY Mini Flash Bouncer Guide or the DIY Mini Flash Diffuser Guide as alternate diffusing solutions.[Read More…]
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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