The Enthusiast's Guide to DIY Photography

The Enthusiast's Guide to DIY Photography

by Mike Hagen
Released September 2017
Publisher(s): Rocky Nook
ISBN: 9781681982960

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Book description

If you’re a passionate photographer and you’re ready to take your work to the next level, The Enthusiast’s Guide book series was created just for you. Whether you’re diving head first into a new topic or exploring a classic theme, Enthusiast’s Guides are designed to help you quickly learn more about a topic or subject so that you can improve your photography.

The Enthusiast’s Guide to DIY Photography: 64 Projects, Hacks, Techniques, and Inexpensive Solutions for Getting Great Photos teaches you ingenious, clever, and inexpensive tricks and techniques that will help you shoot great images without breaking the bank. In this book, six chapters are broken down into 64 numbered lessons, with each lesson providing all you need to know to improve your photography. Photographer and author Mike Hagen covers lighting solutions, studio equipment, lens hacks, macro projects, and more.

Lessons include:

  • Making a DIY Beauty Dish
  • Making an LED Light Wand
  • Macro Reversible Lens Mount
  • The Trekking Pole Monopod
  • Kitchen Timer Timelapse Head
  • Making Inexpensive Gobos
  • Creating Action Camera Mounts for a Bicycle

Written in a friendly and approachable manner and illustrated with examples that drive home each technique, The Enthusiast’s Guide to DIY Photography is designed to be effective and efficient, friendly and fun. Read an entire chapter at once, or read just one lesson at a time. With either approach, you’ll quickly learn a lot so you can head out with your camera to capture great shots.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Acknowledgements
  6. Introduction
  7. Contents
  8. Chapter 1 Lighting Equipment
    1. 1. LED Strip Light Panels
    2. 2. LED Christmas Light Background
    3. 3. LED Ceiling Panels
    4. 4. LED 48″ Tube Shop Light Banks (Kino Flo)
    5. 5. LED Can Lighting With Variable Output
    6. 6. LED Utility Lights from a Hardware Store
    7. 7. Fluorescent (CFL) or LED Spiderlights
    8. 8. Fluorescent or LED Tube Strip Light
    9. 9. Speedlight: Stainless Steel Bowl Beauty Dish
    10. 10. Speedlight: Cardboard and Foil Ring Flash
    11. 11. Speedlight: Six-flash Ring Light
    12. 12. Speedlight: Bubble Wrap Speedlight Diffuser
    13. 13. Speedlight: White Paper Bag Diffuser
    14. 14. Speedlight: Craft Paper Snoot
    15. 15. Speedlight: Bounce Panel
    16. 16. Milk Jug Pop-up Flash Diffuser
    17. 17. LED Light Wand
    18. 18. Lightbox with Window and Paper
  9. Chapter 2 Macro Projects
    1. 19. Reversible Lens Mount
    2. 20. Free-lensing
    3. 21. DIY Bellows
    4. 22. Utility Vise Macro Focusing System
    5. 23. Field Macro Lightbox
    6. 24. Macro Flash Brackets
    7. 25. PVC Pipe Extension Tube
    8. 26. Potato Chip Can Macro Flash Diffuser
  10. Chapter 3 Support Projects
    1. 27. Trekking Pole Monopod
    2. 28. String Monopod
    3. 29. Aerial Photography Monopod
    4. 30. Utility Clamp Mount
    5. 31. Kitchen Timer Timelapse Head
    6. 32. Frying Pan Ground Pod
    7. 33. Tripod Rain Umbrella Mount
    8. 34. Denim Jeans Beanbag
  11. Chapter 4 Lens Projects
    1. 35. Soft Filter
    2. 36. Split Image Double Exposure Filter
    3. 37. Sandwich Bag and Water Bottle Ethereal Filters
    4. 38. Bokeh Shapes
    5. 39. Body Cap Pinhole Lens
  12. Chapter 5 Studio Equipment
    1. 40. Backgrounds: PVC Backdrop Stand
    2. 41. Backgrounds: Green Screen
    3. 42. Backgrounds: Seamless Paper
    4. 43. Backgrounds: Newspaper
    5. 44. Backgrounds: Video Projector for Background Images
    6. 45. Backgrounds: Painted Patterns on Plywood
    7. 46. Backgrounds: PVC Wall of Light
    8. 47. Cardboard Gobos
    9. 48. Cardboard Softbox
    10. 49. Light Tent: Corrugated Plastic
    11. 50. PVC Clamshell Lighting Studio
    12. 51. Foamcore Reflector
    13. 52. DIY California Sunbounce PVC Reflector Frame
    14. 53. PVC Frame Triflector
    15. 54. PVC Light Stand
  13. Chapter 6 Special Projects
    1. 55. Action Camera Aerial Shuttlecock
    2. 56. Action Camera Aerial Glider Mount
    3. 57. Action Camera Bicycle Mount
    4. 58. Action Camera Car or Airplane Window Mount
    5. 59. Military Surplus Camera Belt
    6. 60. DIY Camera Bag
    7. 61. DIY Seatbelt R-Strap
    8. 62. DIY Seatbelt Camera Strap
    9. 63. Tripod Sling
    10. 64. Shoulder Stock Camera Mount for Telephoto Lenses

Product information

  • Title: The Enthusiast's Guide to DIY Photography
  • Author(s): Mike Hagen
  • Release date: September 2017
  • Publisher(s): Rocky Nook
  • ISBN: 9781681982960