It is an honor to be featured on Make: Online

Welcome everyone coming here from Make: Online! They have featured my article on making an iPhone holder for a hotshoe.

We are also very excited to have been listed on Gizmodo, and PetaPixel!

I would also like to thank übergizmo and MacKozer for featuring the project as well!

Apparently there is no end in sight. We have been featured on Macworld and PCworld as well.

I keep finding new links. Here is Slashgear.

Poladroid

It is a free app for Mac OS X and Windows called Poladroid. I have been using it for years. Or rather I used to use it a lot before I had an iPhone in my pocket at all times. Regardless it's a lot of fun! One of my favorite features is the unpredictable outcome. I have put the same photo in and gotten different results every time.

Here is the same image processed three times.

There are also options to add streaking to the picture and paper in post-processing. I have never played with this much, but in this image you can see it added what looks like a thumbprint.

Quick, simple flash modifier

Today I happened upon some craft foam sheet for 0.69€. As soon as I saw it, I thought hmm... Flash modifier! I know that there are some other tutorials out there that are similar, but I couldn't find them today. So here is mine.

First I sketched out how I thought it should be on printer paper using my Nikon SB-800 for reference.


Some quick folds and this worked pretty well.


After satisfied with the fit, I cut out one side panel to use as a template for the foam.


Then I took an x-acto knife and scored the line, being careful to not cut all the way through.


Here it is test mounted with a rubber-band.


The following are shots with the flash straight on and with the modifier as contrast.

Flash straight on.

With modifier, notice that the details are clearer and not as washed out.

The next two are more subtle.

Straight on.

With modifier, the shadows seam a little more natural. Like I said subtle but an important diference to me.

So I'd say it works pretty well. I eventually want to strengthen the base and attach velcro for mounting to the flash quickly but that is for anothe day.

Just wanted to say hello to everyone sent over from our friends at diyphotography.net. They put up a link on their twitter account today. Please let me know what you think!

New project: iPhone hotshoe holder

I like useful gadgets, my iPhone is at the top of my list. Mostly for the fact that I always have it with me. There are a lot of good apps to help with shooting. For instance Pocket light Meter or PanoTool. I have and use both. The only problem with using an iPhone while shooting is holding it. So I decided to make a holder for mine. I wanted it to fit the case that I use so there is no risk of damage, or the hassle of removing it. It was also importnat for it to be more useful then just that, and could also be a tripod mount. Since I have some PC link safe hotshoes ( when you don't know your sync voltage limit ) that also have a tripod mount. So a hotshoe mount seemed logical.

Since my go to material is hobby plastic, I made some measurements and started planning my cuts.

Here are rough cut parts.

Here is the base inserted for a test fit.

Here it is glued together. Hopefully, you can see that the cut out for the hotshoe goes through the base some. This is to stabalize the front of the holder when on camera.

Here you can see the foot that slides in to the hotshoe. Later I shaped the sides of the foot with a hot screwdriver so that it would slide in easier.

As you can see in this photo, the rear panel is slightly angled to have slight pressure for holding the phone in. Granted this is at the cost of loosing some of the screen. Although I would rather be safe.

Here it is mounted on my Nikon D1 and displaying the Pocket light Meter app. I do have a rubber band around to keep it in place and would suggest the same if you decide to make one.

The project has turned out well. I am considering making a new version out of aluminum plate in the future so that I could mount an iPad and use Photo Soft Box Pro. But that is a whole new project. As it stands this is only useful for tripod work and I would never suggest using this for handheld shots. I hope that if you make one that you send me a photo, especially if you make improvements!

-update-

Well there has been much more popularity than I could have ever imagined for this idea. I am working on a second revision, and I am looking into a kickstarter project. So stay tuned! If anyone wants to help or has any ideas please feel free to use the contact link in the side bar.

Thanks for all the traffic!

Hackaday has linked to my article on the cheap bounce flash project, and i just wanted to say thank you. I hope that everyone has enjoyed the site, feel free to drop me a line and tell me what you think.

New project: tripod adapter plate.

A while ago, I bought a tripod at an antique fair. First it was cheap, and second it is an older fairly well made model. The tripod is a perfect size to carry in a back pack or for close macro work. As always there is a problem. The base screw is not the same size as the modern standard, it is larger. Like the type found on an expensive tripod for mounting a ball head.






The cost of an adapter at a local shop seemed high. I could source one on the net or I could make my own. As always I chose to make it myself.

First I started by taking a universal base plate ( the quick release type, from another cheap tripod that I no longer have ) and took the base screw for my use. I laid everything out in hobby plastic.





Then hand set a mock up.





Tested the fit











And put it all together. So far it works great and makes a nice tripod immediately useable. In the future I may decide I like the tripod and will buy it the proper parts or a cheap ball head. For now this will do just fine.

iPhone HDR

Sometimes you see things that look better in HDR. I love oversaturated colors reminds me of great color slide films like Fuji Velvia. Most of the time I think HDR has a bad videogame look to it, but every so often it makes a fun toy. This image was done with pro HDR on an iPhone 4.

Cheap bounce revision 2

Ok, I liked the first version so much that I decided to make it better. As unfortunately being made out of heavy paper, it was not very durable. Thus it is not very practical. This new version works the same as the old one but it is made of plastic and slightly smaller. This will easily fit in a jacket pocket.





Here in Germany you can buy this craft plastic at most hardware stores for a few € for a good sized piece. The aluminum tape came from a €uro Store, the European equivalent of the dollars stores of America.

New version of Picture Show for iPhone.

They say the best camera is the one that you always have with you. Needless to say I always have my iPhone.

Cheap bounce vs Nikon SB-800

So I decided i need one last proof is in the pudding result. Let me forward this by saying that i do believe that the SB-800 is the best flash ever made and that it is better than the SB-900. By no means would I ever suggest that my cheap paper idea could ever go toe to toe with the great speedlight. I will however say that no matter how much i love it, i do leave it at home a lot. So here are two ( not very well framed, handheld, with a zoom lens because I am lazy and didn't feel like walking upstairs ) shots, one with the paper bounce and one with my Nikon SB-800. What do you think of the results?

Paper bounce flash

SB-800

Not too bad if I say so myself. Granted the DOF is not great in either picture, but I think from a lighting perspective the results are pretty good. To start at the first post and understand what the cheap bounce is please click here.

Cheap bounce part 3.5

Ok here are some results. Talk is well and good but a picture can say it all.



Nikon D40x on camera flash.



Nikon D40x with makeshift paper bounce / diffusor.

I think the results speak for themselves. The best part is the cost... Free!

-update-

Here is a quick and dirty template. This is sized for a Nikon D40x. You will have to adjust size for your camera.

Cheap bounce part 3

Ok, I am finally happy. I went back and decided to make it as easy a possible and simple enough that anyone could make on in a pinch. The materials are heavy paper and tape. The only tools are scissors.













Almost like a little paper airplane.

continued

Cheap bounce part 2

Well I have made 3 prototypes and have come up with an idea of how to make this as simple and small as possible. I will post some photos tomorrow. So far this has been much easier than expected.

-update-

Sorry for the iPhone pictures, but alas I am lazy. Here are the three basic ideas.

First I built one that looks like the same type of concept as the one I linked to in the first post.





It works as I expected it to, but is bulky.

The second design I simplified by using a piece of plastic packaging and a piece of paper-tape.





This also works well, but seems to complicated still.

So my third idea was to simplify as much as possible.




All this is is some plastic packaging with a paper tape back and it is bent and taped under the on camera flash. I like this one the best as it is so simple. The first one that uses a mirror works the best, but adjust the flash up one level of compensation and this works just as well.

I will post examples soon.

part 3

The cheap bounce flash.

So, maybe this is a matter of opinion but I think that most pictures look better with a bounce flash. We all know that the on camera flash can blow out highlights and create harsh shadows. So I am on a quest to create a simple solution to bounce the onboard flash, for the days when you have left the bounce at home.

One solution i like from LinkDelight, looks like an interesting idea. I think this can be made from things I have lying around. I will update later with prototypes.

part 2