The low-quality lenses and loose tolerances of [...]]]> Use a Dab of Vaseline to Take Vintage-Style Photos

The low-quality lenses and loose tolerances of vintage consumer cameras often gave photos a slightly distorted and dream-like quality. Capture that vintage-feel with little more than a dab of Vaseline.

Early inexpensive consumer-grade cameras were manufactured with cheap materials and very loose tolerances which led to distortion on the edges of the photo and other effects. Photojojo, a DIY photography blog, shares a simple hack to help you easily recreate the effect:

http://content.photojojo.com/tips/four-easy-vintage-tips/

How to Get the Best Color Out of Your Photos: “”

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Introducing the Photographers Rights Gray Card Set: “”

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If you’re looking to soften up your camera flash on the cheap—perhaps because you were [...]]]>  

If you’re looking to soften up your camera flash on the cheap—perhaps because you were startled to see how unflattering direct flash is—this clever softbox turns a sheet of office paper into a lightweight flash diffuser.

DIY Photography reader Julian Schüngel created a template for folding a DIY version of the Lumiquest Softbox II. If you’re not frequently packing and unpacking your gear or you don’t use a large flash diffuser very frequently, making your soft box out of paper is an economical solution compared to the $40 Lumiquest product.

Julian’s DIY model comes in two flavors, the most basic is a single sheet of paper—seen in the photo above—and the more advanced requires two sheets of white paper and a black sheet of construction paper for increased control over light spill. You can grab a copy of his template at the link below.

The template is sized for A4 paper so if you’re printing on standard US office paper you should print it on Legal size paper to avoid dealing with the hassle of the length difference between A4 and Letter paper. For the curious, Letter size is .69 inches shorter and .23 inches wider than A4 paper where is Legal is 2.31 inches longer and .23 inches wider.

Have an inexpensive DIY alternative to a commercial product you’re itching to share? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Send an email to Jason Fitzpatrick, the author of this post, at jason@lifehacker.com.

Turn a Sheet of Paper into a Simple Flash Softbox: “”

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Like the look of tilt-shift photography but don’t have a camera you can attach a [...]]]>

Like the look of tilt-shift photography but don’t have a camera you can attach a DIY lens to? Try out previously reviewed TiltShift and TiltShitMaker to try your hand at faking tilt-shift photos. Have a favorite photography-related DIY project to share? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

DIY Tilt-Shift Photography Guide Makes DIY Lens Selection Simple: “”

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Tripods are great but they’re bulky and, unless you have a more expensive model with a reversible mount, it’s impossible to get a shot from the ground. A camera bean bag is a small, portable, and stable platform for your camera. More »

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We’ve discussed digitizing your old photo negatives before, but dedicated negative scanners can be expensive. Photographer Claus Thiim, however, built his own using just a few toilet paper rolls and an old polarizer filter. More »

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