I've moved the blog over to Wordpress.com, which gives me more flexibility, such as offering photo galleries along with the blog, as well as providing a platform that can work if I decide to turn this hobby into a side hustle.
The new blog's at macgyverphotography.wordpress.com, and all the old posts, which will continue to be available here, are there as well.
I look forward to seeing you there.
If you find yourself either stuck at home, or stuck in a creative rut, get out your glassware and make some interesting art.
Gavin Hoey, an OM Systems ambassador in England who is one of the regular hosts on Adorama's Youtube channel (Disclaimer: Adorama is not a sponsor of this blog. They just have great video tutorials.) did a video showing how to make abstract photos using water-filled glasses.
Hoey demonstrates with graphic backgrounds how the water in the glass acts as a lens and refracts the image behind it, which leads to interesting effects depending on the background.
A fun thing in the video is we realize that, when talking about having a towel, Hoey's also a Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy fan, and a man to be reckoned with.
You've probably had that time when you were trying to get of the focus, either in a studio setting, or for a video standup.
There's an app for that.
Focus Chart, an Android app, gives you a couple high-contrast focus patterns that will be easy to lock on, either manually or with auto focus. If you're trying to do a self-portrait or a video, put the phone with the chart on a stand where you're going to stand, set focus and then move it away and step in.
The best part is, it's free, and there's also a version for the iPhone as well.
In our last post, we talked about using a monopod to give your camera a view from above.
But sometimes you want to take a camera low, or into a place that's tight. A selfie-stick provides a great opportunity to get unique angles with a cellphone camera.
Selfie sticks are good for this because they are extendable and you don't need to hit the on-screen button to trip the shutter.
If you haven't seen one yet, a selfie stick is a device you can mount a cellphone camera on and, using either a Bluetooth trigger or a plug in the earphone port (sorry iPhone users. Blame Tim Cook), you can take a picture by pressing a button on the handle.
The original idea for this was taking a picture with the front camera on the phone, allowing you to hold the camera farther out than your arm's length, thus getting a better-looking picture (that wide-angle lens on a cellphone's front camera is not your friend) or get more people in the shot.
I bought one at the local dollar store because the mounting clip would also work on a tripod, but I found uses for the stick, such as doing video.
But we discovered you can use it to get a camera either really low without having to crawl around on the grass, or use it to view under things or to look inside small spaces.
We were raising some rabbits who decided they'd rather raise their kittens (yes, that's the correct term for baby rabbits, not bunnies) underground rather than a nesting box in their enclosure. After the litter was raised, we were going to close off the hole to ensure they didn't try to reenact The Great Escape. (They actually gnawed through chicken wire to dig the hole in the first place.)
But before we started, one of my sons had the idea to see what it looked like inside the hole. So, I got my selfie stick out, put my old cellphone in the clip and hooked up the shutter cable, and we lowered it inside, with the "flash" set to automatic.
As you can see, we got a decent look at the inside of the rabbit hole.
No, we didn't find any girls named Alice down there.
If you're going to do something like that, make sure the phone is secure on the end of the stick, even if you have to wrap a rubber band around it.
*Let's be honest. When a cellphone uses its "flash" it's just quickly turning the LED flashlight on and off. It's not a real flash in the sense of a sudden burst of light as a capacitor discharges into a tube.)
Sometimes, the difference between a good photograph and a great photograph is a matter of perspective.
Just getting a higher view can provide a better perspective at times. But sometimes getting that angle is more easily said than done. There may not be a place where you can climb up, or bringing in a ladder would be impractical.
Drones offer one way to get your camera above the crowd, but they can be expensive, sometimes require licensing to use and in some places are illegal.
But there is a way that you can get at least some altitude with your camera even in places where you can't legally deploy a drone.
In a 2013 video, Joe Edelman suggests using a monopod to elevate your camera to get a better perspective. He suggests putting the camera on the monopod, activate the self-timer and then hoist it up and wait until the shutter trips.
There are a few caveats. You have to use a wide-angle lens and a small aperture in order to get the greatest depth of field. And, unless you're working with someone who can monitor the camera through wired or wireless tethering, it might take a few tries to get the shot right.
I decided to give it a try with a veterans memorial in Sunnyside, Wash. The memorial consists of tablets on a block-long plaza. As you can see from a straight-on shot, it doesn't look too interesting.
While Edelman suggests tipping the monopod forward to get an angle, I have a tilt-pan head on mine, so I could adjust the angle before raising it.
In the video, Edelman suggests using a painter's pole if you want to get more elevation. Frankly, I wouldn't put a really good camera up on one, for fear of an accident, or make sure it was the best pole ever made.
