Recycle film canister as DSLR pop-up flash diffuser.

    While the pop-up flash on many DSLRs are a way to get some extra light in a picture, it's not the best.

    These flashes, which take up the top part of the pentaprism, are typically tiny and work best at the range of 12 feet. It's also a hard light, which means a subject is going to have hard shadows around it and be harshly lit.

    I only use mine in situations where there's no other way to get the picture or as a wireless trigger for other flashes.

    But over on Instructables, user deth2all presents a way to take some of the harsh edge off the pop-up's light, and even add some color to it as well. And if you used to do a lot of film shooting with Fujifilm, or know someone who did, you can get the main part you're going to need.

   (deth2all/cc-by-sa)

    The diffuser consists of the plastic film canister that protected the film cartridge before use and later when sitting in your gadget bag. It has to be Fujifilm, which used a white, translucent plastic to make its cases; Kodak's canisters are all black.

    The project involves cutting away part of the canister's side wall, so it can fit over the flash head. He also cuts a slot in the side of the cap, which is glued back in. That slot is used to insert a colored gel for various effects, as well as balancing the flash with another light source.

    (He recommends getting sample packs of gels from art-supply stores, but those have since stopped providing them. You can make some of your own by cutting up colored plastic report covers.)

    The results he posted on the site show some reasonably good results. If you're looking to improve your flash photography but aren't ready to make the leap to speed lights, this is a good option.

Getting 360-degree panoramas with your cellphone with help from Google

    We've all seen those photos on Google Earth and Street View that show a 360-degree panorama of a subject.

    It gives you a chance to see an area as if you were actually there. When my wife and I were house-hunting after I had gone ahead for a job, we would use Street View to take virtual driving tours of neighborhoods where we were looking to buy, so we could both get a sense of the area.

    While Google uses a sophisticated camera mounted on a car, or backpack for trail views, and dedicated 360-degree cameras are in the triple digits, you can do it yourself inexpensively if you have a cellphone camera.

    If you use an Android (sorry, iPhone users), you can get a VPai Clip for your phone. The golf-ball-sized device, which I got online for less than $20, is not a camera as much as it is a pair of lenses for your cellphone. Each lens captures a 210-degree field of view.

    I know what you're thinking: That adds up to 420 degrees, and a full circle's only 360 degrees. Well, those additional 60 degrees allows the software you download on your phone to overlap and seamlessly stich the pictures together to create a 360-degree photo that you can see as a panorama, a sphere or a "little planet."

    If your phone's only capable of FHD video resolution, the image quality may not be the greatest and you'll have to upsize it to post it on Google Street view, but in the words of Krusty the Clown, it's not just good, it's good enough. Check out this one I did recently.

    But if you're using an iPhone, or don't want to get an attachment for your phone, Street View has you covered.

    The Google app has an option that allows you to use your camera's full resolution and optics to capture a photo sphere. It takes patience, a willingness to have people think you're a bit insane and a pair of steady hands.

    When you go to take a picture, the app will display a dot on the screen for you to line up on, and when you line up it takes the picture and moves the dot to the next spot. Eventually, you'll do a full 360-degree arc horizontally and vertically.

    If you do this, it's important to stay in one spot and turn in place, otherwise it won't quite line up as well, and you might miss spots, as I did in this one of the Alamo.

    Or this one in the torpedo room of the USS Blueback in Portland, Ore.

    But if things work out, you get a reasonably good shot, like this one:

    Let me know what you think, or if you try this, share links in the comments below.

Binoculars give your cellphone real telephoto

    For many people, cellphones are their cameras.

    On the one hand, most of us always have them with us, they're stupid simple to operate and, depending on your phone, can produce a decent picture.

    But they have a few drawbacks. The most obvious one is that most of them don't have an actual telephoto function.

    Most cellphone cameras give you the option to zoom in, but that is a digital zoom. Rather than actually magnifying the image as an optical zoom lens does, digital zooming merely crops the picture and then stretches that part of the image across the "canvas" of the image. That might be fine for a minor adjustment, but if you're really trying to see something far off, it is going to be a pixelated mess.

    Frankly, I consider digital zoom as one of the great frauds perpetrated upon consumers.

    But I saw someone suggest a way to get a relatively decent optical telephoto with a cellphone camera. It involves using binoculars.

    What you do is first focus your binoculars on the subject you're looking at, and then put the cellphone's camera lens against one of the eyepieces and take your picture.

    You get a picture that covers a small part of the sensor, but it's a true optical enlargement of the image. You can crop it and it still looks more decent than a digital zoom.

    Here's a few shots I did to test this.

 

This one is with the camera at its default focal length.

 

Now, we're looking through the binocular eyepiece and you can see the enlargement of the image.

 

 

Cropped to make it square.

    It's not the sharpest image, but it is better than what you would get with digital zoom.

    The biggest challenge is juggling the binocular and cellphone, especially if you can't rest the binoculars on a steady object, like a railing. And since you are using an extreme focal length in comparison to your sensor size (unless you're using a high-end cellphone, your sensor's going to be about as big as the fingernail on your pinkie), any minor movement in your hands is going to make it shake like a major earthquake.

    But it offers a way to get a close-up view. You can also use this technique on a telescope if you want to get a close-up picture of the Moon with your phone.

DIY hack lets you get Gary Fong-like lighting from your speed light

    Speed lights, or flashes as we used to call them, are great for getting lighting where it's needed.

    But, in their basic, unmodified state, they produce a light that's pretty hard and not flattering. 

    So far, I've shown how you can make bounce cards and soft boxes that will take the edge off that harsh light and make your subject look better.

    Another device for doing this is the Lightsphere developed by Gary Fong. It's essentially a translucent plastic-and-silicone sphere that attaches to your flash and provides a diffused light for your subject.

    I remember seeing one in a picture of a press scrum at a Mitt Romney campaign event and joking that it looks like Mystery Science Theatre 3000's Tom Servo is a Romney supporter. 

    The concept is actually quite good, especially when you're in places where there isn't a white ceiling and/or wall to bounce a flash.

    But it comes with a $70 price tag, which can be a "hard nope" for some people.

    However, there's a way to get the same effect at a fraction of the price, and all it requires is a trip to the local department store for a few odds and ends. Specifically, you'll need a plastic drawer/shelf liner (not the self-adhesive kind) and velcro tape.

    As shown on Instructables, you cut a 15-by-6-inch piece out of the shelf liner, apply the velcro on the narrow ends of the piece on opposite sides and then you wrap it around your flash.

    It should look like this when you're done. (Photo credit: Arthur Gajewski, cc-by-sa)

    You'll notice it appears to be sideways on the flash, but that allows you to effectively use it whether you're holding the camera in a landscape or portrait orientation.

     So, how does it work?

    Allen Mowery did a Youtube video demonstrating. Check it out. I think I'll be adding one to my ever cramped camera bag.

 

Household photography hacks

    When he was the host on DigitalRev TV, Kai Wong did a video showing a few DIY photo hacks done mostly with items found around the house.

    Among the hacks he shows are filling a bag with popcorn kernels to use as a makeshift stabilizer, using a couple key rings and zip ties to hook a strap to your tripod and using an old nylon stocking as a soft-focus filter.

    Some of the hacks are worth trying out, although if you are going to do the Vaseline diffuser, I would probably get a cheap UV filter dedicated to that rather than trying to hold up a sheet of glass in front of your lens.

    Do any of these interest you? Or do you have a suggestion on household photo hacks?