PVC stand attachment provides extra "hands" for using poster board reflectors

    This post is a bit of a two-for-one deal. Two DIY projects in one post.

    The first one is a DIY reflector to bounce light on to your subject. You can use these indoors or out.

   There are expensive models, but a couple of photographers, including Joe Edelman and Daniel Norton, recommend using white poster boards. Norton calls the ones he uses "Brooklyn Reflectors." The boards are inexpensive — you can get them for $1.25 a piece at the so-called dollar stores, or your usual big-box store.

    With it being back-to-school, you may be able to get them on sale.

    Here's Edelman's demonstration with one.

   
    You can use the reflector with a voice-activated lightstand — also known as an assistant — but if you're shooting alone, it could get tricky trying to take the picture and hold the reflector yourself.

    Edelman proposes building a PVC holder for the reflector that lets you adjust it and put it on a lightstand. This allows you to use it hands free, and the rig can also hold flags (the light-blocking variety, not the state or national emblems) and Gobos, which go between a light source and a subject to create a pattern of light, say simulating light coming through a Venetian blind.

    Edleman's plans are in this video, although I would probably also use a joint to mount it to a PVC lightstand.

Manage where your flash goes for about $1

     Light, obviously, is an essential part of photography, which means "light writing" in Greek.

    While we spend a lot of time and energy on putting light into a photo, there are times when you want to keep light out, or remove it.

    For example, when you want to keep light from your light source, be it a flash or continuous light, from spilling over onto the background or into your lens.

    (Unless you're J.J. Abrams, then knock yourself out with that lens flare.) 

    One way to do that is with a flag, basically a black device that you can put on or next to a light to keep it from spilling onto a background or a wall and scattering back into the photo.

    You can buy flags in a variety of sizes, some requiring stands to use. But you can make your own for a fraction of the price, using velcro and craft foam.

    Youtuber Spyros Heniadis demonstrates how much of a difference a 6-inch-by-9-inch piece of foam attached to a flash head can make. His method allows you to vary the size of the flag and its shape to best sculpt your light. 

    With the low cost, you can make flags for all your flashes. You could also use it for continuous lights, but I would recommend doing that directly on the light only if you're using LED or CFL bulbs, as incandescent or halogen bulbs would get too hot.

 

MyTracks offers efficient way to track where you took photos

    My first tip on this blog was using an old cellphone to generate a GPS tracklog for tagging your photos.

    At the time I wrote it, I was using GPSLogger II on a BlackBerry Bold.

    Since then, the BlackBerry finally got to the point where it won't run most apps anymore because its operating system is antique (in computer terms). I switched to using my regular phone, until my wife upgraded our phones and I retired my Samsung Galaxy J3 to GPS logging duty, which it does quite well.

    But in recent months I switched over from GPSLogger II to MyTracks.

    MyTracks, by Daniel Qin, is available on both Android and IOS, and has a companion desktop app for the Mac. I've found it better than GPSLogger for a few reasons.

    First, starting and ending a track is a one-click operation. I've lost a few tracks on GPSLogger because I forgot to click the dialog box asking for the track name. Likewise, GPSLogger asks if you really want to stop.

    Second, I found it has tracked well, whether I'm inside a building or outdoors. I've been able to generate decent tracks in the basement of the county jail.

    Finally, exporting the track file is much simpler with MyTracks.

    I can simply export the track directly into Google Drive, where I can access it from my photo-editing software.

    GPSLogger, on the other hand, did not offer a simple export to my Google Drive. Instead, I had to email it to myself, then transfer the file from my email account to the drive and extract the track from the zip file before I can use it.

    It's a lot of work.

    The only drawback is that if you use the free version of the program, you have to watch a video ad before you can export once the trial period is over. But the features still work, and it's something I can live with for the time being.

   

Washer simple key to attaching quick-release plates to cameras

     While some of the newer quick-release plates on tripods have a little handle for turning the bolt, some still rely on a slotted screwhead.

    In these cases, a multi-tool or Swiss Army Knife can help you get the plate securely attached to your camera.

    But what if you are somewhere that bars your pocket tool, or you may have forgotten to pack it. (I go to courtrooms so often it's too easy for me to leave my pocket knife and Leatherman at home.)

    But Scott Eggleston, The Frugal Filmmaker, has a suggestion for keeping a tool on you, even in place where you might be restricted in what you carry.

    In the video below, Eggleston suggests putting a small metal washer on your keychain to use as a makeshift screwdriver. Not only can it help with tripod bolts, it can also tighten other similar sized screws.

Keep yourself hydrated, and your camera steady

    The tripod is usually considered the ultimate standard for keeping your camera steady.

    But there is a way to make it an even more rock-solid way to keep your camera from shaking: Hang extra weight from it.

    Many of the newer tripods have a hook on the bottom of the center column. It will either be permanently out or one that retracts inside the column when not in use, but the purpose is the same: To provide extra stability to the tripod.

     In an ideal situation — read in a studio or indoors with few people around — a tripod's three legs provide significant stability for a camera. But outside, there's wind and other things that can cause shaking or movement.

    Plus, if you have to raise the center column, that adds a measure of instability as you are putting a large amount of weight up high on a narrow column.

    The hook at the bottom fixes that, to a major degree.

    One of the things a weight at the bottom does is lowers the tripod's center of gravity. Instead of being top-heavy with a camera and lens at the top, there's more weight lower on the tripod, making it more stable.

    The extra weight also pulls down on the legs, further stabilizing the legs.

    Some photographers will hang sand bags from the hook to provide that stability, others use it for their camera bags.

    I was going to shoot fireworks on the Fourth of July, and with a slight wind I thought I might want to put some weight on my tripod to keep it still. But my camera bag weighs in more than the tripod's total weight capacity.

    Instead, I took my water bottle, which holds 24 ounces of liquid — about 1.5 pounds — and hung it on the hook with the carabiner I used to attach it to my camera bag when I travel.

  

    I could clip a second bottle on to it, giving additional weight and stability. And the carabiner's short enough to keep it from swinging wildly in the wind.

    In case you're wondering, here's one of the fireworks photos I took with the stabilized tripod.

    If you're looking for tips on how to shoot fireworks, Digital Photography School has some tips here.