Eight Simple DIY Photo Filters You Can Make on a Budget

Photography gear can get quite expensive and put a huge dent in our wallets. While there are many things we wouldn’t want to cheap out on, there are several DIY hacks that can solve some of our wants and still fit within our budget. Some of those hacks are great for adding effects and different looks to shots. Here are eight DIY photo filters.

Coming from COOPH, this video shares eight different do-it-yourself photo filters that you can make at home with stuff you probably already have at your disposal. It not, the items used for these hacks are fairly cheap if you want to pick them up (I'm not sure how many photographers actually have bubble bottles laying around unless they have kids). While you might not use every hack in this video, there are some clever DIY filters to try out.

One of the hacks I wouldn't do is spraying water directly on my lens. Instead of spraying water directly on it, use a good UV filter instead to spray water on. If you do spray liquid on your filter, make sure you use a cleaning cloth or something that's not going to scratch it.

Out of the eight DIY photo filter hacks, which was your favorite? Do you have any filter hacks you use that were not in this video?

Alex Ventura's picture

Staff writer Alex Ventura is a professional photographer based out of the Houston area that specializes in automotive and glamour with the occasional adventures into other genres. He regularly covers automotive related events for Houston Streets & Spekture with some publications in the United States.

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6 Comments

These are cheesy gimmicky effects straight out of an 80s studio.

cracking up at the water spots on the lens when they put on the 2nd "filter".

Had to laugh at the "Fake tilt-shift filter".

I love any type of "organic" lens filter & new ideas! Thank you!

This is a joke right? These are all terrible and that's not even how tilt shift looks. lol

This group seems to have a lot of fun trying stuff that others are too stodgy to bother with. Some work to my satisfaction and some don't. But it helps me remember when I was young and broke and just goofed around with stuff. Including instant coffee in the fix bath to create a sepia toned photo in the darkroom.

So if you don't want to goof around and try stuff, let the young people through