Create Beautiful Portraits With This $20 DIY Light

Photography can be an expensive pursuit, with cameras, lenses, and lights setting you back thousands and thousands of dollars. While that is true, the operative part is "can be". There are lots of ways to create amazing images on a modest budget.

In this video, Pye Jirsa of SLR Lounge goes on Adorama to put together a shoot using creative lighting and some light painting. The catch is that the primary light is DIY and costs around $20 to make. With some know-how and some ideas, you can make some beautiful images as Jirsa shows.

This is strangely well timed for me. I am currently working on an article where I discuss the differences in my approach to photography from when I had no money and little equipment, to when I have a budget and a strong arsenal. It's all too easy to forget how simple photography can be and how much can be achieved on a tight budget. In fact, sometimes, being on a tight budget and not having a wealth of options with equipment forces you into a creative mindset that is highly valuable in itself.

What's the best piece of DIY equipment you have ever made for a shoot?

Rob Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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