DIY

We've posted about how to photograph steel wool burning before in the past, but watching the process in action is a bit more exciting. Instead of taking photographs with extended shutters, film maker Joey Shanks decided to video the burning metal and edit everything into a motion graphics piece. The results are pretty interesting, and his behind the scenes video explains how the whole process came together.

In this lighting lesson, Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens offers a very cool DIY effect; how to make smoke lay on water. Achieving smoke and wind in photography are two very difficult tasks that Jay P. made very easy by showing this step by step process. Have you guys ever experienced with smoke and wind? If so, share your images and how you did it in the comments below.

As a photographer that does a lot of non-profit work internationally, I have always been on the look out for traveling with my gear in the safest yet most affordable way. Typically, my cameras, lenses and lighting equipment (strobes and powerpacks) travel with me as carry-ons in two Pelican 1514 cases. As for my grip gear, well, I was mostly limited to what I could throw into my checked bag with my clothes, which typically would be one Manfrotto Magic Arm, a Photek Softlighter and a small softbox or

Philippines portrait photographer Laya Gerlock graces the pages of DIY Photography this week as he demonstrate in great detail how to build a giant, kick ass light ring. Take a look at the sample image and video and if you like what you see head over to DIY Photography for the full tutorial on how to build your own.

If you're anything like me, you've been yearning for the day when a DSLR comes equipped with an iPhone-like OS, complete with apps and fully functional wifi. This DIY doesn't take a DSLR quite to that level, but it's surely a step in the right direction. Using EyeFi cards or tethering is pretty cool, but can still be very limiting. It's awesome to see projects like this being created and shared that open up the possibilities.

Every now and then you have to stop and recognize a piece of work not only for the creative thoughts put into it, but also for the sheer amount of effort involved in pulling off the project. Vu Hoang and a small team managed to come up with this clever stop motion music video using over 3,000 hand cut pictures stitched together in a clever guy meets girl music video. The final product was shot with a Canon 7D and Canon 17-55mm F/2.8.

Many of you are familiar with Blair Bunting, one of the premier commercial portrait photographers in the United States, and a good friend of mine. A couple weeks ago we were chatting about lenses when he brought up this project he did several years back. I instantly wanted to share it, and we tweeted an image of his 50mm f/1.4 next to his 110mm f/.95, which many of you thought was fake. It wasn't.

Gary Fong takes 2 minutes to show us how you can trick your camera's custom white balance into producing a colored background in white environments. If you have some gels on hand you could play with this technique to turn out a multitude of colors.

GFIGARYFONG on Youtube:
"Gary Fong shows how playing with

Here is a rad way to spruce up the background of almost any photo or video shoot. Whoever Unallocated Space is (cant find anything on who or what that is) has created an amazing tornado of fire by using a bunch of box fans and a tub filled with fire. This video demonstrates how you can easily create a beautiful and deadly looking whirlpool of fire in your own backyard. Disclaimer: Fstoppers did not tell you to try this. If you try this, it was at your own risk. Enjoy!

Last weekend, my buddy David Cross who works with our friends over at BorrowLenses sent me a text that he was building something unusual and really cool. When he sent me the photos after he finished his project, I was immediately excited. His DIY ring light (which they are calling the spider light, tentatively) not only leaves really unusual catch lights, but is easy and fun to build. Ok, so it's not really a "ring" light, but it casts similar light and I don't know what else to compare it to. So let us show you how to make yours!

FilmRiot has been quietly working on a series of educational behind the scenes videos over the last few months, and I think this one is definitely worth a mention (avoid the random skydiving tangent at 6:00). Aimed at beginner and intermediate videographers, this short video will walk us through some techniques for lighting people as they move through multiple rooms.

Everyone knows Peter Hurley uses fairly expensive Kino Flo lights to give his clients nice soft beauty lighting. Fstoppers reader Tristan Penner decided to build a portable and inexpensive alternative to Peter's setup using standard Fluorescent lights. The setup might not improve too much on the portability but the quality of light does look really nice. What's really cool is Tristan is able to travel to people's homes with this setup bypassing the

If you work out of a studio, you know how annoying paper seamless backdrops can be...they always wrinkle and warp. We recently changed over to the Savage Vinyl backdrops and they seem to last a lot longer. The guys over at OKstrobist have an even cheaper alternative for those looking for a DIY approach and it's pretty clever. Even though this can still cost as much as $170, you aren't stuck

You often hear film makers say, "Your video is only as good as your audio". Obviously video production goes a long way too but poor audio can completely ruin an otherwise great video. Until recently, DSLR cameras have been anything but great at recording audio. The on board microphones are noisy and prone to record camera noise. Plugging an external microphone into the line-in has also left a lot to be desired. So how should someone

As anyone who has tried to shoot video with a DSLR knows, creating a smooth, professional follow-focus motion can be a bit of a nightmare unless you're willing to shell out for high-end equipment, and then deal with lugging it all around. How about a $45 solution that gets amazing results and works on any DSLR lens?

If you have ever used dual monitors, it's very difficult going back to using just one. I'm forced to use one tiny monitor on my laptop every time I travel and its always made working on the road a slow and painful task. That is until I learned that I could use my iPad as a wireless second monitor and pair it with my laptop no matter where I am.

Admittedly this DIY project takes a little more effort than some but the results are pretty damn cool. Benjamin Von Wong takes a page from DIY Photography and makes a pretty slick fluorescent light track system, turning a small one room into a photo studio. Check out the video and if you decided this is something you must do, then head over to the VonStudio Blog for complete project detail. Parts, pricing, assembly, pros, cons, the works!

Have you ever wanted to give your models that wind swept look. This 56 second quick tip from our friend Benjamin Von Wong can save you from having to lug around a heavy and often expensive fan. So simple, most of us over look it and here is all you need.

Also be sure to check out Ben's latest project "Von Wong Does Europe".

We get a lot of Kickstarter projects emailed to us and sometimes they are interesting and other times they look like a desperate plea for money. We usually don't feature such projects but today I'm making an exception. Benjamin Von Wong has been featured on Fstoppers probably more than anyone else. This year he plans to goto Europe to produce inspiring photoshoots but at the same time film informative behind the scenes videos. Hopefully this post will

Via NikonRumors, this is something everyone should know about: a do-it-yourself $30 wifi kit for the Nikon D4! It really speaks for itself. Read on for the details. Who knows, maybe something similar could be done for the 1D X. I wouldn't be surprised at all...

When it comes to photography projects, Benjamin Von Wong is one of the most prolific guys I know. It seems like every few posts I'm compelled to bring you something cool Ben is doing. Whether it's playing with his pliable models, setting them ablaze or just a quick tip. His latest venture has him teaming up with Udi Tirosh over at DIY Photography to show us how to light paint with steel wool. Including the basic technique, location, safety and a few other helpful tips to consider. For someone who plays with fire as much as Ben and with hair that big, he must know what he is doing... right?

A hyper, over caffeinated Benjamin Von Wong sent me this super short, super simple but super easy to overlook tip. So, if you plan on traveling any time in the near future and have 38 seconds to spare, give it a look.

Benjimin Von Wong:
Quick Tip # 1 - Bring a powerbar when you travel! Oh, and don't drink too much coffee before filming!

Photographer/film-maker Jason Bognacki successfully attached a 93 year old camera to his Canon 5D. It's a Piccolette Contessa-Nettel (1919) folding camera. Check out the results and see for yourself. The images are so much sharper than you might expect. What do you think?

Hello Fstoppers' Fans. We just wanted to give Peter Hurley a well deserved pat on the back for just being featured in the Gadgetwise section of the New York Times and to toot our own horn over the success of our first full length tutorial DVD. If you're still in the dark and don't know what all the hype is about then check out the published article where Peter shares a small part of the DVD with, "Six Tips for Better Portraits". Or you can skip all that and jump right into grabbing, "The Art Behind The Headshot" DVD. The most comprehensive DVD on how to get the ideal headshots for your clients.

In this oh so clever DIY video by Casey Neistat, he shows us how he fashioned a replacement lens hood on his Sigma lens by re-using the cap from a peanut butter jar. I'm sure that this method wouldn't work with every lens but if you ever get into a situation like this and need a quick fix, this video just might come in handy.

Haristobald's photostream has some interesting shots in it but what is more interesting is how he produced them. Using an old school, overhead projector, A4 sized transparencies, a strobe and a bit of mechanical know how, Haristobald can now transform his environment and his models. See behind the scenes of his latest Superman shoot and jump into the full post to see a video on how he modified an archaic device into a useful photography tool.

Brothers Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas make quite the team. They're wildlife photographers based in Britain who have devised some clever means to get closer to some of the world's most dangerous animals. In 2009, they created a remote-controlled camera nicknamed BeetleCam and set out to photograph animals in their natural habitat. Armed with the knowledge they gained from the first trip, they went back a second time, and their results are nothing short of stunning.