If you complain because you don't have enough money to buy accessories for your camera and achieve creative effects, don't go away, today I bring you a lot of photographic accessories that you probably have at home, even if you don't know it. Do you want to know what they are?
- Stabilizer
- Anti humidity
- Parasol
- snoot for flash
- camera case
- White background
- fog effect
- diffusers
- reflectors
- dawn dew
- bokeh effect
- colored gels
- infinity background
1. STABILIZER
Do you have a sack of seeds that get hot or cold and you put it on when something hurts? Well then you have a stabilizer or tripod substitute for special occasions. I have mine right now on my back ? . Well, okay, I take it off to take the photo and illustrate the example.
It is known as a Bean Bag (bag of beans) and can be filled with seeds, legumes or even salt. If you don't have one, you can do it very easily (if you are interested in a DIY tutorial , like the one I wrote to build a light box, be sure to tell me in the comments ? ).
What is it for? Well, for when you don't have a tripod and you have to support your camera on an uneven surface, for when you want to shoot at ground level but you don't want to support your camera on it or it doesn't remain stable, when you need to take a low or low angle view on a stable surface. Also for wildlife or even macro photography.
2. ANTI-HUMIDITY
You know those little white bags with black letters that come in shoe boxes and many other items? Surely you have thrown a few in the trash. Well, they don't come on a whim in your shoe boxes, but because they are anti-humidity. And just as they have been responsible for absorbing moisture from your brand new shoes, they can also prevent the appearance of fungus on your equipment. Save them all and leave them in the backpack with your camera and lenses. And replace them from time to time.
Although they can be boughtIf you don't have any, while you wear new shoes or buy some other item that brings them, you can make another fix that also works well. Empty a tea bag and fill it with rice. You already have your anti-humidity accessory.
3. SUNSHADE
Do you have a paper cup ? Yes, one of those who end up hanging around the closets behind a birthday party, a barbecue or a picnic. Yes, one of those. Well, with that and some scissors or a cutter you already have a parasol. And to show a button.
4. SNOOT FOR FLASH
If you have a Pringles canister you have a snoot for your external flash.Maybe you don't know what it is. You see, it is an accessory to direct the light of the external flash that comes in handy, for example, when it comes to taking dramatic portraits.
When you eat the potatoes, clean it (obvious), cut out the base and stick it to your flash with masking tape (or not). You already have your snoot . In the following video you have a tutorial to make the complicated version (actually, it is also very easy) that includes the honeycomb grid. This is used to highlight the lighting of the hair, illuminate the background or highlight an object over the rest, backlight.
And if you want more ideas to create dramatic portraits with impressive shadows using objects around your house, don't miss this video, which is in English but you don't need to understand what it says, just what you see ? .
5. CAMERA COVER FOR RAIN AND OTHER SPLASHES
As scary as bad weather conditions make you, they are a great opportunity to take stunning photos. As they say out there… in bad weather, good photos;).
We also know that, when it comes to photographing rain, water is a great enemy of the camera and that it must be protected. But how?
Do you have any of those shower caps that are given in hotels, for example? Well, you already have a cover. Hermetic frozen bags are also worth it, which recognizes that you use it for many more things ? . Well, for this function they also serve you. You just have to make a hole for the target to pass through and you're done.
A little more sophisticated is the option to recycle a raincoat. If you have one that is very old, broken or too small for you, before throwing it away, see if your camera can fit through the widest part of the sleeve. If so, cut the sleeve and insert the camera by inserting the lens through the hole in the wrists and adjusting it with the rubber.
6. BRIGHT WHITE BACKGROUND
This may not be a very everyday object, but if you have children and you are interested in education or alternative pedagogies, you surely know what a nightstand is and you may have one at home.
Well, in addition to being an educational resource, it will also serve as a photographic accessory to illuminate backgrounds (with the size provided, of course). If you want an example, you can see the following image. The floor of the clinic is a light table ? . That's how it is. With a little editing you make it white as snow.
7. FOGGY EFFECT
I've been chasing the fog for a long time but, due to different circumstances, I can't. So I've decided to use the Vaseline trick one of these days.
If you want to try it like I did, find a filter that you don't use much or are not particularly fond of and put it on the camera. Then smear the edges with Vaseline and you will see how you get the fog effect.
8. HOME DIFFUSERS
With a white curtain you can diffuse the harsh light that enters through the window and turn it into a pleasant diffused light. A white tissue paper glued to the glass also serves .
Let's see an example of what a tissue paper can do on the window glass, same photo, same moment with the only difference that the left image was taken with the paper and the right one without it. One light is better than another. No, they are different, everything will depend on what you want to convey with your photo.
Tissue paper taped to the window can also help you achieve a bright white background for small items. As if it were a light box.
9. HOMEMADE REFLECTORS
And since we are talking about diffusers, let's also talk about reflectors. At home you surely have one of these objects.
- aluminum foil
- car sun visor
- Tetrabrick (for macro)
- White wall
- White cardboard
Well, all of them can help you when it comes to reflecting light to illuminate your motif and/or fill in unwanted shadows.
10. DAWN DEW
Do you love those pictures of plants with dewdrops? You can emulate dew in your house with a simple sprayer. As simple as that. And without having to get up early ? .
11. BOKEH EFFECT
With a black cardboard you can make the shapes you want for your bokeh and achieve an impressive photograph. And if you want to try it at home and you're short on backlights, find those Christmas lights you saved after the holidays.
12. COLORED GELS
If you have an external flash and want to spice it up, try colored gels, you can make them with translucent colored plastic folders, or even cellophane paper.
13. ENDLESS BACKGROUND
A roll of paper or cardboard can serve as an infinite background. We better see it with an image. It is only for you to see the example, taking care of the white balance and with the edition, you can convert it into a completely white background. The important thing is that you see that the cutting line between the background and the ground is not visible.
All these are ideas, but if you prefer to buy other types of cheap accessories that you have not found here, do not miss this article with accessories for less than 20 euros or this other one where you will find accessories to give your camera a lot of life for less than 40 euros.
To finish, I leave you a video with five very simple tricks to take very creative photos with household objects. Enjoy it, but above all, put some of the ideas you've just discovered into practice! And if you have any other tips, share them with us in the comments, we'd love to hear about them.
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