At Home, Simple, Photography ideas?

nedd

Hi,

My wife heads off to yoga every week now and I'm at home for a few hours while the baby is in bed. Last week I got my tripod out and did some light painting in the kitchen. It was a simple set up and all told I wasted an hour or two and came out with some OK shots.

So now I'm trying to think of other simple photography projects I can do using a basic set up that will pass the time. All I have is a DSLR and kit lens.

Anyone have any suggestions? I think tonight I will do some more light painting, i have some different colour lights to mess with.

All suggestions welcome.
Nedd

amdgilmore

Got a garden? This is very easy to do once you have the equipment (which will cost about €10)

http://photoextremist.com/steel-wool-photography-tutorial

5uspect

You could try some droplet photography. Build yourself a cheap intervalometer if you you find you need accurate control.

nedd

hey, I actually got some steel wool today but wasn't sure how i was going to swing it around. the whisk on a piece of wire is genius.

I also asked a guy in here for a loan of his flashgun today as I was going to try droplet photography.

I will try the droplets first i think, less chance of burning the house down :-)

Faing

Be VERY careful if you haven't done any wire wool(ing) before, it can be extremely dangerous if you don't "dress for the occasion" make sure your hands and head are covered as the wool can fly off and stick to any exposed skin. Also be careful because it is addictive and you'll find yourself ordering massive amounts of it off the interweb.....:) as it works out expensive buying it at the local DIY store.

Gregor Samsa

+ 1 on the droplets. I whiled away many's an hour a couple of winters ago trying it, when it was too dark/cold/wet to go outside.

Some tips from my experience which you're free to ignore:

Drip the water into something fairly large. I used a paint tray. This lets you frame the drop/splash without a distracting background or your setup getting in the frame. But experiment with different depths of water (and heights the drop falls) to see what works best for you.

Fill a small plastic bag with water, suspend it over the tray. Make a *small hole *with a pin. Too big a hole will result in a jet. For a while at least, the drops will come out at regular intervals, so you'll be able to (somewhat) anticipate them falling.

For interesting effects, put a picture, or a page with random colours drawn or printed on it, behind where you're dropping the water into. It will reflect on the water, and the reflection will be pleasantly distorted by the splashes and ripples.

Try using food dyes in the water for added colour. Mess around with your White Balance settings too, for different colour effects.

And most important: Keep a towel handy!

LeoB

+ 1 for the wire wool.

A few of us tried it in Rush Camera group but we went to a ruin to do it and also done some on local beach. Great bit of crack so if you have a few others see if they would be interested.. Got some decent shots after a bit of practice. Use old clothes and cover your hair. We were well prepared as we had 2 small extinguishers and a fir blanket just in case of any mishaps. Good crack.
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You can also use small flashing LEDs that flash which would be better indoor for obvious reasons. Using more than 1 LED with different lengths of string can work well.

This was one attempt with LED at making a cartoon skeleton figure Like Simon Templer "The Saint" FROM t.v

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Tried the water droplets also and its trial and error.

Dont look on your hour lightpainting as wasted time. It was part of learning other parts of photography which will let you get more from your kit and you will become competent as a result

OldGoat

I fancy doing some fire poi/wirewool shots too if anyone wants to head out some evening. Bull Island?

dirtyghettokid

OldGoat wrote: »

I fancy doing some fire poi/wirewool shots too if anyone wants to head out some evening. Bull Island?

i'd be up for that! if you pick a day that's not too windy! (and i have petrol in the car)

OldGoat

I'll check dates/weather/TheBoss and post in the events forum for sometime over the next few weeks.

nedd

Thanks for the ideas all, I have a flashgun now so I will try the water drops in the coming days.

phutyle, thanks for the advice, I will try some of it and post some results if I get any worth while.

As for the burning wool I will try and convince a friend to help me out on that. I am thinking that doing some light painting / wool burning in a graveyard could wield some great results.

Gregor Samsa

Here's a selection of my water drops from when I tried it:

http://www.thisismydna.com/photo/main.php?g2_itemId=23

Burning wire wool loos like great dangerous fun!

The other thing I occupy myself with on dark winter nights is macro shots of things I find around the house - fruit, dead flies from the window sill, bits of things my wife finds at the bottom of the sea. If it's clear out, I try my hand at astrophotography from the back garden, but this winter I plan on making a few trips to a dark site in the Burren for a more serious attempt.

As for light painting at home, I'd love to try something like this:

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/08/20/topological-light-painting-photos-created-by-tracing-entire-rooms-with-one-led/

dirtyghettokid

when i get bored, i tend to photograph a lot of random crap in the house using flashguns.. shoes are my fav :P


iphone 3GS by jbredrebel, on Flickr


air jordan III cement 2011 by jbredrebel, on Flickr

or you could make a mini softbox product thingy (i posted this in another thread)

http://strobist.blogspot.ie/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html


my awesome cbr by jbredrebel, on Flickr

or you can just play with photoshop...turn a day time picture into a night time one...


moon lake by jbredrebel, on Flickr

or you can try the multiplicity project -- take one scene, multiple exposures of you or an object placed in different areas, and then photoshop it into one image

who gets to drive? by jbredrebel, on Flickr

or make little planets out of a picture you already have of a cityscape or landscape
http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/create-your-own-panorama-planets/


TO mini planet by jbredrebel, on Flickr

i spend too much time at home.... lol

nedd

dirtyghettokid, great ideas there. I think the multiplicity before with myself sitting at a table 3 times. worked out OK and it was very easy to do.

dirtyghettokid

nedd wrote: »

dirtyghettokid, great ideas there. I think the multiplicity before with myself sitting at a table 3 times. worked out OK and it was very easy to do.

you should post up a couple of your projects!

LeoB

OldGoat wrote: »

I fancy doing some fire poi/wirewool shots too if anyone wants to head out some evening. Bull Island?

Id be on for that also, again depending on the Boss, weather venue. Bull Island? Are there any ruins around there.

dirtyghettokid wrote: »

you should post up a couple of your projects!

Yeah a few of your projects would be nice to see. Give us some inspiration for the winter ahead.

Graveyards are a good spot. Took this one night on road between Rush and Loughshinny.

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Another night we went to Lusk to the Round Tower in Lusk which you can see as you drive through the village. One member got decked out in cape and mask and sat into a window recess and we got a few decent shots. There is a path through the Tower grounds and graveyard from the square to ministers Rd and our man coughed as anyone approached. We also place a skeleton skull on some graves and lit them with torch and this was also a bit of a challenge and a bit of crack..

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There are some great bits and pieces to be done over the next few months.

ThOnda

Go macro, discover new world, if you are restricted to indoors.
Having few desk lamps and few figurines (toys), or modeling head, you could get very quickly good practice in studio lighting.

nedd

ThOnda wrote: »

Go macro, discover new world, if you are restricted to indoors.
Having few desk lamps and few figurines (toys), or modeling head, you could get very quickly good practice in studio lighting.

Would like to try macro alright, but would my kit lens be good enough?

Splinters

Get some cheap macro extension tubes and you'll be sorted. You can pick them up for next to nothing. Its not quite the same as a high end macro lens but a good starting point for very little cost.

5uspect

You could try and turn it around. Or get a 50mm and extension tubes.

nedd

Splinters wrote: »

Get some cheap macro extension tubes and you'll be sort You can pick them up for next to nothing. Its not quite the same as a high end macro lens but a good starting point for very little cost.

Good call, A quick search online and it looks like you can get cheap extension tubes for a tenner, autofocus ones for €90.I will start with a tenner :-)

5uspect

Make sure they work with EF-S lenses if you use the Canon kit lens.

OldGoat

Go all smokie. A flash, a stick of insense and a few bits of black posterpaper. Vent often.

dave66

Tripod, black or white cloth, kitchen table = mini studio. Use things like candles, phones, torches, lamps etc for different lighting.

nedd

They are some great shots.

I am heading into town on lunch to get some Black paper, I am going to get some incense as well now.

dave66

nedd wrote: »

They are some great shots.

I am heading into town on lunch to get some Black paper, I am going to get some incense as well now.

I'd suggest some cheap black material from a fabric shop, I find it much easier to use material than card/paper.

nedd

dave66 wrote: »

I'd suggest some cheap black material from a fabric shop, I find it much easier to use material than card/paper.

Thanks, I actually got some Crepe paper and it worked OK.

I tried the water drop shots last night. Had some issues but will try again.

Issues were, too narrow DOF for some shots will have to tweak it. I used a glass bowl and then a stainless steel bowl and it doesnt look right in the shot. I think a black roller try would be better.

I am going to try again next week and hopefully get some better results.

Gregor Samsa

nedd wrote: »

I tried the water drop shots last night. Had some issues but will try again.

Issues were, too narrow DOF for some shots will have to tweak it. I used a glass bowl and then a stainless steel bowl and it doesnt look right in the shot. I think a black roller try would be better.

I am going to try again next week and hopefully get some better results.

Just for reference, here is the setup I used:



Water, dyed red, is in a sandwich bag suspended off the arm of an old tripod. The night before this session, I used a paint tray. This night, I used a ceramic lasagne tray. I put my daughter's placemat behind the tray to cast reflections. I was using a 100mm macro lens and a ring flash - but you should be able to get results with your kit lens and a desk lamp.

Here's some of the results:

nedd

The are great shots alright. The red food dye gives the water a great look and the reflected background image is brilliant in the last shot.

jonneymendoza

great ideas thanks

nedd

Hey,

So I tried some Water Drops and Smoke shots, here is 1 example of each:


WaterDrop by GarethOBrien, on Flickr

and


Smoke1 by GarethOBrien, on Flickr

There are a couple of others on my Flickr.

5uspect

Since we're all it it; here are a few of mine:


Milk and water, double drop collision timed to perfection with a Mumford Time Machine.


More of a manual attempt


I find inverting the image works best.

bobbaggio

Some great tips here folks, gonna go and buy myself some steel wool right now!