10 Everyday Photography Hacks and Tricks

Keyring Tripod Sling

Use key rings to give your tripod a carrying strap. Use two key ring coils and place them on the tripod legs using a zip tie. Now use a spare camera strap to hook the two rings. This will make it easier to carry your tripod.

Vaseline Soft Focus

Vaseline can be used on a sheet of glass or thin plastic film to get an effect of soft-focus photos. Apply a thin concentric layer of vaseline on the periphery of the glass or plastic that you are using. Leave the center part clear. Now use this as an external filter to get the photo. You can also try this on a lens filter but using an external film gives you the ability to increase or decrease the intensity of the soft focus.

Socks Filter

Tight socks over your lens can give your photos a filtered look. Use socks and stretch them to their limits over the lens. This will create a filtered layer over the lens and will cut off some amount of light reaching the sensor. The pattern of softness will be determined by the type of socks you use. Wollen socks don’t give better results. Use thin socks for best results.

String Pod

Using a piece of string to give your camera extra stability. Take a string and loop it around your legs. Tie the knot at the bottom of the camera body. You can use a fitting in the tripod mount area to fasten the string. When there is tension in the string the movement of the camera is limited. This ensures stable performance of the camera and better stability. This trick is useful in taking cinematic shots.

Thermocol Stabilizer

This hack includes making a simple bag to rest your camera on for stabilization. Using either thermocol balls or popcorn creates a dynamic platform to rest your lens on. Use an airtight ziplock bag and fill it with either popcorn or thermocol beads. Seal it up and use it as the base for resting the lens to get stabilization.

Toilet Paper Roll Macro

A toilet paper roll can be used for reverse lens macro shots. Just use the central hollow tube that you get inside the toilet paper rolls. Put it on the lens and mount the lens over it. It needs some trial and error but will work at a temporary macro lens.

Strap Filter

Use your camera strap to modify how scenes are exposed. Use your strap over the lens to cover the skies. Just before clicking the image take exposure after covering the over-exposed sky with a camera strap. Take correct metering exposure reading and then remove the straps before clicking the photo.

Custom Bokeh Kit

Cut out different shapes on a thin card paper or just draw it on a transparent plastic film. You can place these cutouts in front of the lens to create different shapes and patterns on the bokeh in the photograph. Use your creativity to get various shapes and patterns. You can also turn bokeh into letters and numbers.

Pinhole Body Cap

This is one of the coolest photography hacks. You can turn your camera into a pinhole camera using a simple trick. A hole in a body cap turns it into a simple pinhole lens. A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens but with a tiny aperture. You can use long exposures using a pinhole camera to get stunning results. Just drill a small hole directly into the body cap. Make sure you do it after removing the cap from the body. Now shoot long exposures in manual mode without a lens.

Foil Pan as Reflector

You can easily use a circular aluminum foil pan as a reflector. Just make a hole in the center and insert either a flash or light source. This will work well as a beauty dish and works best for portraits. You should consider getting yourself a dedicated external flash for creative portrait photography. Check out the detailed guide for External Flash.

This concludes our Photography Hacks and Tricks guide for photographers. If you want to get more photography hacks and tricks then read the links given below.

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