Easy out-of-the-box photography tips using common household items

By Felix Esser July 8, 2014

seven clever photography tips using less common household items cooph beer cosy — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Photography is a creative art form, and often it’s out-of-the-box thinking that yields the most interesting results. While there are thousands of products on the market that promise to help you achieve great photos or perform some kind of other useful service, a lot can be done by using the everyday things we have around us. The difficult part is figuring out how to use them.

For example, did the thought of using a beer cozy (the sleeves that you put your beer cans into in order to keep them cool, as well as concealed) as a makeshift lens protector ever cross your mind? If you happen to have some lying around, why not use them to keep your lenses safe during transport, instead of buying an expensive new photo backpack or dedicated lens pouches.

Want to create some light-painting art? Use your iPad or Android tablet to add some colored streaks into your photos, instead of buying dedicated light-painting sticks. Want to achieve a soft focus effect? Stop looking for a classic soft focus lens on eBay and instead simply wrap a piece of pantyhose around your lens.

Photographer Markus Berger from COOPH (The Cooperative of Photography) shows these and more clever tricks in the video below, using nothing but common everyday items that many of us happen to own anyway. Need more ideas? Then we strongly suggest you take a walk around your house and start experimenting with things. Because that’s the easiest and most effective way of discovering something new.

(Via Lifehacker)

Felix is a freelance tech journalist with a strong focus on photography. Based out of central Germany, he contributes to…

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