craschworks

Neat blog with lots of DIY ideas. Including elegant pot rack.

f I had but one backdrop to use for portraiture I would choose a simple roll of white seamless paper. With one roll of paper you can create many options. For the rest of the week I’m going to break it down for you. We are going to look at getting it to pop to pure white, making it various shades of grey, getting it to go black, gelling it to any color in the rainbow, and doing very easy and quick changes in post production to further the visual options available to us when using such a simple background.

As simple as it is, it can be easy to mess up too. I hope to help you out like other photographers have helped me along the way.Before we get into the shooting technique for this, let’s start from the start and look at the gear and resources needed to pull this off.

This flame you CAN hold, without burning your skin off. Learn to make fireballs you can hold in your hand. This amazing video tutorial shows you how to do it. All you'll need for this little science experiment or fiery weapon is 100% cotton cloth, scissors, lighter fuel, cotton string, and a needle. Be careful to follow the directions in this how-to video carefully otherwise you'll really be playing with fire.

An infinite white background is more than hip and trendy. Clean, professional and flexible, the secret is in the lighting. And while framing the head and shoulders is easy, lighting a full-body shot is much more complex. This segment shows you how to Light Infinite White, on a finite budget and in a limited space. Watch this video special effects tutorial and learn how to create infinite white lighting.

A cyclorama is something I've always wanted. Until building my current studio I've never had an adequate place for one. So, like most of us, I've had to use seamless background paper-which I loathe. I've never seen instructions for building one, so I was forced to invent the technique demonstrated here. So far, everything seems to be holding up just fine. Be forewarned, this project is a lot of work, and the finished cyc weighs a lot-like maybe a ton for every 16' or so. If your floors and walls are not real sturdy, don't try this.

World Press Photo aims to support professional press photography on a wide international scale. Promotional activities include an annual contest, exhibitions, the stimulation of photojournalism through educational programs, and creating greater visibility for press photography through a variety of publications.

lens recommendations

When I examine the vistor figures for my website going back to August 2000, I can see how many more visitors there are for the technique pages than any others. In fact, 68% of all page views on this site between August 2000 and August 2008 were to one of the many technique examples. I don't suppose that is going to change any time soon so this page provides an index to all of the new technique pages posted since the 1st of September 2008.

This DIY aluminum laptop stand was initially made by Aaron Kravitz and was inspired by a $50 model he once saw. Needless to say that this is one sexy laptop stand, one of the nicest I've seen. On top of being nice, it's also dirt cheap. All in all, he used about $8 in metal, a hacksaw, and a few strips of leather. To bend the aluminum, he used his hands and a sawhorse. Aluminum was chosen due to its malleability. Kravitz admits that he mostly eyeballed the bending. They turned out well and since you only need to bend one, it doesn't really matter which way you do it. The important thing is that there are these struts that support the stand.

16 port USB hub

Transformer USB drive

Esto connectors are available in 1" square and 3/4" square to fit a variety of tubing profiles. They are manufactured using super tough, high quality molded nylon material. Standard colors include light-grey and black. Custom colors are also available.

Dynamic moving backdrops with very high resolution

visual projected images, perfectly sychronized to the

live stage actions, lighting and music. This long awaited stage

set dream is now a reality with the introduction of

networked picture servers which integrate all forms of

visual content onto one seamless stage backdrop to produce

the ultimate "Virtual Set". Artistic murals, Still images,

Photographic images, Moving icons, Corporate branding,

Video footage are all possible elements which can now be incorporated into your next stage production.

This is the evolution of the first DIY guide to something bigger. Now included are hints and guides for setting up and running a studio. This guide is not yet finished, and probably never will be finished at all, but it will be constantly updated if I find time. Any useful suggestions for updates and complements are gladly received and will be integrated if possible. Just send e-mail. The German original is available at http://www.photoquack.de/tutorials/baustrahler.htm

Does some interesting photography with continuous lighting

Make your own “Dim-able” Keno-Flo for $49!

Build instructions for DIY softbox

DIY Spiderlite softbox

Metal connectors should theoretically make your building go up faster and stronger. With much of the items listed here a person needs to use their imagination to finish off the project. Meaning for example you can make a simple design on paper for a small dwelling or tent and use accessories available from the listed suppliers to provide framework connectors or to provide maybe a canvas or poly covering.

EnableDesign has built a number of these beds. The bed provides security and safety.
The bed is sized to fit a standard single size mattress. The overall height of the bed is
approximately 80 inches. The door and end panels have mesh covering in the openings.
The doors slide in tracks and function much like a standard bathtub enclosure. The mattress
is low to provide easy access. Custom requirements can be accomodated.

Metal security storm doors need not give your home an institutional appearance. With over 50 decorative style and ten colours to choose from, these beautiful protective security doors can in fact enhance the curb appeal of your home, while protecting your family and belongings from unwanted intrusion.

Hand forged wrought iron doors; also fake wrought iron

Jay Leno has a lot of old cars with a lot of obsolete parts. When he needs to replace these parts, he skips the error-prone machinist and goes to his rapid prototyping 3D printer. Simply scan, print and repea

Jim's shop is located near his home in Circle Pines, Minnesota, near the "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you have a serious interest in Jim's instruments and you expect to be in the Twin Cities area, contact Jim to plan a time to visit. It is not unusual for prospective customers to make a trip to the shop to see how Olson guitars are made, and to take a "test drive" on a recently completed guitar. All visitors leave Jim's shop amazed at the number, intricacy, and precision of the tools and jigs he has created to help him make the best guitars possible.

For those unable to visit in person, this corner of the web site offers a "virtual tour" of Jim's shop. The tour is a bit brief right now, but we have about 100 photos that will be added gradually over the next few months. So enjoy your virtual visit, and drop by again soon to see more.

As the name suggests, a blog for expats in China

Magma Kettle barbecues are nearly ubiquitous throughout North American cruising grounds. I've owned one for a couple cruising seasons now, and I've learned a lot about the ups and downs of these units.

Let me say right off that this grill has enhanced our cruising experience more than any other single improvement. Moving cooking operations out to the cockpit removes the steam, splatter, and spills from the cabin entirely.

Even more significant, though, is the elimination of the bottleneck at the cabin door, which is where the galley is. The rest of the crew can come and go as they please while I cook astern. It sounds silly, but cooking out back seems to make the boat physically larger. On a 22 foot boat, a change like this is almost as good as buying a boat three feet longer.

Obama and his Senate allies would limit competition by requiring insurers to cover everyone for the same "fair" price. No "cherry picking," the president says. No charging healthy people less.

They call this "community rating," and it sounds fair. No more cruel "discrimination" against people who have a preexisting condition, obese people or smokers. But such simple-minded one-size-fits-all rules take from insurance companies their best price-dampening tool: Risk-based pricing encourages people to take better care of themselves, just as car-insurance companies reward good drivers. With one-size pricing your car-insurance company must give the town drunk the same deal it gives you.

[The same people who want to operate a national healthcare system can't even run their own cafeteria profitably.]

Year after year, decade upon decade, the U.S. Senate's network of restaurants has lost staggering amounts of money — more than $18 million since 1993, according to one report, and an estimated $2 million this year alone, according to another … without a $250,000 subsidy from taxpayers, the Senate won't make payroll next month….

In a masterful bit of understatement, Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Rules and Administrations Committee, which oversees the operation of the Senate, blamed "noticeably subpar" food and service.

Scred is a Finnish company building tools and services to help friends, groups and communities manage their money, wherever they are.

Pools are for simple tracking and balancing amongst friends, while MiniCorps allow you to track income and expenses, as well as actually sell items and receive money.