Have a busted lens that isn’t worth repairing? Instead of throwing it away, you can turn it into a flower pot! Kenneth Yung has a series of photos showing how he did this with his broken Nikon 18-55mm lens (translation here). This can definitely add a fun touch to any boring workspace!
(via Nikon Rumors)
Last year, Canon celebrated its 50th anniversary in manufacturing SLR cameras and released three super detailed paper craft cameras that you can print out and build yourself. These included the Canonflex, the AE-1, and the EOS 5D Mk II. Unless you have a good amount of time you can set aside for arts and crafts, this probably isn’t for you — each camera has dozens of pages of detailed instructions and a ton of tiny pieces that come together to form the final replica camera.
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Here’s an easy to follow video tutorial by photographer Lucas Ridley teaching you how to create custom bokeh shapes using a construction paper cap placed over your lens. Ridley’s design is flexible, allowing you to swap shapes easily by sliding them in and out of the cap.
Here’s a terrific “Doh! Why didn’t I think of that?” idea shared by Flickr user Ralph Odenwälder in his photostream: create a set of matching Polaroid photographs for an awesome do-it-yourself memory card game that you can either give someone as a present or play yourself!
Of course, you could do the same thing by making duplicate prints with your digital or film photographs, but somehow it just doesn’t feel the same…
(via Photojojo)
Kate received this awesome miniature Polaroid One-Step camera as a present from her friend Pia. What’s neat is that the camera came with a collection of baby Polaroid pictures, with actual photographs printed on them!
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Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram had this novel wedding ring designed for his wife Shelina Nanji. The ring, created in a collaboration with jeweler Tamrakar, contains tiny slides of the couple. When placed in a darkened room with a light source behind it, the slides can be projected through the mini lens built into the ring.
Jerram says the ring was inspired by Stanhopes, which were popular trinkets during the 19th century, by which microphotographs could be carried and viewed inside.
Not surprisingly, Jerram gets asked to make this ring frequently for other couples, but he politely declines — this ring was a unique design made specially for his wife.
(via Make)
Editor’s note: The creative photographic negative business card idea that we shared recently was pretty popular with our readers. Here we’ve asked Steph Goralnick to share how exactly it was made in case you want to make your own.
The realization that I had run out of my regular business cards the night before I was scheduled to attend a weekend-long special event inspired me to create a small edition of extra special cards on the fly. I was aiming for a simple design with a unique construction that would showcase my skills as both a photographer and a graphic designer. Due to the fact that time was an issue, traditional vendors out of the question; and since I didn’t need more than a couple dozen cards, I decided to make them myself at home using an inkjet printer and some negatives.
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Here’s a neat birthday card idea for the Polaroid or photography lovers in your life: make a hand-drawn Polaroid camera spit out a real instant photo! Kayla Davis received this card from her friend Chrissie for her 19th birthday.
Do I have the most awesome friend or what? My friend Chrissie made me this birthday card. It’s one of the coolest cards I’ve ever gotten!
If you’re ambitious, try taking it to the next level by making the card a “pop-up” card that has a 3D camera. That would be something.
(via Photojojo)
Image credit: Photo by Kayla Davis and used with permission
Looking for a neat new way to show off your photographs? Foldplay has a cool web application that can help you print and fold your very own kaleidocycle, a moving paper sculpture that turns endlessly.
All you need are 4 photographs and some glue. Upload the photographs through the online form, print the resulting image, and fold away! All the instructions needed to make the kaleidocycle are included in the printout.
This might make for a fun project your kids will enjoy, or a small gift idea your friend might appreciate!
If you have slides you’re planning on throwing away, why not upcycle them into a unique lamp shade? New York based artist and design Sabina Batelman did just that with hers.
Batelman tells us:
I was into slide photography some time ago and ended up with all these cutting room floor slides that were hard to throw away. Happily, the idea of the lampshade sort of came to me without much thought. Seemed like the most logical thing to do with them. Slides. Light. Need lampshade.
I used a few coats of thin green and brown acrylic paint. Though I’m experimenting now with thicker acrylics to eliminate the need for multiple coats. Keeping the paint off the images was a bit of pain at first, but I eventually got better at it. I bought a bunch of metal rings from the jewelry making department at Michael’s and used a power drill to make the holes. The frame is from a junky $2 lampshade bought from a local thrift store. I cut the shade off and hung the linked slides on. Pretty simple. A bit tedious, but quite therapeutic.
Making another one now. Have a lot of slides. Need more lampshades.
