It has been a year since I started writing for DIYP and it has been a wonderful experience sharing works and tutorials to the world, including getting to read comments (and the occasional troll which gives me a laugh from time to time) and for this one year anniversary post, I want to run down and make one blog about my personal and favorite tutorials.

PRODUCT SHOTS:

One of my favorite cheapo items for product shots is a piece of granite tile. Check out the things you can do with a tile – it’s more than you think.

A tutorial on how to photograph glass, it is not a trivial matter to shoot, but using a few tricks, you can make it work.

How to create bokeh backgrounds using only aluminum foil.

A step by step tutorial on how to create splash product ads with multiple exposure and minimal gear.

Create stunning product shots using only an iPhone and a an iPad.

Than a year later tried this technique again with a different approach. On how to shoot a watch using only an iPad.

We need to challenge ourselves from time to time, I did a four elements still life shots 3 years ago but needed to photoshop it to achieve the look that I wanted, so to challenge myself I wanted to shoot it straight out of the camera. It took about 3 hours to shoot but totally worth it.

BACKGROUNDS:

I only have one white seamless paper in my studio as my main background, the reason is you can actually create 4 different looks using only one white seamless.

Another simple diy that can make a lot of difference in creating shadows in your background. And for this I only used an illustration board.

PORTRAITS

I have a lot of DIY projects, maybe this is one reason I became a writer for DIYP :) So, I did a shoot using only DIY modifiers to test if it can compete against pro grade modifiers.

Here I share one of my favorite techniques when shooting outdoors, underexposing the ambient light and using a flash for my mainlight. Check out the step by step tutorial.

Using the same technique as the 2 stops underexposed background, I added more twist by putting a CTO gel on my flash to get a different cold tone look.

LIGHTING

I still believe that one of the best ways to learn photography is by looking at pictures and trying to analyze how it was done and doing it yourself. So here is how I do it.

Lighting techniques, building DIY modifiers, and minimal gear tutorials are my favorite things to write about. So here is an article on all the things you can do with one speedlight from portraits to still life.

A 4 light tutorial you can use for Portraits or Product.

DIY’s:

I’m still fascinated with food photography and product shots with wood table or wood texture in it, so I diy’d my own.

I wasn’t a writer back then for DIYP, but from time to time I contributed some of my DIY projects. Here is a ring light way back then.

Now a smaller version of the ring flash, using a KFC bucket.

Another diy light using fluorescent tubes and also creating a different catchlight.

So, go out there, shoot and share!