- Use foam core from your local craft store as a reflector to bring in more natural light. Cost: $1.50
- Wear white when you shoot and be your own reflector. Cost: free.
- Rubber band a coffee filter loosely around your on-camera flash as a diffuser for soft light instead of harsh flash. Cost: < $.25
- Cut a wider hole in a clean, opaque, white water gallon jug, tape it on your flash to bounce light off the ceiling or diffuse direct flash. Cost: $.60
- Clamp or tape up opaque shower curtain to soften harsh, blown-out lighting. Cost: $1.30
- Learn to set your custom white balance using a gray rock or print a gray card from your home printer. Cost: =/< $.05
- Learn to use picnik.com or gimp as a photo editor. Cost: free.
- Use ziploc bag loosely packed with rice or feed corn stuffed into a pair-less sock as a bean bag tripod to stabilize your camera for self-timer or slow shutter speed settings. Cost: ~$1.20
Photography is expensive! If you’re saving your pennies for a reflector, a Fong diffuser, white balance card, Adobe Photoshop, or a great tripod – those above ideas will work in a pinch for pennies!
What cheap or free tips have helped you?
I am so appreciative of your 31 Days posts. I am ordering a Nikon D90 kit from Amazon along with the 50mm lens. It’s something I’ve dreamed about for a while. Now with your tutorials and a camera in my hand, I can’t wait to photograph my family, especially my 4-month-old granddaughter who is growing by leaps and bounds every single day. I’ll be stopping by frequently to refresh my memory and maybe even share in a link up someday. Thank you!
turning my 50 mm around to use it as a macro.
Do you have a converter or do you hand-hold it?
These are great tips. I’ve used several of them with great success. Love Gimp. It’s not as user-friendly as Photoshop, but it certainly gets the job done while I save up for PS!
Thank you for these great tips !
I use Picnik.com and I love love it !
I try to turn my 50 mm as a macro !
Thank you again !
Awesome tips! Thank you
I love the bean bag tripod idea…so simple actually but I never thought of it!
Great idea if you don’t want to carry around a regular tripod say on a hike or something.
I wanted to say thank you for your recent 31 Days to Better Photo’s….I followed along each day although I didn’t comment. I’m bad that way sometimes….but wanted you to know it was interesting and reminded me of some things I had forgotten over the years. Thank you again for taking your time to share with us.
I just found your blog and look forward to reading it. For our Canon S3 IS we cut out a slit in an old white film canister and stuck it on top. Works pretty well.
Catherine – what a great idea!
Thank you oh photo goddess wise one!
Thank you for the ideas! I look forward to trying them out. I recently read (last night) about making a gray card from a paint swatch from the painting section of a home improvement store- free!
Also, I have tie dyed old sheets and made my own backdrops- I believe the powered dye was about $3.00 in Wally World.
Ohhh, a paint swatch! It would have to be fairly big, I’d think – but what a resourceful idea!
Great tips, Darcy. I gave it a Stumble and shared on FB. Hope it helps a few more enjoy this post too.
Thanks Manda. Appreciate that!
These are great ideas, thanks!
I read on a TML (The Maternal Lens) FB post about using a car sun shade as a reflector. I’ve tried it once. It seemed to help. Don’t know about the color of the light that if reflects–don’t real reflectors have a gold side and a silver side. Thoughts?
Sure, I bet that would work. I don’t know how much cheaper a car sun shade is than a reflector? But it’s a great idea for those who may already have one.
My reflector has a silver and gold side. I love using the gold side to warm up the image, where as the silver side is usually white light – or the same color temp as what you’re already working with.
Thanks for your input on the color of the light Darcy.
Yah, I wouldn’t go buy a car shade just to use as a reflector, but since I already have one it’s nice that I can make it a multi-tasker.
Oh, this is fantastic! I’ve needed a couple of these for a while!
Love it! So true. I think too many of us tend to get caught up in the costs instead of using what we’ve got. Great post little lady!
You said “little lady”. I giggled out loud.
I used the coffee filter for one of my daughters portraits when the light was starting to fade, and I tried with the flash on its weakest setting. You would never know a flash had been used to help out a bit. I love how much this has helped me in low light situations.
Thanks Darcy
ohh how i LOVEEE the effects that picnik has to offer!! great tips darcy!!!
can i stick a link to this from a future examiner article?