DIY photography techniques and ideas.

You’re the boss — and maybe the producer, art director, model, and client.

You know the photo you want, but where do you start if you’re not sure how to get it? Before you hire a professional photography studio or buy expensive gadgets, try to figure out how to get the shot on your own.

“When you do it yourself, you can still get pro-quality photography, even with self-portraits and product photography,” says photographer and designer Abagail Pumphrey. “Especially if you’re marketing your own business, it can save you a lot of money.”

DIY photography is all about using what you have to get what you need. “It’s about figuring out new and inexpensive ways to get those polished results your favorite high-end photographer gets,” photographer Jordyn Ari says. To succeed, you need to direct all of your scrappy resourcefulness to the task of making high-quality images with whatever equipment, time, and budget you’ve got.

Tools of the trade.

One of the fun challenges of DIY projects is to make do with the tools at hand. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction you can get from successful photography hacks.

Camera

For most photography projects, you don’t need a top-of-the-line camera. You can take great photos with a less expensive DSLR camera like the Canon EOS or even your iPhone or Android.

“People say the best camera is the one you have, but I think the best camera is the one you master,” says Pumphrey. “You can get really fantastic at phone photography, and you can also really suck at using a DSLR.”

It’s more important to learn your camera’s settings, strengths, and weaknesses. And whatever camera you do have, protect it with a good camera bag. A self-timer is also a good investment as it will allow you to take self-portraits and get long exposure photos without shaking the camera when you trigger the shutter.

Photography backgrounds

The world is full of free backdrops if you look at it with the right eyes. You can use pillowcases or sheets as backdrops for product photos. “I enjoy using the natural parts of my home, a nice wood tabletop or a tile floor,” says Pumphrey. “I’ve taken a ton of photos on my back deck for a weathered wood look. And if you take it at the right time of day, you won’t have harsh shadows and lines.”

You can paint your own backdrops on plywood or foam core, or fix marble contact paper to foam core to create a marble countertop for food photography. “You can make your home look like a million-dollar home with just foam core and a sheet of five-dollar contact paper,” Pumphrey says. Rather than build a whole photo studio, just designate one wall in your house as your backdrop wall. Paint it however you like or tape different colors of paper photo backdrops to it.

You can even create collage walls with photos from magazines or repeating props. “I did this floral wall lining up small pieces of flowers. Those little flowers are cheap at craft stores,” she says.

Items from home or hardware store

If you don’t know how to get a shot, look for ideas around your home or in the aisles of hardware or craft stores. It’s always useful to have a ladder. “There might be overhead shots that you can’t get at your height,” Dorei says. She also likes the effect you can get with a toilet paper roll. “You flash a light through it, and it makes it look like there’s a spotlight on a person. It creates a vintage look.”

Another hack Dorei found early in her career was to shine flashlights through macrame sheets or knitted sheets to create dappled patterns on her subjects. When she needed to use a prism as a reflector, she found she had a perfume bottle that could do the job.

For product photos, you can make a DIY lightbox with a cardboard box or pieces of foam core. Just use white or black poster board inside to hide the seams and corners.

For a blur effect, instead of an expensive pro-mist filter, Ari found she could get a great photo with household items. “If you wrap plastic around your camera and use a hair tie or rubber band to hold it in place, you can get that same blur effect,” she says. “And if you want to push it even further, add lip gloss or Vaseline to the plastic.”

Tips for great DIY photos.

Preparation gives you the best chance at success, so plan as much as you can ahead of time.

Do your research.

If you take photos with or for other people, always ask them what resources they have so you know what you don’t need to get or make. If they want something specific that you need to get or make, be sure you test it on your own first.

“I draft out what I want to get and ask myself what I need for it,” says Dorei. “If I don’t have the equipment at home, I’ll test out different ways I can accomplish that photo so when I get on set, it goes as smoothly as possible.”

Study other people’s photos to discover exactly what you like. “Take some time looking at posing,” Pumphrey says, “because poses can make all the difference between loving or hating an image. Just start saving images where you like how the person looks in the frame. You can mimic posture more easily when you have a library to look at.”

Play with exposure.

Pumphrey adjusts exposure settings in camera. “It can make such a dramatic impact if you do it on the front end, especially if you like bright and airy photos. If you overexpose in the camera, you can get a crisper image than if you try to force it all at the end.”