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This last month has been a stressed and wonderful month for me. I am starting to build a house. This is cool for two reasons. The first, I'll have access to some great industrial / construction / raw locations.

The second reason why it is so cool is that I'll get to build a studio in the basement. Yes - after forfeiting my rights to have any say about decorations, room sizes and kitchen appliances, I get the basement for a studio. A good deal if you ask me. The studio will double as kid's space, but who cares. It is still a studio. It'll take about 8 to 10 months to build the house, then, expect a studio post. And if you come by, expect some great pizza and cold beer.

This got me thinking and I have a new site project brewing up that has allot to do with my plans for the studio, so stay tuned.

However, if I look at the coming month, I get (almost as) equally exited with "Something New" - A Photography Project here at DIYP. The project encouraged photographers to share equipment and to discuss it online. We also have some great prizes - some two-weeks body/lens rental courtesy of BorrowLenses.

I see this project as a great opportunity to learn and teach, to go Yellow (if you are red) to Red (if you're yellow), to go back to point and shoot days or to try some high-end dSLR. It is also a great opportunity do some photography "things" together.You can use this thread to find partners.

Till any of those projects complete, here are some of my favorite readings for the last month

Here we go again with another project here at DIYP. This time the project has a really cool theme - sharing. In this project, I am going to ask you to pair up with a friend and share a photography experience. I am going to ask you to temporarily exchange a piece of gear and write a review about it. We also have an awesome sponsor for this one with a set of prizes to fit the theme. I am really exited about this one and I hope I can make my enthusiasm catch.

As you probably noticed, there is a certain background setup I've grown to like in the last few weeks.

It is a setup that produces a nice circle in the background. You can see it in the gridspot article, My Ode to PSU and the shot I took to be the icon of the Babies series. You can also see it used on a large scale portrait here.

Wouldn't it be cool if your shutter would go from 30 to 1/30000? Wouldn't it be cool if your lens went from 14-400 (like your modem once did)? Wouldn't it be cool if you could pick and choose the parts in your camera? Hey! You can!

Today, RED announced their two of their new systems: Scarlet and Epic. Those are the two cameras which will enable you to do just that: Pick and choose the various parts of your system.

This backdrop holder by Edward Holtzman is one the fastest-to-assemble / cheap-to-build / quick-to-store / don't-piss-wife-with-photo-junk projects I have seen.

Riding on the PVC wave, Ed created a three section foldable backdrop stand. The genius thing about it is the way Ed overcame the common problem of stabilizing the stand. And the really genius thing about it is that after you are done taking pictures, you can take the stand out to play football with your son.

There is no end to creativity - if you created a cool setup for your shot, and you want to share it with DIYP readers and post it on the site, drop me a note.

I love nothing better than a good PVC construction. This is why I was so happy when David Turman sent in this great PVC stand. As any stand it can double as a light stand or a backdrop stand. You can use the stand to mount the cool backdrop you already made, or "just" your store bought backdrop. David is doesn't talk much, but his picture by picture tutorial is priceless. David, the floor is yours.

Here is my version of a simple and durable PVC backdrop or Lighting Stand. All the pieces are cheap and readily available and assembly is easy. I bought all the pieces at my local Lowe's for about $11.00, so you can do 2 for about 20 bucks not counting the uprights. You might save even more if you buy a multi-pack of the PVC fittings.

There comes a time at any man's life, where he enters their ~~workroom~~ oh-my-god-kids-what-is-going-on-room and something smelled funny.

Smells metallic. Burning. My socks on fire? No.... What is it? Smelling my way towards the source, I found it to be my computer. Or more precisely, my four years old power supply's fan has decided to die on me. A dying fan means that the computer is heating up, which means that blue screens of death will pop in any second now.

I quickly went to the nearest computer store and bought myself a new unit with two fans. I figured if one will die the other one will still be there. Total cost - 65 Dollars. Definitely worth it.

Just before I throw the little guy to the little recycle bin in the sky, I wanted to say good buy in an appropriate, nice way. After all it did give me power for four years.

Loosing my power supply got me thinking that I need better backup to my pictures than the external hard drive I am currently using. After all my pictures are stored on my personal computer. If you have an idea, please post it in the comments section. I also went to reread some of the great stuff Brian has to say about backing pictures up.

So aside from the ode, there is also a setup shot and some explanations after the jump.

Holding a Nuclear Reactor - A Balloon Shot Anatomy

One of the things I like best is High Speed Photography, it is an art that combines a hard technical challenge, along with an opportunity to have an artistic say. We've featured a few DIY articles about DIYing it, but nothing beats dedicated controllers.

This is why I was really happy to play a bit with the Universal Photo Timer - a heaven for High Speed Photographers. I'll write a review about it soon. (I know - the name says timer, but it is actually way more then just a timer) Till then, I'd like to share a High Speed shot I did, and with it the process of polishing a picture (or some aspects of it) till it is good. I will also discuss about what's missing from the final image.

Welcome to the forth and last installment of Baby's Growth Stages Captured in Photography by Shannon Kietzman from My Baby Photos.

Now that your child has reached the toddler stage, there are so many exciting moments for you to capture on film! By now, your little one is moving around quite easily and is getting into everything he or she can find. For that reason, there are six broad categories of photographs for you to cover once your child reaches this stage. These include:

With each of these special moments captured in your child's photo album, you will have plenty of cherished memories to share as your child grows older.

Welcome to this multi-part series of articles on Exploring Small Strobes by Yanik Chauvin from Yanik’s Photo School.

In part 1 on Exploring Small strobes, I looked at why using flash guns instead of the built-in flash and studio strobes. Today, I’ll be going through the importance of using your speedlight off camera.

So, we already know that direct flash from your built-in flash gives unflattering results, to say the least. Using your speedlight in the same way won’t change much. I did mention that you can redirect the light by rotating the head of your flash gun and bouncing the light off ceilings and walls but you’re still very limited in your creativity. So what’s a photographer to do? I’ll tell you. Get that speedlight off your camera to unleash its full potential!

As I said in the previous pool post, I am dedicating this pool to portraits. I was happy to discover (not that I did not know already) the diversity and variety of portraiture in the pool.

Then again, with 3,294 Members members this is no big surprise. If you have not joined DIYP Flickr group already, you are welcomed to so now. It is a great place to chat, explore images and share knowledge.

I did a little change in the way I am selecting the pictures, so if you see a new featured-on-diyp tag on your image, don't be alarmed. It means that your image will appear in DIYP pool post.

A while back, I asked your advice. I was contemplating between two lenses and did not which one to choose. I was being torn between the Nikkor 60m/2.8 and the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 D.

I was leaning towards the 1.8 (AKA sharpy) and your strong response helped me to make up my mind. So first of all - thank you all for some great advice.

After a few months with this lens, I would like to share my experience with the lens. Now, don't expect a Ken Rockwell kinda review, Ken does this much, much better then I can. Instead, I'd like to talk a bit of the general experience that I had with the lens.

Welcome to the third installment of Baby's Growth Stages Captured in Photography by Shannon Kietzman from My Baby Photos.

As your precious little bundle of joy grows older, you will notice a personality begin to emerge. In fact, during the first twelve months of your child's life, he or she will grow and change more rapidly than at any other age. Therefore, the key to taking photos of infants that are one year old or less is to capture their personalities, their curiosity and the natural wonder they express during the first months of life.

With the economy plunging and, with our money worth less and less every day, I tried to make this link roundup more about DIY, photography gear, and generally stuff that will not make you go out and spend money.

This month we started two new series, one focuses on taking photos of kids (or even pre-kids) and has less to do with equipment and the other one deals with using small strobes. Did I say small strobes? DIYP gridspot giveaway is still open for the next week so jump in, the water's fine.

I said is a few times before. Army surplus stores are a great place for photographer to hang out at and find some nice finds. I think that there is a strong connection between the needs of a soldier and the needs of a photographer.

One particular point where needs converge, is carrying equipment. It is only reasonable that both will need systems that will help them carry dedicated equipment. The soldier needs to carry riffle parts, bullets, field accessories; The photographer needs to carry lenses, small strobes, memory cards and so on.

The guys at SaxonPC asked what they can do for DIYP readers. Can we have some gridspots? Sure! That was it, so there are 5 of those gridspots up for grabs.

So, here is how it's gonna go. If you want one of those cool gridspots use the comments section below to let us know what you are going to shoot with it. Yes it is that easy:

2. Make a comment telling the world about it. Please include your Flickr account / mail address or any other way that will make it possible for me to contact you. Since there are only five of those to give out. Please be sure that you can make the final image in time. If you can not, you can add a comment with something fun to shoot, but tell that you are not here for the gridspot.

3. If you are selected, get ready to get a SaxonPC gridspot in about one week after the selection is made.

In two weeks from today - that is November first, we will ship five gridspots to the readers with the best five shooting ideas. I am going to the sole judge for this. Two weeks later, we will post those five images here on DIYP.

The idea here is to go though an exercise in planning a shot and making it happen. I will not throw you in the deep water without some help:

The other idea is to give away a few gridspots, so the two best shoots will also receive the gridspot mutipack.

There is no restriction on subject, number of flashes or special techniques. You can use an additional DIY gridspot, Gels, and other flashes, and light modifiers. Portraiture, still life and actions shots are all welcomed.

UPDATE: project is no longer taking submissions. Notification mails were sent to the winners. keep watching for final image.

Welcome to the second installment of Baby's Growth Stages Captured in Photography by Shannon Kietzman from My Baby Photos.

Now that your newborn has finally arrived, it is important to capture photographs within the first couple of weeks of your child's birth. Your newborn baby will be changing rapidly over the first several weeks following his or her birth, so you want to be certain to get some great photos to help you always remember those first two weeks.

Gel Caps - DIY Light Painting Gels For Your Flashlight

Zeke K. is the guest author of this post. Of course, you'd probably figure this out yourself after getting to the "Nice!" at the end of the post.

Ah, light painting. Thanks to digital photography, light painting has never been easier to get the kind of effects you are looking for. Lock that shutter open, mess around with your flashlight, check the results on the screen. Didn't work? Adjust and repeat. Lovely!

But maybe you want more than just lovely. Maybe you want color! That's where gels come in. Next time you are in a photo store or making an order from an online shop, pick up a pack of the Lee or Rosco sample gels. You'll have access to every color in the rainbow, even "Cosmetic Silver Rose." Did you even know that color was in the rainbow? I didn't.

Please join me in welcoming Innovatronix as a sponsor for DIYP. Innovatronix are the makers of the awesome Explorer XT battery pack I reviewed just a while ago.

If you did not read the review yet, let me fill you in quickly. Tronix make a killer battery-pack that you can take outdoors and power your favorite studio lighting anywhere in the world. OK, not anywhere, you need to actually be able to be on location yourself.

If you are bummed about using speedlights anytime you leave the studio, you'll surely appreciate the portability.

I just love gridspots. The amount of light control that a gridspot will give you is incredible. So, a while back I ordered some honeycomb grids from saxonpc. It is with two of those gridspots that I took the image on the left, but first thing first. In fact Saxon PC is specializing in making computer cooling solutions, little did they know that their honeycomb is just perfect for light control. OK, they knew, they made a site for it. Yet it was fun to say "little did they know".

One of the first projects on DIYP was a coroplast made gridspot, which totally rocked, but getting those nice black honeycombs tickled so much and I caved in.

In fact this solution is very similar to HonlPhoto's 1/4" and 1/8" gridspot solutions. If you are willing to settle a bit on the looks and spend a few minutes modding, you can save a few Dollars. Not that a few dollars will take you anywhere today.

Welcome to this multi-part series of articles on Baby's Growth Stages Captured in Photography by Shannon Kietzman from My Baby Photos.

Whether you are expecting your first child or your fifth, your pregnancy is a special time in your life. As such, you will want to capture these remarkable months with photos that you can cherish forever. By keeping a few key thoughts in mind while taking maternity photographs, you will be certain to have some amazing photos to share with your child when he or she grows older.

When I was in summer camp we used to have an evening routine. Each time one of the campers had a birthday, the chief councilor would step up to the mic at dinner time and say: "Every day is special here at ILTC, but today is a very, very special day for Daniel B.". This meant that it was Daniel B.'s birthday and that after a bit of prancing and jumping around the room, he "treated" everybody for a cake. Now, since it was summer camp, it was always the same "mass deployment" chocolate cake. But we were kids and loved it. For me it was those cakes that made dinner that much more fun.

So, let me try something here: Every day is a special day at DIYP, but today is a very, very special day for Chase Jarvis.

Nope, it is not his birthday, but his book's birthday. That's right. Chase is out with a new (and first) book called Stevens Pass. And nope there is no cake, there's a much better treat - a Chase Jarvis Frames video about the book making (if it does not show on your RSS reader click here).

Now this is what I like about Chase. He'll give you that fabulous book that will make your eyes go out of there holes. BUT, he will also so you the hard work and all the images that did not get in the book so you'll know this is hard work.

If you've ever wondered if it is difficult to shoot from a helicopter check out the frames where the rotor shows. Now, how in the world can you time that rotor to be out of the frame?!?

You can order the book here, and get it signed for no extra charge by Chase. There are only 2,500 copies so you have to be quick if you want one for yourself.

Welcome to this multi-part series of articles on Exploring Small Strobes by Yanik Chauvin from Yanik’s Photo School.

You’ve probably heard or read this a gazillion times by other photographers so I thought that I would be the gazilionth and one to tell you that creating a great photo is all about lighting. Light is what sculpts your scene. You can have the best composed shot but if your lighting is crap, good chances that your shot will be also. And sometimes to get good light, you’ll need to work with artificial light sources. One of the most popular light source used by photographers are strobes; also called flashes.

So I figured that I would give you my insights on small strobes (also known as flash guns or speedlights) in this multi part saga here on DIYPhotography.net. So let’s get right to it, shall we.

I guess it is no big secret that two of my photography passions are children photography and using small strobes. In fact, lots of images in DIYP are images of my son and daughter and were taken with off camera lighting.

This why I am so exited about two new series by two great guest authors starting this week:
Exploring Small Strobes by Yanik Chauvin and Baby's Growth Stages Captured in Photography by Shannon Kietzman.

I could not resist watching the images submitted to DIYP Flickr pool, no matter how late it became and mark a few favs.

The range of images, as always, is a great variety ranging from portraiture to still life to abstract.

I am going to try something new and make the next pool-fun all about portraiture.

Do submit studio portraits, opportunity portraits, kids portraits, on location portraits, off location portraits, self portraits, black and white portraits, friends portraits, OK, I think you get the point.