DIY: Backdrops for your selfies (and other photos)

This being the age of the selfie, it seems to me that knowing a little about backdrops for your photos and a reminder to consider the light source are in order.  My favorite mistake is taking a picture too close to the window and having one side of the subject washed out, the other too dark (see the about me photo below).

While setting up a home-based photographer's studio may be a bit much, there are some simple things that will help. Autumn in her blog, it's always autumn, has some great tips, especially for photographing babies. Her about page is a delight.  Her article about "how to set up a DIY photo studio in your home" comes in 2 parts. Here's one of her photos.

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Baby in white blanket. its always autumn

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She also has a post compiling ideas for backdrops.

Buzzfeed has some great ideas in "32 Unbelievably Cheap And Beautiful DIY Photo Backdrops." Many of the ideas presented assume that you have a bare or light colored wall to shoot against. An alternative is hanging a light colored sheet or taping up plain paper that comes by the roll. Some of the instructions assume you have a photo booth.

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Confetti backdrop, Buzzfeed

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Building a photo booth may require a little more investment of time and money, maybe not. A photo booth can just be an area set aside to taking pictures. A tripod for the camera is probably a necessity. Take look at Photography Concentrate's "How to Create A Simple Photo Booth," for pointers on camera, lens, light, and trigger. You can find instructions for a collapsible photobooth that uses an old laptop, webcam, and photo printer at instructables.

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Collapsible photobooth, instructables

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An alternate route for a photo booth is LiveBooth for iPad. A demo is available on YouTube.

-- Marge

DIY: woodworking

Henrique Oliveira, Wood Installation, Inhabitat

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At the risk of generating another 5 spam emails a day related to woodworking and woodworking plans, here goes.  Woodworking can be a very expensive hobby, as practiced by Frank (Look at all that equipment!) or it can be very low-key, which is the way I do it. Here's a video by Frank of building a lawn chair, well actually, his machinery building the chair:

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Frank is indeed a fine cinematograher.

But back to the topic of woodworking.  For cutting wood I use a handsaw, a small top-handle saber saw (there seems to be a lot of confusion on the web between 'saber' and 'reciprocating' saw), and a variable-speed drill. To shape the wood I use chisels, a rasp, files, and sometimes a drill attachment that sands/grinds. Dremel tools are handy for fine detail and light finishing. A sander comes in handy for large flat areas. For putting things together I use a hammer, a tack hammer, the drill fitted with a screwdriver bit, and fasteners suitable for the material at hand. A pencil and measuring tools help. A drill bit set is a must, also a good selection of sandpaper grits. And wood glue is helpful. Then there's painting and staining.

I choose my projects carefully and usually use a good grade of plywood. What can you build with plywood? The blog Dishfunctional Designs has some interesting ideas. If you like working large and with recycled wood, take a look at Henrique Oliveira's wood installation. There is a selection of more functional designs, some of them requiring more advanced equipment, at Instructables on the Let's make plywood page, popular selection.

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Plywood Bowl, Dishfunctional Design

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There's more than can be said about this topic, so I'll probably revisit it in the future.

-- Marge

DIY: build your own battery

Environmentally compatible organic solar cells (in development), Physics.org

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Home installation of solar panels is growing fast:

A new solar-power system is now installed on an American roof every three or four minutes, often through leasing deals that require no money down and lock in lower electric bills for years. Wall Street behemoths like Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are pouring cash into rooftop solar, as are giant corporations like Walmart and Google, while a range of new financing mechanisms are making solar investments even more attractive. The installer SolarCity has begun to bundle customer leases into solar-backed securities, which could be as transformative (though hopefully not as dangerous) as mortgage-backed securities. And while the panels are now amazingly cheap–down from more than $75 per watt 40 years ago to less than 75¢ per watt today–the solar industry is just starting to drive dramatic reductions in “soft costs” like permitting, marketing and installation. (The Green Revolution Is Here, Michael Grunwald, Time Magazine)

But, unless you want to use environmentally unfriendly batteries that must be replaced and require maintenance, such as the ones sold by Wholesale Solar, you have to connect to the grid. If you decide to build or purchase a battery bank, be aware that there is a risk of explosion and the bank must be scaled to your system.

The push is on to build a better battery and a promising concept is a water-based organic one being developed by a team of scientists at the University of Southern California (USC).

In the meantime here are some batteries you can build yourself.  Check out the aluminum can, saltwater and charcoal battery made by egbertfitzwilly with charcoal from the backyard barbecue. To demonstrate battery basics here are 3 ways to make a homemade battery from WikiHow.

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Hand-Powered Battery, WikiHow

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Similar and related projects are a gummy battery holder by Andrea and a USB travel charger from Electro-Labs.

Who knows?  Maybe you can beat the USC team to the goal of a better, rechargeable, scalable battery.

-- Marge

DIY: a nuclear fusion reactor

Now this DIY project is worthy of an X Prize competition.

You may think such a project is outside possible for regular folks; but in June, 2013, the Russian magazine RIA Novosti reported that "Fifteen high school students in the world have built nuclear fusion reactors." The Russian article was describing Conrad Farnsworth's build (video below).  Other teen builders are Jamie Edwards and Taylor Wilson.

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For some background on fusion here's a page at NextEra Energy Resources with simple explanations (I like simple). According to Wikipedia, "A fusor is a device that uses an electric field to heat ions to conditions suitable for nuclear fusion."

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You can find instructions for building a fusion reactor at Instructables.  Note that there are a number of safety warnings.

For continuing information on the current state of nuclear power, sign up at World Nuclear News. And this is an interesting piece of information: "Lockheed Martin announces compact Fusion Reactor plans."

 -- Marge

DIY: Seedbombing and guerilla gardening

My thought was to offer a few ideas for indoor gardening (more about that later), then I discovered Greenaid. Quoting the introduction at the sponsoring organization's site Commonstudio,

As cities become the pre-eminent human habitat, new questions are emerging about how we can better empower urban dwellers to feel more connected to their everyday surroundings.A growing movement known as “guerilla gardening” hopes to spark these larger shifts in consciousness and action, and a tiny but powerful tool known as the “seedbomb” has been used by guerilla gardeners for decades to transform the forgotten niches of the urban landscape.  Made from a mixture of clay, compost and seeds, these green “pixels” can be thrown or planted virtually anywhere, creating more vibrant places worth caring for.  Greenaid is Commonstudio’s multi-year initiative focused on making seedbombs more accessible to the general public by channeling the power of social enterprise.

A couple of their projects are seedbomb vending and D3 (Dream it, Design it, Do it).  To offer seedbombs to consumers and potential bombers, they put up some prototype vending machines in the Los Angeles area.

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Greenaid, SeedbombVending, The Commonstudio

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With the D3 project, a program for K-12 students, Commonstudio asked: "How might we build creative confidence in young people by channeling their interests through the lens of design?"

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D3 methodology, The Commonstudio

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If bombing and other green guerilla offensives are not your thing, how about a vertical green garden in your apartment or flat?

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Flora Grubb, Vertical Garden, Inhabitat

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If you like avocados and want to make use of the seeds, here's how:

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AlissaSueK, Growing Avocado Plants From Seed, Instructables

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-- Marge

DIY: making prints with linoleum

Printmaking is messy business, but the results can be satisfying and visually arresting, depending on the paper and carving technique you use.  All printmaking is indirect, meaning that you do the artwork on a piece of wood, linoleum, stone, metal plate, or such, then transfer it to paper.  Best of all, you don't need a press to transfer the linoleum print (or a woodblock print), but can use the back of a spoon, a brayer, or press the block down on the paper. Throughout this post are samples of linoleum prints (aka linocuts).

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A linocut by Redbud505, Keyword Pictures

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When transferring your artwork to paper, it's important to use the right ink.  If the ink is too thin or watery it will flow into the recesses of the design and transfer poorly, if at all.  Speedball is an established and well-respected brand in printing supplies and gives some good information.

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Jeff Moriber, "Coney Island Dreams"

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There are some really good how-to articles online about making linocuts.  At Make, take a looks at "Linocuts 101."  Hudson Hill posted a very good article at Instructables.  A group of articles/projects can also be found at Apartment Therapy.

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Michael Roman, "Rolleicord"

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For some ideas on other types of printmaking and a challenge or two, try DIY.org's Printmaker page.

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Michelle Han, "Brownstone Bloom"

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-- Marge

DIY to celebrate life

I thought about a tongue-in-check do-it-yourself post for Mother's Day, but it kept going dark on me.  The Huffington Post article, "Mother's Day vs. Stepmother's Day: Who Owns It?," explains some of the darkness.  Realities of mothers who, in one way or another, for one reason or another, chose not to be motherly add to the mix.  So, moving on...

Life is indeed a you-it-yourself project.  And sometimes we need to be reminded of how joyful life can be.  Here are a few ideas for reminding ourselves.

Hang something in or near a window where the light can catch it.  It could be a crystal, or a stained glass panel, a glass fishing float, or beads on a string.  Something to catch your eye when you walk by.  Etsy's blown_glass category has literally thousands of ideas.  Be sure that what you choose has an eyelet for hanging.

Make a mobile and hang it where the air currents in the room will make it shift and catch your eye.  For inspiration, try "50 Fabulous Mobiles To Make, Buy Or Hang In The Sky" at the site Apartment Therapy.  For instructions, try "How to Create a Calder'esque Mobile" by morgenlandfahrer at the instructables site.  Here's an Alexander Calder mobile:

Hang a wind-chime inside your house or apartment.  The lighter the material you use, the more easily it will be moved by air currents.  I've used brass rings in a variety of sizes and something to catch the air like paper.  A good collection of ideas for making them is at Squidoo.  If you really want to delve into the mechanics of windchime sounds, try Chuck's Chimes.

Another way to celebrate life is to put a mirror where you catch a glimpse of yourself from time to time.  If you're always frowning, it's time to lighten up and do something fun.

The Droste Effect shown in an image by Tiago Sozo Marcon, Flickr

--Marge

DIY: office weapons

Not meaning to incite war, insurrection, revolution or anything like that, today I humbly offer simple do-it-yourself, prankish tools.  What you do with them may incite office mayhem, so choose your target carefully.

All of the ideas below come from Instructables, where there are several more in this collection by scoochmaroo.  You'll notice that a number of the ideas require malice aforethought.

Arrows for paper clip bow by archer0382:

Simple Bic mechanical pencil gun by etsay2:

Credit card grappling hook by noahw:

Office Supplies Challenge - Liquid Fuel Rocket by Tool Using Animal:

Be careful out there.

-- Marge