Photography Attachments: Convert Your Digicam to a Digital SLR

Shading the LCD monitor for easier viewing during replay is one thing, but why not go all the way and use the monitor as a virtual SLR viewfinder for shooting images too?

Shading your LCD monitor makes viewing the picture in bright sunlight much more enjoyable. But with a little refinement, you can adapt this technique for taking pictures too, creating a virtual digital SLR.

One of the major attractions of single lens reflex (SLR) cameras is that you see the picture through the same lens that records the image. It's WYSIWYG ("what you see is what you get") photography. In contrast to SLRs, most compact digital cameras provide one lens for taking the picture and another (often referred to as the optical viewfinder) for viewing the image.

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One of the problems with optical viewfinders is that they're offset from the picture-taking lens, so the composition you're looking at isn't the same one the camera is going to record.

This setup is called parallax, and the closer you get to the subject the more pronounced the effect will be. The other common problem with most digicams' optical viewfinders is that they're just not very good. You don't get a full view of the subject, and what you do get isn't that great. You do have another option: you can look through your digicam's LCD monitor when you take the picture. This has created a whole new look in photography: the arm's-length shooting pose. Photographers everywhere are holding their digital cameras out from their body to align what's on the screen. Not only is this pose awkward at times, it's also not good photographic technique, because it's harder to steady the camera during exposure at arm's length. Beyond that, some people have a hard time keeping a straight horizon line when holding an LCD this way. Something seems to get lost in translation.

I discovered a great solution to all of these problems, called the Digital Camera Hood, that straps onto just about any model with a 1.8-inch or smaller LCD screen.

The open end fits around the outside of your LCD monitor, and the other end holds a 2x magnifying eyepiece. The Digital Camera Hood attaches easily in just a few seconds. When not in use, it folds up compactly, taking up little space in your camera bag.

To use the Digital Camera Hood, just attach it to the camera, turn on your camera, and view the picture through its eyepiece. Your simple digicam has just been upgraded to a virtual digital SLR with electronic viewfinder.

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Smart Photography: Bubble Levels to Keep Things Straight

Many digital photographers have a difficult time keeping their horizons straight while peering into their digicam's LCD monitor. Here's how to straighten things up.

For some reason, it's more difficult to compose a straight horizon line with a digital camera's

LCD monitor than with a traditional SLR viewfinder. You could use the optical viewfinder that's included with most digital cameras, but the problem is that many of them show only about 85% of the actual area that's being photographed. Plus, quite honestly, they're not that accurate.

Regardless of how you frame your shots, LCD or optical, a bubble level attached to your camera can really help straighten things out. Bubble levels are helpful for composing architecture, landscapes, panoramas, and anything else that needs a straight horizontal line.

At various online retailers, you can buy bubble levels designed specifically for cameras. For example, the Hama Double-Bubble Level is a precision instrument that slides into the hot shoe atop your camera, enabling you to level it on two axes. The only downside is that these accessories are relatively expensive. The Hama level, for example, runs about US$30.

If you have more time than money, you can make your own bubble level. Hardware stores carry pocket bubble levels, often for US$3 or less. Find one that looks suitable for your camera. If your model has a hot shoe, all you have to do is find a spare shoe that will slide into it. This is one reason why I have a box of old equipment that includes broken cameras, dead flashes, and orphaned straps. If you have an old flash or any accessory that was designed to fit in your cameras hot shoe, you can detach the foot and attach it to your bubble level with a spot of glue. The trick here is to make sure the foot and the level are flush against each other when you glue them. Otherwise, your homemade device might not be accurate when you attach it to the camera.

If your camera doesn't have a hot shoe, just get a level with a flat bottom and set it on top of your camera. As long as the level rests flush against the camera's surface, you're in business.

To use the bubble level, simply mount your camera on a tripod and attach the level. Adjust the tripod until the bubble is centered and the resulting picture should be nice and square. This is particularly helpful when shooting multi-frame panoramas.

Regardless of whether you buy a professional photographer's bubble level or make your own, you'll find that it will help you overcome crooked horizons and leaning buildings. Just like the carpenter says: measure twice and shoot once.

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Digital Camera Attachments Tips: A Flexible Arm to Hold Accessories

How many times have you wished for an extra hand when you're shooting? Here's one you can attach to your camera's hot shoe or tripod socket.

When you're shooting without a tripod, it's best to have both hands on the camera to keep it steady and record sharp images. But sometimes you need to shade the lens from the sun or hold a small item while you photograph it. An extra hand would be invaluable at those times.

The folks at GranView Camera have invented a unique accessory called the Flare Buster that might turn out to be one of the most versatile tools in your camera bag. This ingenious item is simply a flexible arm that's 15 inches long with a camera mount on one end and a sturdy clip on the other. You can attach it to your camera via the tripod socket or the hot shoe. Then, use the clip on the other end to hold whatever it is you need held.

The Flare Buster kit comes with a card that can serve as a shade against the sun, two vignettes that are handy for portraits because they soften the edges of the frame around the subject, and a couple of reflectors.

Now, the fun begins. If you need a simple lens shade, put the supplied card in the clip and position it so that it protects the front of your lens from the glare of the sun. The flexible arm moves easily but stays firmly in position. For cameras that don't accept filters, simply attach the filter to the clip and position it in front of your lens. Who needs filter screw threads when you have a Flare Buster?

Digital cameras have amazing close-up focusing ability. Usually, the hardest part is correctly positioning the item you're photographing. Why not attach the item to the Flare Buster and position it any way you want. You don't even need a tripod; because the item is now connected to the camera, they move in unison.

For a super-soft background when shooting close-ups with the Flare Buster, try moving the camera from left to right during the exposure. This is called panning, and you can get some evocative effects with it.

Or, for close-up subjects that are fine where they are, such as a flower in the ground, attach one of the reflectors to the clip and use the flexible arm to reflect a little fill light to your close-up photography by bouncing light back onto the subject.

Flare Buster kits range from US$30 to $36 depending on the configuration. They are well made and fit easily in your camera bag. You'll always have that extra hand available to make photography just a little bit easier.

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Flash Brackets for Pro Lighting

If your camera accepts an external flash, you might think that will solve your problems with red eye. Well, almost.

Many presume digital cameras provide a means for attaching an external flash. More often than not, the connection is provided by what is commonly called a hot shoe: a postage-stamp-sized bracket on top of the camera into which you can slide an external flash.

Photographers usually think that purchasing an optional flash unit and attaching it to the hot shoe will make their red-eye problems magically disappear. Indeed, an external flash does help reduce red eye. But sometimes merely sliding a flash into the hot shoe doesn't get rid of the problem altogether.

The best way to ensure that you'll never have red eye again is to use a special bracket to move your external flash even farther away from the camera. You'll also need a dedicated flash cord (made by the camera manufacturer) that allows the flash to communicate with the camera as if it were still mounted in the hot shoe. Typically, these special flash cords cost between US$35 and $50.

The Quick Flip is easy to use. You mount your camera to the base of the bracket by turning the screw into the camera's tripod socket. You then put one end of the dedicated flash cord into the camera's hot shoe and attach the other end to the top of the bracket. Now all you have to do is attach the flash to the cord on top of the bracket, and you're in business.

Depending on the height of your camera, the flash is now positioned six to eight inches higher than it was previously in the camera's hot shoe. Not only does this configuration eliminate red eye completely, it also serves the dual purpose of lowering those unsightly shadows cast on walls directly behind the subject. By raising the flash, you thereby lower the shadows out of the frame of view.

This Strobo frame model is called Quick Flip because it solves another problem. Normally, when the flash is mounted directly to the camera, the flash is above the lens (where it should be) for horizontal shots. But when you turn the camera to the vertical position, the flash is now off to the side, which once again produces those ugly shadows.

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Attach Your Camera to Bicycle Handlebars

Put your pictures in motion by attaching your Digi-cam to the handlebars of your bike.

Some people might wonder why the heck anyone would want to attach their digital camera to the handlebars of their bike. Well, in the old days of traditional photography, this didn't make much sense. You couldn't see through the viewfinder while pedaling, so composition was little more than a wild guess.

But many of today's digicams have variable-angle LCD monitors. This means that you can pull the monitor out from the back of the camera and adjust it to your viewing angle. This is a perfect example of how one technology (digital still photography), can be borrowed from another (digital video). Digital video camcorders have used swiveling LCDs from the get-go.

For cycling fans, this means that you can mount your camera on the handlebars, swing the screen upward, and monitor your composition in real time while you're peddling; just don't forget to watch the road, please! This is a great opportunity for you to share your adventures with those who don't ride with you.

If your camera has one of these nifty swiveling monitors, then chances are good that it also has a remote release that you can hold in one hand while riding. Most of these releases not only enable you to trip the shutter, but they also have buttons to let you zoom the lens to different focal lengths. You can literally compose and shoot while on the ride.

If you really want to get creative, enable the Movie mode on your camera and take short video clips of your travels. Try to find a smooth surface while recording video so that the movie isn't too choppy.

A clever way to make all this happen is to get an UltraClamp and UltraMount by Pedco, and secure the entire rig to your bicycle. The store finder on their site can help you find the closest retail outlet.

Once your digicam is mounted, choose still pictures or movies and fire that shutter. You will get images unlike any others that you normally shoot. Just remember to be safe while you're doing so.

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