DIY Life

I lead a pretty tame life...the kind of life that doesn't leave me worried that someone's spying on me with a hidden camera. Oh, I suppose that every now and then, a security camera at the grocery store zeros in on me to make sure I'm not stuffing mangoes in my pocket, but really, does that even count?

Just in case, however, I'm going to file away this Instructables post on how to detect a hidden camera. It's simple, really. You just find yourself a cardboard tube (think toilet paper or paper towel) and a flashlight. Put the tube up to your eye, then turn the flashlight on and hold it at eye level. Scan the room for any points of light being reflected at you. When you find one, investigate.

Of course, they could also be harmless pieces of floating dust, reflections off glass and home decor, or anything else that bounces light back to you. That's what I found at my house when I tried it. But if your life is more exciting than mine, you might just discover that you're being watched.

I would be lost without my camera. I have hundreds of pictures of my daughters, and love to look at them every once in a while to see how they have grown. I wish I could be able to take my camera with me on rainy or snowy days, but I am so afraid of water damage, I miss special moments that should have been caught on camera.

Thanks to a wonderful tutorial from Tim, who shows us how to make our own waterproof camera enclosure, water damage to our precious camera can be a thing of the past. All that is needed to make the bag enclosure is a piece of clear urethane, an iron and a piece of aluminum foil. To make the internal camera bracket, you'll need a 1/2 inch piece of polypropylene plastic. You'll also need a piece of plastic to make the outside bezel, a piece of glass to make the window, and a gasket to make a tight seal.

Reading the comments on Lifehacker and Make has me wondering if a person might just be better off using condoms for waterproofing a digital camera. I think maybe I'll stick to the safe bet right now, and not use my camera in the rain, underwater, or the snow.

Have you ever had one of those "uh-oh" moments where you realize that something small and expensive (think wedding ring) is suddenly missing? Did it fall into the engine block you were just assembling? Did it fall down the sink as you washed your hands? Did junior try to see if it would fit down the shower drain? All of these scenarios have one thing in common (besides divorce papers): You have no way of checking unless you spend some time taking things apart. Rigid has come to the rescue to save you from having to do any unnecessary disassembly.

Enter the SeeSnake Micro. It has a 2.4" color LCD screen that receives its signal via a 3' cable with built in LED lights and camera. It is a hand held, cordless unit that lets everyone get into tight, dark, messy places to find out what went where or what went wrong. It also includes attachments for item retrieval so you may just avoid having to disassemble anything at all. (I know that taking things apart is half the fun, but, really? drain pipes... yechh) If the 3' cable isn't long enough for you Rigid will let you extend it to a total of 30' with the purchase of additional cable.

The rainbow is one of nature's more beautiful occurrences. It doesn't matter where you're headed or the hurry you're in, a rainbow has the power to stop you in your tracks and take a moment to look in awe. If you love photography, you catch that awe inspiring moment on film. All too often, I develop my film only to find that I failed to capture the true wonder on film.

The wet fall days and clear crisp skies mean that rainbows are plentiful and the opportunities to practice photographing them are in abundance. How to photograph a rainbow gives you tips on taking the best picture.

A tip that I found particularly useful is this one about positioning the end point of your rainbow.

End Points of the Rainbow - the point where a rainbow hits the ground/horizon is an important point in any rainbow photograph. This is a natural point of interest so think about where you'll put it in the frame. You might want to zoom in on this spot or even quickly change your own position so that it lines up with some other object in the scene.

The tips address everything from foreground to composition to filter. Read through their suggestions and go searching for your subject. By the end of this rainy season you'll have a collection of rainbow photos.

[via: Lifehacker]

There are so many opportunities to get great photos around Halloween. We have the changing leaves, the bright orange pumpkins, the carved jack-o-lanterns with flickering lights, the costumes and make-up. You just don't find this richness in the other seasons. For me, Halloween shots are among my greatest photographic failures. I cannot, however, seem to properly photograph a jack-o-lantern, or catch the mood of a haunted evening. The Ghoulish Guide to Scary Snaps is exactly what I was looking for.

The collection of Halloween photo tips covers everything from appropriate lighting to photographing your jack-o-lantern and frightening costumes. They suggest that the best Halloween pictures are taken at dusk. There is enough natural light to go without flash, but still show off the candle lit pumpkin and bright costumes. They also have some great recommendations for designing your jack-o-lantern so that it can be easily photographed.

Once you've mastered your Halloween shots, get ready to enjoy the rest of the season with their 12 Fantastic Fall Photo Tips. Next time you're out raking leaves with the children, make sure you bring the camera along. Armed with a beautiful setting and your new knowledge of fall photography, you're sure to have some beautiful photos.

We all like making things out of miniature electronics (don't we), but I've just found a use for the world's smallest camcorder. Yes, this thing is battery powered and the size of a pack of gum, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in covert usage.

In the past few months, I've heard from many people that gas tanks of parked cars are being invaded by siphoning gas thieves. It's no wonder -- gas is not exactly cheap these days. It's hard to imagine that different thieves hit different cars all the time in the same area, so wouldn't it be cool to use one of these inside the wheel well of a parked car or truck and make a video of a thief stealing gas from your precious vehicle?

The camcorder in question records at 15 frames per second (not the best, but passable) in the 3GP format, which is most commonly used in newer multimedia cellphones. I can't begin to imagine the uses for a highly covert miniature camcorder like this, but busting gas thieves and providing evidence to the police sounds like a good starter use to me. The unit stores video on a standard microSD card and has a wide angle 3.6mm lens. While not the best specs for video recording (far from it), the size alone makes this gadget exceptionally useful.

In some areas, school has been in full swing for a month; in others, it only started last week. Either way, it's safe to say that plenty of college freshmen are just getting the lay of the land. Some have no idea what their major will be. Others know exactly what they want to do: design stuff.

Core77 has created a guide called Hack 2 School, for all those incoming design majors. It's worth checking out because, while its specific focus is industrial design, it has plenty of useful material for all art and design students, and even some ideas that will be appreciated by college students in general, like those for laundry, living in small spaces, and making good meals with few ingredients.

Now this has to be one of the coolest hacks for a smaller Canon digital camera that I have seen. It has spy appeal plus you earn instant geek points with just about anyone who will see this in action should you choose to build it.

Yes, anyone can strap one of the newer digicams to a remote-controlled (RC) plane and send that plane to the sky (with automatic image capture enabled, of course), but I doubt any pictures would come out decent if good PC plane-mounted images were your goal.

Taking photographs of people can be hard enough, but when you want to capture a family memory for eternity the pressure is really on.

Baby Center has gathered some tips from photographer moms that help take the mystery out of photographing your family.

I for one can speak to Tip #1, which suggests that when you have the kids say "cheese," you are asking for an unauthentic smile. When we ask Owen to smile, not only do we get to see all twenty of his pearly whites, but the rest of his face scrunches up into an uber-squint. Not a good look.

Cameras. They capture color, they capture you precious memories, they capture anything and everything you want them to. Where do you store this device that does so much for you? In the closet? In a drawer under who knows what? Maybe in a case that is black or gray and just plain boring.

Doesn't your camera deserve so much more than that? Shouldn't you keep it in something colorful to make it happy to take those pictures for you? The folks over at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories think so, and so do I.

The Evil Scientists have created a tutorial to help you make your own camera case that your camera can be happy in. With step by step instructions and photos this tutorial makes the process quick and easy. There is also a downloadable pdf pattern to make things even easier.

The best part is that you can choose any colors you want for your super wonderful camera and keep it happy. That way it will be less likely to let you down in that crucial moment when baby takes her first steps and grandma would kill you if you don't get pictures.

[via Photojojo]

How many priceless, underwater family moments have you missed because you didn't have a waterproof camera? Remember that time little Jimmy got his first base hit in underwater tee ball? Or what about when Samantha ate her first solid food underwater? Sadly, those picture perfect moments are gone forever, but that doesn't mean you have to miss them in the future. With a little ingenuity, and a couple condoms, you'll be able to capture all your aquatic memories.

Materials:

1. A couple condoms, preferably clear and non-lubricated
2. Wetsuit glue
3. A cardboard tube large enough to fit over your camera lense
4. A desiccant bag (those little bags that you find in a box of new shoes)
   

Tools:

1. Good knot-tying ability

Time:

Just long enough for you to slip a couple condoms over a boxy camera, and for your wetsuit glue to cure.

Whether you're a seasoned do-it-yourself guru or just getting started on new projects around your home, there are several ways to put your digital camera to good use while you're at it. If you' re doing a really messy project, like applying stucco to the walls in your new room addition, consider picking up a used -- or even disposable -- digital camera instead. Here are five ways we've used ours when working on DIY projects around the home and office.