5 1-minute tricks to make cool photos and videos

Are you looking at those famous Instagram profiles and dying to take cool photos to gain a lot of followers and get that beating of likes, but you don’t have much talent for photography?

In that case, you could hire a professional photographer to make your Instagram boom, or you could take a photography and image editing course, so you could produce your photos yourself. That is, of course, if you have the budget and time available.

If your situation isn’t that permissive, don’t give up! It is possible to get cool and effect-filled photos with the help of simple materials that you have at home.

With a little practice, you’ll soon get the hang of the tricks and be able to take beautiful photos and videos to rock social media. Check out the tips and try to do it at home:

1. Bag lighting

If you’ve ever taken pictures with a professional photographer, you may have noticed that they often use large umbrellas with a white interior or a pedestal with a white interior box attached to it. These devices are called softboxes and their function is to create a soft and diffused light in the scene to be photographed, avoiding those shadows that spoil the homemade photos.

If you’re not in the mood to buy a softbox just to take pictures to move your Instagram, try the bag trick: just fill a white plastic bag with air, tie the handles in a knot, and place it in front of the camera’s flash.

2. Towel as camera support for videos

You know when you try to record a video with the camera moving horizontally, but you end up moving too much and the images are blurry? For know that you can solve this problem easily with the help of a towel.

Simply spread a towel on a flat, smooth surface, such as a table, and place the camera on top of it. Then you will have to drag the towel to make the camera move sideways, without the risk of shaking up and down. This trick also works for taking panoramic photos.

3. Bokeh? Just use the computer!

“Bokeh” is a Japanese term used in photography that refers to the distortion of an area of ​​the photo while the main subject remains in focus. In general, the area that is distorted is the background of the image, making the person or object photographed stand out, with great sharpness.

You need to know the technique and use the right lenses to produce bokeh, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it yourself. For that, you need to find a blurred image to use as the background of your photo and open it on your computer in full screen mode.

Then, place the object to be photographed in front of the computer screen, position your camera avoiding picking up the keyboard and other objects in the environment and click. You can still make the last few cuts with an image editing program.

4. Flare with CD

Do you know when photos show spots of light in a circular or hexagonal shape? This is called the flare effect. In the past, flare was considered a defect, but today it is valued by photographers for making the image more colorful and with warmer colors.

If you don’t know the technique to reproduce this effect, you can use a “fake” flare to enhance your photos. To do this, simply position the back of a CD or DVD right below the camera lens and move it to direct the reflection of light on the object to be photographed.

5. Film burnt? No, it’s just a matchstick!

Do you remember the stains that appeared on old photographs when the film burned? At the time this was considered a disaster, today, however, this “defect” has become a charm, and you can reproduce it at home.

To do this, just light a matchstick or a lighter and place it in front of the camera, between the lens and the object to be photographed – of course, it is not worth covering the entire object with fire! The idea is to leave the flame on the sides of your photo, to give only a slight burnt film effect to the image.

It doesn’t hurt to warn you: when trying this trick, be very careful not to burn your fingers and not cause any accidents in your home.

All tips were shared by professional photographer Sheldon Evans in a video. Watch for more details on how to execute each idea:

Now just test your favorite tricks and good photos! 😉