16 24 August 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
Technique S AV E M O N E Y
30 tips to shoot
on a budget
I
fyouletit, photographycanbeanexpensivehobby.
Onceyoustartinvestingin thelatestcamerabodies,
lenses,lightingandaccessoriesthe£ssoonstartto
addup.Weallliketo savea fewquidhereandthere,
andjustbecausewedon’thavethe‘professional’kitorthe
moneydoesn’tmeanweshouldn’tbeableto gettheshot.
Whentimesaretightandyou’rebeingsqueezedleft,right
andcentreoutof yourhard-earnedcash,it doesn’tmean
thatyourphotographyshouldsuffer.Aslongasyouhavea
camerabodyandlensof somedescriptionthenthesetips
willapplyto you.
Overthenextsixpages– basedontipsfromAPstaff,
variousphotographersandmembersof thepublic– we’ve
laidout 30 of theverybestmoney-savingideassoyoucan
keepthemoneyin yourpocketwhile being happy with the
results you get from a shoot.
Foillids
SueHartley
SueHartleywas
happytoshareher
tiponFacebook
withus:‘Foillids
fromtakeaway-
stylecontainers
makegreatmini
reflectorsfor
fungi,flowersand
soon,beingwhite
ononesideand
silverontheother.
I alwayskeepa
couple in my bag!’
Govintage
JanetBroughtonandGlenysGarnett
(www.ggcreativeimages.co.uk)
BothJanetandGlenyssharetheirexperiencesusingvintage
lenses.Janetsays:‘Vintagelensescanbewonderfulandvery
cheap;I regularlyusetheHelios44-2thatonlycostme£
(normalretailsecond-handaround£35).Becausetheyare
manual,theadaptersarecheaptoo.’Glenysadvises:‘Buy
anadapterforyourcamerafor£20andbuysomecheap
vintagelenses.Youcanoftenfindthem for less than £
and some of them are superb.’
Largebackdrops
AnnerleyJohnson
AnnerleyJohnsonsharedon
Facebook:‘I buyking-sizeplaincotton
sheetsfromcheapsupermarketsand
rigthemtocurtainpolesat clients’
housesoronlocationwithlarge,
hair-clamp-styleclips.Thesetype
of backdropsareeasytowash,
andtumbledryingthemworksfine;
non-ironsheetsareevenbetter.It’s
a makeshift studio in a carrier bag!’
Gaffertape
IanPack(www.packshots.biz)
‘At£5perroll,Gaffertapeis
essential,withuntolduses.It
comesin largerollswhichare
cumbersometocarry.I usethe
plasticorcard-receiptrollcores
froma localsupermarketand
transferfromthelargetoa
smaller, more convenient roll.’
Buysecond-hand
ClaireGillo,APActingTechniqueEditor
‘Insteadof splashingoutonnewlensesand
lightinggearI alwayslooktobuysecond-hand
withthesetypesof products.I gotmyNissin
Di700AflashgunfromWexPhotoVideo(£
lessthannew)andit wasa greatbuy.Although
eBayis a goodresourceforsecond-handkit,
I prefertopayslightlyhigherpricesonthe
establishedandtrustedwebsites(suchasWex,
Ffordes,ParkCameras,etc.)toensurethe
productshavebeencheckedoverbya
professional.Thisshotwaslit usingoneof my
flashgunsplacedtothesideof themodel,which
I then cloned out of the shot in Photoshop.’
Fromhard-wonpro tipsto
amateurs’craftyworkarounds,
weshare 30 greatwaystosave
cash while getting great results
© CL AIRE GILLO
© WASSILIOS ASWESTOPOULOS/NURPHOTO VIA GETT Y IMAGES