The DIY Filter

Prisms, double-exposures, effect filters – I just love everything I can use to add some magic to my pictures without even owning a photoshop licence.

Every time I go out shooting, I take at least two filters and about three other random gimmicks with me that I can put in front of my lens and make other people wonder what the hell I am doing there.

Two of my favourite filters come from Spektrem Effects. Not only is the founder of Spektrem Effects madly in love with filters himself, he is also very generous to share some creative tips about finding cheap filters or creating some filters of your own. This really inspired me to try something:

I created my own version of a do-it-yourself effect Filter

What I used is a cheap colour filter (in this case a reddish brown), a cheap window crystal and some glue. In a first version, I glued one of the crystals on top of the filter, later I added another two.

Here are the results – no editing and no photoshop involved!

Slide for more results

The brown of the coloured filter creates a very warm tone. The crystals add some beautiful purple flares and reflections. The results are best with direct sunlight – that´s why I exceptionally used my digital cam for most of the pictures – I didn’t want to stare into the sun and all the flares via the mirror of my analogue camera as it might be not the best thing for the eyes, I guess.

Still, I managed to take a few analogue pics. I used Kodak Portra 400 for this:

I am very hyped to try different colours and crystal combinations in the future!

What is your best DIY photography tip? Tell me about it!