Welders Glass ND Filter

I was reading online about a cheap alternative to a Neutral Density (ND) filter to use for photography. An ND filter is basically sunglasses for your camera. It decreases the amount of light that gets through, thus allowing you to keep the lens open longer. Neutral density filters can cost as much as $400 for a really nice one.

The cheap alternative is to use a welders glass. They type of glass that welders for eye protection against the bright light created during welding. So i went to Lowe's and bought one.

Then because my new camera only has a small lens i decided to cut the glass down to about 2" x 2".

And make a type of "dark housing" to fit over the camera lens. I used a piece of PVC pipe and a permanent marker to color it black.

Then glued it together.

I used a rubber band to hold it onto the camera and some cloth on the edge so it wouldn't scratch anything.

The two main problems with using the welders glass is that it is not as high a quality as an ND filter and that it has a green tint. This is what the image looks like right out of the camera. This was a 64 second exposure during the day.

But in Photoshop this can be corrected, mainly by adjusting White Balance and Tint.

That design was not the best, it was too big and heavy. So i tried to simplify it.

I started with the same 2" square piece of glass that i cut from the larger glass. But then i used pliers as a kind of glass nippers and slowly broke off corners until it was round.

I sanded and filed the sharp edge. Then just as before i glued it to a PVC pipe i colored black, inside and out. But the key difference is this time is that i glued a foam ring to the inside of the PVC.


I sanded the foam down until i could slide it onto the outer lens, but with just enough pressure that it wouldn't fall off.

I plan to use it when i'm in Tennessee to take pictures of some waterfalls.

Canon S95

It was time to replace my trusty Canon SD770IS. I wanted another Canon camera for a couple of reasons: they have great battery life, well made, but most importantly i could continue to use the CHDK program.

I still wasn't sure whether i should get a new camera that cost around $200 or buy a cheap used one for around $80. I thought about getting a used Canon PowerShot A580. New they cost around $180, but i could not find a used one.
As far as new camera's i looked at getting the Powershot ELPH 300 HS, it was recently on sale for $160. That bad part is that they haven't written the CHDK program for that specific model. Maybe they will in the future but i decided not to get it right now.
I had seen and read about the Canon S95 for a while now. Every magazine review says it's the best point and shoot camera there is. The downside is that it cost $400. But after Thanksgiving it went on sale for $290.

It was the closest thing to what i wanted, a DSLR that's not $1000 and fits in my pocket. So i bought it.

Here's what the CHDK program menu looks like on the camera.
I also bought a leather case that attaches to the camera. It's a little awkward to take pictures while the case is attached.

But i do like it when it is completely covered.

I still might get a cheap used Canon for the more "risky" type of pictures, like tying it to a kite.

Star Pictures

Before i crashed the kite and broke the camera i took these pictures of stars from the roof of my garage. They were 50 seconds exposures (which was a bit too long, 30 or 40 would have been better) and this time i did not use the dark frame subtraction so there wasn't a 50 second wait time in between each picture. Although there was some dark patches in the pictures, probably due to the lens.

Again this was done by combining several pictures that were taken over about an hour. Half way through some clouds blew in and screwed it up a bit. Here's the original, untouched picture taken over the first 30 minutes.
Here's the other original picture over the entire hour.
I Photoshopped them look better.
I just randomly pointed the camera toward the sky, you can see that i almost got the North Star in the upper right hand corner.
This one i used a purple lens filter effect
For better results i need to use a better camera, on a night with no clouds and in an area out in the country where the stars are really bright.

Backyard Pond

I thought it would be a cool idea to make a pond in my backyard. Next summer i could plant the lotuses and lily-pads, maybe add some goldfish too.

Here's the area i planned on putting the pond. It would be 'L' shaped and fit in between the wood fence and the concrete slab.
I dug down about 4" the approximate area of the pond. I removed the topsoil, leaving the clay.
Then in Photoshop I drew in what i thought the pond might look like. I added water, rocks, lotuses and a tiny waterfall in the corner. The waterfall would help aerate the pond and i would also filter the water using a homemade first flush filter.