Good Morning!!! Today we are going to discuss my philosophy when it comes to photography…well one of them. I think it breaks down into sections, for instance I think you should learn the fundamentals vs buying some device that does them for you, but that is just me. This one I call Photopunk. Grab a mixtape and strap in!
PHOTOPUNK
Photopunk, to me, is the idea that you can probably do it yourself. It does not mean that it will be better every time, or that you can do everything yourself instead of getting a professional. Electricians and surgeons are here for a reason folks. Photopunk is the idea that you should not allow yourself to be limited by things like the unrealistic standards created from watching youtube videos, money, or just the general self defeating idea of “I could never do that.” Sure you could. You may not do it just as well tomorrow, but you certainly could do it.
Back when, the punks were the best at DIY. They typically weren’t wealthy and they made what they had. They were not the only ones, but there is a camaraderie between the people who repurposed flour sacks into dresses and the people who made something out of what they had even if that something was a spiked belt. I love this kind of thing, I really do. It is part of why I shoot film so much, it puts me back into the action of photography. It gets my hands on. Photopunk is inspired by the people who made zines!!! I even made one, called “No Damned Pixels,” all film photography and about another wonderful group of DIY people, the typewriter people. I am one of them too, and they are very photopunk. They fix their own machines, whatever it takes. Im proud of myself just for cleaning one this week. They are no holds barred about “YES YOU CAN!” I love them.
Here is my zine. I made it as close to the old ways as I could I shot and developed my film. I did have to use a scanner for the negatives, and then I printed them, built it by hand, typed it all out on a typewriter (mistakes hurt) and then glue sticked the photos in and took it to Staples and Xeroxed them! I loved the whole thing, and I made it. It is what I call photopunk. I believed I could, and I did it. It took work, and maybe no one wants it, but who cares. For the record, that Zine was well received.
Ok, this is certainly very true of some things. However, I believe the ability to do something is a reward of its own. I make quilts, lots of quilts. Why? I grew up watching my mother and grandmother sew? We valued the old quilts around the house. It is fun, and it is meaningful. I have given you part of the time of my life and made something. I may also be guilty of hiding bits of fabric taken from the shirt of an old British Punk singer acquired at a concert in my quilts… but that is another story.
Im not trying to teach you to quilt though. I am encouraging you to move forward with your photography instead of getting beaten down by obstacles of a lack of money. Can you build a lens…probably not, and even then there is no getting around the finely crafted glass we are getting now. However, there are a lot of peripherals out there that are super pricey, and maybe not worth it? I mean when you pay a ton for something, you get too involved with it, and everything you add to the process is something that is between you and your subject. One of my favorite photos of myself was made by a buddy with a cell phone, he got me at the perfect moment, and there was nothing between us. At the same time, I was just sitting there having a blast with my old Yashica 120 camera, beer bottle in one hand, general settings, and a love of what was going on around me. David at Austin Typewriter Ink. gets that photo credit for this one. 
So, here are two products which are pretty expensive, and the DIY solutions to them. Firstly, for those of us working in home studios with mainly one or two budget lights, reflectors can be everything! On the market right now is a hot thing called a V-Flat. Whoa. When I saw them, I went right to their website. I loved what they were doing. I also choked on the price. I have bought more expensive stuff, but this looked like something I could build, especially for less than 130$. I went and looked, and sure enough there were instructions out there.
Spyros Heniadis had a video out which I used, and I will not steal credit for his build. Watch the video here. He promises a (white side) v-flat for 20$ and he delivers. I have raided a couple of dollar stores for foam board, and they all are worried about me…
Now, I will say this, I built the first one and found out the roll of white tape will not cover all the seams. He did not say it would. I spent the money for an extra roll of tape and did all the seams, makes them stronger. That is my one modification. I built two of these, my second one looking much better, and my supplies were 24 foam boards from a dollar store: 30$ and two rolls of white Duck Tape: 9$. Here are the results.
The question is, does it deliver? Yes!! Using exactly the set up you see here, two speed lights and some umbrellas along with my backdrop and the DIY reflectors I built using the instructions from the video I linked we made this:
Go forth, build it, play with it, be photopunk. I did not get upset because there was no way I was spending that much money for a big reflector, I built one. Then I built another one…then I used it to make a photo of myself in awe of a big beer can.
LIGHT PAINTING
I have wanted to do light painting for some time, but the thing that held me up was Firstly, my complete unwillingness to turn off all the lights in my house at night and hang out in my scary black hole of a studio, and secondly, I did not want to buy a light wand, but I did not want it to look cheap either. 
That light wand is super cool, it is also almost 200$…I put if off forever and beat myself down. Then I got a tip from Digital Camera World, and made this:
How? I used a picture of a bunch of colored oblongs on a black background and I walked behind the typewrite. I used a white screen to paint the typewriter with light. The light wand I used here was literally as easy as using the paint program we all use in school and putting it as a picture on my phone. To do this a tripod is a must. MUST. Do not let the subject or the tripod move. Basic settings: F/11, 8 seconds shutter, ISO 100. Get it all focused and set a self time delay. Just out of the shot, I turned up the screen on my iPad to max brightness (Use a phone, computer, tablet, anything that can do it) and painted the side of the typewriter from just out of shot with white light. Then I did the other. Then another. Then I made another photo of me walking behind the typewriter with the rainbow on the screen. Stick them in photoshop, stack each photo as layers, blend mode set to lighten. Have fun. That is it. It becomes so simple that you end up having to go back to being creative to make it fun again! Photopunk at work. What did I charge for this advice? Nothing. You can make endless colorful screens to paint with.
Conclusion
Do not get down because stuff is expensive, google, get creative. You can find a DIY version of tons of things out there. It may not always be as great, but it gets you shooting, which is kind of the point. Get out there and shoot, make art, and don’t forget to tag me @nostalgic_vanity if I have helped you so I can see!
Brandon Bledsoe
Nostalgic Vanity Photography
@nostalgic_vanity
Nostalgic Vanity Photography 