Cheap clamp for holding flowers,etc.

[HRife]

Hey guys,

Want a cheap clamp to hold moving flowers and stuff still in a breeze? I just took about a two foot piece of No. 10 copper wire and glued a wooden spring loaded clothes pin to it. Voila! Instant clamp! The wooden clothes pin has the indentions in each half so it is not as likely to harm the plant and I can either push the wire into the ground or wrap it around something sturdy. Works great and doesn't cost but pennies. Try it!

[elw9514]

Great idea, beats spending $30.00 for a Plamp!!

[Bonish Photo]

Great info, I love learning inexpensive ways to get around such problems

Pat
www.everymilesamemory.com

[Walczak Photo]

I can go one better on this. For shooting flowers, especially macro shots, since I usually use a tripod for this type of thing, I just use a coat hanger...ya wrap one end around a leg of the tripod and use the other end to hold the flower! Just don't let the wife catch ya stealing the coat hangers from the basement otherwise there'll be hell to pay! LOL!!!

Another cheapy tip...one I picked up from astronomy...if you ever need a dew sheild, say for shooting in the early mornings or late evenings or in real high humidity, just cut a chunk off a litter pop bottle and wrap it around your lens. I got this idea from using my telescope. One of the few dark places near me for star gazing happens to be right next to a small lake and late at night, the condensation that can form on the lens is unreal. I started using the 2 litter bottles for a dew shield and found that it works just as well with my camera lens .

Peace,
Jim

[Walczak Photo]

Hey Gordon,
Well, first let me say that as to "would this have helped", it really depends on the degree of moisture in the air. If it's really humid out, then a dew shield won't really help for too long. As I said, I do a lot of my telescope viewing near a small lake at Findley State Park about 20 miles south of my house. The area where I usually set up is literally on the dam, right next to the lake. Some nights the dew and moisture isn't too bad at all and the dew sheild makes all the difference in the world. I have had nights though, especially when it's really hot and humid in mid-summer or really cold in the middle of winter where it really doesn't help much and I end up spending a lot of time with a soft cloth wiping the condensation off my telescope and camera. Usually nights like this, everything gets pretty soaked anyways and I'm not really sure there's too much of anything you can really do about it (other than maybe building a nice, hot bon fire! LOL!). Like I said, it really just depends on how moist the air actually is.


Now as to the "how to", it's really simple. If you're using a camera lens for example, a 1 liter pop bottle will probably work...depending on the diameter of the lens of course. If it's a larger lens, you may need to use a larger bottle. In the case of my 5" Orion telescope, again I use a 2 liter bottle. Basically, just cut both ends off the bottle, cut a slit right up the middle, wrap it around your lens and secure it with a piece of tape...that's pretty much it. If you want to get really fancy, you can even spray paint the bottle flat black so you don't get any weird reflections! LOL!!!

Here's a link to the Orion dew shield to give you a better idea of what I'm talking about...the priciple is the same.

http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=A0031


Now I would like to add that while I've never tried this with a camera lens, for telescopes they also make these things called "dew zappers". Basically it's a little strap that wraps around the lens and is powered by a 12 volt power source (like a car lighter or a portable battery pack). It heats the lens a little bit to keep it above the dew point. Again I've never used one on a camera, but on telescopes I can say that they work like a miracle! I've attended a few Star Partys where guys use these things in the dead of winter and even on the larger telescopes, they don't get any condensation at all. Having to have a power chord and a battery or something would of course limit your movement with a camera, but if you're planning on being stationary...say taking pics of a sunset or your meteor shower on a tripod for example, than I wouldn't see that as being a huge problem. Again, here's a link...

http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=A0030

I guess as long as I'm at it, I should also mention this handy little device...

http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=05601


As you guessed by the picture, basically it's a low power hair dryer that plugs into your car's lighter socket! LOL!!! If you get dew forming on the lens, just run back to the car and "blow dry" it! LOL!!!


Alrighty, I hope this helps!
Peace,
Jim

[wal05]

You can also use a spring clamp on the oppisit end of the cloths pin to hold it to the tripod.

[peter nap]

Not to steal the clamp thread....but the drink bottle can also be used as a good rain shield. I ran into this problem a month ago photographing a protest in the rain.

Fix the cut off drink bottle like a lens hood and rubber band in place (I always keep a bunch in my camera bag and I was a popular fellow that with the photographers.

Take a shopping bag (Plastic) cut a hole for the lens hood you just made and rubber band it to the makeshift hood.

The open end is where you stick your hands to work the controls.

Let it rain!