DIY | Petri Damstén

The monthly theme in the local camera club is humour. I thought I could do a couple of images to it. To get creative juices flowing after The Dark Room series and summer break. I made the models from simple accessories. The school desk took some time, and I decided to only make one and...

I bought some Skådis boards from Ikea and designed my own system for the tools. All the parts are 3D printed which makes it easy to update and make more as needed. Some shelves needed text which is simply printed in adhesive A4 paper (SVG here). Generic 3mf files can be found here and Fusion...

DIY Photography: The Dark Room Photo Project Mixes Life-size Models with 1:6 Scale Diy Props Petapixel: The Dark Room: Shooting a Series with Life-Size Models and 1:6 Scale Props

The Dark Room featured in…

Photoart project mixing life-size models, 1:6 scale props and digital backgrounds. I was listening to my favourite band Sentenced and their album “The Cold White Light”. While listening I started thinking “Should I make images from the songs in my favourite album?”. Well, that was the original plan in February 2020. Now ideas have gone...

The Dark Room: The Story

I wanted some extra protection for the tethering cable and found this old neck strap for a USB stick (I think). I glued it to a short USB cable that I have to use anyway since it has the right 90-degree angle. I need that so I can still use the L plate also in...

DIY Cable Relief

I made this mask for a self-portrait series. Since I’m working in a home studio on my own I take the mask off constantly after a couple of frames (visibility in the mask is very limited as is expected). So wrapping the bandage was not an option for every shot. I managed to get the...

I tried to find used meat cleaver online for photography prop but could not find that look good to me. I decided to make a fake one from leftover plexiglass and old oak door sill. You can find the process below in slideshow and video form.

DIY GOBO HOLDER I wanted a device that can throw light patterns onto a wall or a model. There are some commercially available but they are quite expensive and I this was only for occasional use. I thought that this is something that can be 3D printed. I bought Bowens mounting ring and cheap macro...

I have done some renovation to my “office”. It took some time but it is now somehow ready. I wanted to test how before/after images with slider would work so I could also see myself how big the change was. Cable management with rubber bands nailed to bottom of the table. Headphone stand (Ikea Grundtal...

“Office” renovation

We have had this ugly air vent in our WC for years. I knew that when I get the 3D printer I have to do something to it. Since this is only a decorative piece and it does not have to protect anything and you can print pretty much any shape I was able to...

Rapid Manufacturing

The Plan I have used an electric cigarette as a small smoke machine. My first version was bit and pieces glued together but that wasn’t very robust and broke. Now that I have a 3D printer I wanted to revisit this project and make it properly. Smokers can suck smoke to their lungs and blow...

A tiny smoke machine

For the next series I need a prop coffin. Since a real size coffin would be expensive to make and hard to store, I made it from xps foam in 1:6 scale (action figures). Although a real size coffin in the backyard might have been a great conversation starter… Time will tell if this works...

Headstone and the Coffin

I’m renovating my workroom and wanted to design some artwork for the new walls. I stumbled upon this nice city roads project that enables you to see and download all roads (and nothing else) in vector form. It uses open street map data to do this so the map is very detailed. If you are...

This is a photo series about the life of an artist and struggles that might come along with it. I got a project grant from NFFF (Nordic Society of Photography) for this project in early 2019. I have gathered ideas during the year 2019 and now I have been working with this set for a...

Life of an Artist, The Story

I have always found that the old model of what man should be is too restricted and often harmful. It inspired me to start this series and share my thoughts as images. “Toxic masculinity” term is used a lot nowadays and it was one of the things that made me think these issues more....

Masculinity, The Story

We were playing with the metal detector at the summer cottage and found this really rusty axe head. I thought that this could make a nice battle axe prop. So here’s a little restoration project to make a battle axe. Other items used: cheap mattock (new), old leather jacket and metal button. It’s suprisingly heavy...

I have several cameras that I have used for props etc. so I thought that I put them on a wall. I used tripod screw (except for Polaroid which didn’t have one) to fix camera to a shelf holder to easily hang them on the wall.

During the vampire shoot I got this doctor bag from Laura Puntila Artist. Many thanks for that. It’s just perfect for the death character. It was a bit dusty so I did some lite restoration, cleaning it with mild soap and oiling it with leather oil. Metal parts had nice patina so I didn’t have to do...

After selling some stuff and buying some that fit better to the selves I thought that I’ll add some holders for light stands. Now they stand in a nice row when not used. Those holders are from the garden section of the local hardware store. They are normally used for rakes. My home studio has...

Light Stand Holders

A small summer project. Picture centric and very minimal style for wordpress. Some website design and some coding so not all coding skills are forgotten…

New theme for the Blog