The DIY Cheapo Thermocam
While filming Catch It Keep It and Rock and Roll Acid Test, we had a couple segments that were very heat-dependent. The scenes needed a way to show the temperature and changes of the stuff we were researching (one scene, frozen steaks; another scene,…
How To Disassemble the new Nikon D7000 DSLR
Nikon’s new D7000 is an awesome camera full of great technology. But what’s on the inside? The Thai site vimoncamera.com takes it upon themselves to pull the case apart piece by piece to show the innards for us to all enjoy. One thing that…
My Halloween Pizza Bash Video
Halloween is a big deal on my street. This year I invited a few friends and neighbors over to pass out candy while I made pizzas. It was a blast. Many, many thanks to PizzaHacker for creating the PizzaForge oven and for working with…
Improve Your Photography with a DIY LED Ring Light
Ring light: a source of light for photography that encircles the camera lens completely. It creates a shadow-softening effect on the object or person being photographed, a warm and natural alternative to the stark standard camera-mounted single flash look. Normally the tool of professional photographers,…
High Speed Photography Using Laser Triggers
One of the fun capabilities that the CHDK hack for Canon point and shoot cameras enables is super fast shutter photography. By snapping the shutter at 1/10,000th of a second (or faster), you can freeze moments that are imperceptible to the human eye. Speeding…
Disassemble Your Lumix Digital Camera To Clean Dust Off the Sensor
(Comments posted on the video page indicate that this procedure works for many of the Panasonic digital cameras–happy cleaning!) My Panasonic FX37 is a great camera. Fast, wide-angle lens, (f/2.8, 25mm equivalent) in a compact package with all the modern features (image stabilization, HD…
Why You Shouldn’t Use Your iPhone for RC Airplane Aerial Video
Combining RC aircraft and video cameras is as instinctual as putting berries on your cereal. And as manufacturers come out with higher quality lenses and sensors, while shrinking camera size and weight, some pretty impressive (and expensive) rigs have been assembled to capture aerial…
Print and Fold Functional Paper Pinhole Camera
I’m a fan of projects that you can do at your work desk – print on the office printer, cut out with scissors and an exacto, and glue/tape together. The Dirkon paper pinhole camera might be the pinnacle of this type of project. This thing…
Easy DIY Photography Studio Lighting Projects
The folks at diyphotography.net have a good post with seven easy DIY projects that will help beef up your photo studio. Beauty dish, dual speedlight mount, ring flash, softbox, snoot, suction cup mounts (very clever), and a PVC light stand. All of them are…
The $14 DIY Steadicam Built from Everyday Items
Steadycam test 2 – before and after from Nathan Carrick on Vimeo. Shaky footage can be one of the biggest killers when shooting video. As cameras get smaller, and zoom ability gets more powerful, the effect of shake is multiplied greatly. This can still…
Hi, I'm Mike. I’m the executive editor of Make: magazine, and host of Discovery channel’s Punkin' Chunkin' and Catch It Keep It, TV shows where I build and explain crazy machines that crush stuff, blow things up, shoot fire, all in the name of science.
I've previously worked at Wired and ReadyMade magazines, writing about how to utilize new technology in our everyday lives.
This site is where I keep a list of instructions for fun projects I've done, am working on, or draw inspiration from. I encourage everyone to get involved — get up and do something!