I’ve always loved the look of photos taken with a ringlight. About 6 years ago, before my son was born, I built a ringlight using some circular fluorescent lights and a chip and dip bowl from Big Lots. It produced the look I wanted, but the ballast required to power the lights made it a bit heavy and unwieldy.
In November of 2009, a fellow by the name of Jani ‘Japala’ Pönkkö made a cool DIY ringlight using automotive LED rings. Since those LED rings could be battery powered, I thought that would be a good fit for the Lego camera.
Here are the build instructions for the Lego Tripod Mount that accompanies the Lego camera. Please keep in mind that unless you’re willing to bond the tripod mount to the Lego camera (and glue together all the Lego pieces that make up the camera), the camera can still be knocked off the tripod with any decent amount of force. With that said, this tripod mount is very handy for keeping the camera steady for making videos like the one below.
This is a working digital Lego camera that takes real photos.
One day recently, I was sitting with my son and we were tinkering with his Legos. I made something that looked like a camera and pretended to take some photos of my son with the Lego camera. Then thought that it might be fun if I could build a little case for the iPhone 4 so that I could actually take some photos and videos with something that looked like a little Lego toy. I used a wheel as a fake lens, a window as a fake viewfinder, and round button-like piece as the fake shutter release button.
If you actually build something like this, you’ll notice right away how much easier it is to hold the camera steady in almost all situations. If needed, a tripod mount can easily be created by gluing a 1/4″ nut into a couple sacrificial Lego pieces. But the functionality of the case is only half the point of this thing. Try taking a toy camera like this to a party – it is the ultimate ice breaker. You’re sure to enjoy compliments from curious onlookers about your one-of-a-kind photographic device! C’mon, who wouldn’t want their portrait captured with a Lego camera?!
This is a very simple and fun project and can be used to turn any smartphone into a Lego “camera”.
Update (7/19/2011) – I finally got around to making a build video. Enjoy!
Update: Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to build this particular version.
My iPhone has been my main camera as of late. With the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone, it’s kind of like shooting with a Holga – lot’s of lo-fi goodness!
We’ve been keeping an eye on our dog, Sherman, to see if he is sad about Kody. Before we had Sherman, we had a Golden Retriever, Jordan, who got cancer and we had to put him to sleep. We thought Kody was handling everything fine until our neighbor informed us that Kody had been howling in the backyard whenever we weren’t at home. Since Kody was typically a very quiet dog, it was apparent that Kody was missing his good buddy.
Luckily, Sherman has Don Diego to keep him company when we’re out of the house, but I’m still concerned about his spirits. But after a couple of nice walks and a good dinner, Sherman definitely seemed to be pretty happy.
My wife and I decided that it was time for us to put down our oldest dog, Kody. He was 15 years old and had a number of health issues, but lately, he had been having a lot of trouble getting around and just seemed to be in a fair amount of discomfort. I came home from work early so that we could all go to the vet together. I snapped this photo of Nate and Kody on the couch together before we all got in the car.
When we got to the vet’s office, we all took turns feeding Kody pieces of a cheeseburger that I had picked up for a last meal. Marie and Nate went to go get a smoothie while I stayed with Kody in his final minutes. I had been sad all day about what was to come, but when I was finally in the room with Kody and the veterinarian I was completely overcome with emotion and just started crying like a little kid. It was time to say goodbye to a dog that has always been happy to see me and served as a great companion in so many happy moments in my life.
I have a heavy heart to be sure, but I’m relieved to know that he no longer has to endure the pain and discomfort caused by his failing health.
