The Lume Cube, Litra Torch and similar lights have become quite popular since they first appeared. Powerful little LED lights that are just as tough and rugged as the action cameras they’re designed to be used with. But that’s not all they’re good for. Light is light, as they say, and you can use small lights for all kinds of uses. Take this video, for example. In it, Jay P Morgan of The Slanted Lens uses 100 Lume Cubes to light up three different sets....

A reflector and a flag are useful pieces of kit you should have in your kit. In this video, photographer Alastair Bird shows you how to make your own 2-in-1 reflector and flag. The white side works as a reflector to give you a nice, soft fill light, and you can use the black side as a flag. It’s cheap, easy to build, and it fits in your car along with all the gear you carry to a shoot....

The beauty dish has become a staple of portrait and fashion photographers. When used well, they offer a pleasing and flattering look to your subject. The price of beauty dishes has come down in recent years as more have come to market. But you’re still not usually going to find one as cheap as making your own. In this video from the folks at COOPH, we see how we can make our own DIY beauty dish for minimal cost and tools....

Running with a small crew can be a challenge but if you are coming well prepared, it could be an advantage. Being just one person, or running with a small team means that you can keep things light, move around and generally if you play your cards right, you can set up and teardown relatively fast. While having a big crew is nice, some jobs just call for smaller, light crews....

The Dutch Angle. It’s one of those things you either love or you hate, and even when you are a fan, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between an intentional act and whether the creator simply forgot to level their tripod. It’s one of those things I’ve tended to avoid, having never really seen a purpose for it in my own work. This study from Fandor, however, takes us through some of Cinema’s best scenes ranging from 5 to a full 90 degrees, showing us the angles that we probably didn’t even notice until it was pointed out to us....