Neither is obviously better than the other it just depends on the effect you want. Set an ultra-narrow aperture, and you’ll end up with a crisp foreground and a crisp background. Set an ultra-wide aperture, and you’ll end up with a beautifully blurred background and a sharp foreground. The aperture influences the depth of field (i.e., the amount of the scene that’s in focus). I recommend experimenting with a macro lens and a wide-angle lens to determine the effect you like best. It helps you create strong background bokeh, which is key if you want to flip the image and keep it natural looking (discussed in Tip 1).Ī wide-angle lens can work, too, but only if the scene allows it.It lets you increase the size of the ball in your shot (in other words, you can get close for lots of detail).Thanks to a macro lens, you can get close to the ball, which does two things: But if you want to maximize the impact of the ball, I’d really recommend using a macro lens (or a telephoto lens with significant close-focusing capabilities). Yes, you can do glass ball photography with literally any lens, from ultra-wide to super-telephoto. In this photo, the cityscape is captured inside the ball. Would the scene fill the frame at 16mm? If so, you’re golden! The ball is like a wide-angle lens, so try to think about your shot as if you’re photographing it at 16mm or so. This might involve careful planning or even some creativity. So do what you can to close the distance, until your subject looms large in the ball (and consequently the frame). Unless you get close to your subject, it will appear very small inside the ball. Sometimes, it pays to place the ball on the ground, especially if you plan to photograph puddles or leaf beds. Of course, there are exceptions to this advice. Note that you’ll want to keep your hands out of the frame, so you can either get up close and only photograph part of the ball, or you can perch the ball on an elevated platform, like a rock, a car, or a bench. The key here is to ensure your subject is centered in the ball, so feel free to move the setup around until you get the composition you’re after. Instead, I recommend getting your ball up off the ground and on a level with your subject. It might be tempting to put your glass ball on the ground and shoot into it, but this will actually cause significant distortion, plus it will create less compositional impact. The image inside the ball will be upside down. Other times, I flip the image for a less disorienting effect. Sometimes, I like to keep the inverted crystal ball image. Here, you may want to blur out the background with a wide aperture that way, the flipped background isn’t obvious.Īs you’ll see throughout this article, I use a mix of techniques. You can rotate the image during post-processing, so that the ball’s image appears right side up.For instance, you can juxtapose the flipped image with the real scene in the background. You can leave the inverted image and incorporate it into the composition.Thanks to refraction, the image inside a glass ball is flipped. I discuss these techniques in greater detail below. You can also adjust the aperture for shallow depth of field effects (where the ball is framed by a blurry background), and you can change the distance from the camera to the ball for an interesting close-up effect. For instance, by repositioning the ball (and by repositioning the camera with respect to the ball), you’ll capture different perspectives. Thanks to the magic of physics, you end up with an inverted image in the ball, which you can then capture with your camera.Īs the photographer, you have ultimate control over your lensball image. A crystal ball ( lensball) is placed in front of a scene the scene is then refracted in the ball. Glass ball photography, also known as crystal ball photography, uses refraction to capture unique images. In this article, I share everything you need to get started, including a lensball recommendation, plenty of tips, and even a few crystal ball photography ideas. Glass ball photography is a fantastic way to create compelling images, the kind that will leave your audience both wowed and curious.īut how do glass ball photos work? How do you set up beautiful images? And how do you use a simple crystal ball to capture such striking effects?
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