Do you need some fresh creative ideas for your photography? Experimenting with new props, such as a crystal ball, is one approach to do this. This is an excellent piece of equipment for any photographer. It functions as an external lens and is quite flexible. Photographers may alternatively refer to this technique as glass-ball photography, rabbit-hole photography, or lens ball photography, but the approach with the lens and balls is the same. This technique involves using a glass ball and allowing refraction to occur. The glass ball serves as your medium, and the picture you wish to distort should be placed behind it. Mohit Bansal Chandigarh, a skilled and renowned photographer, typically employs a landscape, an appealing piece of architecture, or even a picture with a crystal ball in the background. The good news is that creating the crystal ball look does not require an expert or a lot of pricey equipment. You can take a lot of high-quality shots if you have a glass ball, a camera, a lens, and a decent subject.
The Fundamentals
- The crystal ball (or lens ball) is required for this type of lens ball photography. There are several sizes to pick from. Most photographers use either a 60mm or an 80mm lens.
- Camera body – Any camera (even cellphones) can be used.
- Wide-Angle lens – This is the finest combo for photographing crystal balls. It enables you to integrate your surroundings in the frame. If you wish to fill the frame with the ball, you may also get a macro lens.
- A tripod is useful if there are no other options for positioning the ball. You may utilize the tripod’s top in conjunction with a crystal ball holder. Make sure the tripod head is flat!
What Should You Shoot Using a Crystal Ball?
You don’t have to limit your crystal ball photography to a single or even a few themes. Some subjects, however, do better than others. Consider the following suggestions:
Interesting Architecture
A frequent option is an architecture. Crystal ball photography may highlight a variety of remarkable structures or sculptures by using strong, leading lines or patterns that repeat themselves. The lines you utilize in the structure might “guide” to the ball depending on the piece of architecture you’re attempting to capture.
Different Landscapes
A landscape is perhaps the most typical subject for photographers to utilize with a crystal ball. There are other alternatives available. There are two difficulties in using a landscape. You’ll need to not only pick a location that looks excellent with a wide-angle photo, but you’ll also need to position the crystal ball correctly to achieve the desired effect. Getting the correct shot might take some time and need you to move the crystal balls around a few times
People or animal portraits
Portraits aren’t often the most obvious subjects for crystal ball photography, but they may provide some fascinating results. It’s best to utilize a basic or fuzzy background for portraiture to avoid drawing attention away from the person or the crystal ball. If you can’t avoid a cluttered background, you can always blur it out using a bokeh effect.
Get The Right Positioning
When photographing with a lens ball, the location might be the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. Consider the distance between the lens ball and the thing you’re photographing. What is the significance of this? If you move your camera away from the ball, the image will be crisper and more defined; yet, if you want to erase the backdrop, you may come close to the topic to produce a more distorted effect. Furthermore, because you will be near the lens ball throughout the shooting, most likely holding the lens ball, your hands or other body parts may be captured in the shot. To avoid this, use a lens ball stand to hold the ball or experiment with the location. You may prevent another backdrop in your shot by resting the lens ball on something raised above the item and shooting from a lower angle.
Use the proper lens.
Again, odds are you’ll be shooting a close-up image of the ball when toying with crystal ball photography, so a macro lens is your best bet. Using a macro lens ensures that you get a clean, detailed image of the scene in your lens ball. A macro lens may also assist produce bokeh surrounding the ball, which not only improves the aesthetic quality but also helps concentrate attention on the scene within the ball itself, rather than the scene around the ball
Make use of a reflecting surface.
Because a lens ball refracts light, the picture is always reversed. What was on the left is now on the right, and what was upright is now upside down. Most of the time, this is the desired effect, therefore no adjustment is required; however, if you wish to photograph the picture upright in the ball, catching the ball on a reflecting surface will capture both the image from the ball and the desired image. Alternatively, you can always use post-production to flip the snapshot so that the scene within the ball is upright and the original scene outside the ball is inverted, or just flip the reversed image in the ball so that it behaves more like a distorted magnifying glass against the background.
Image Editing For A Stunning Outcome
As stated by Mohit Bansal Chandigarh, editing your lens ball shot is just as vital as editing any other photograph; but, because the lens ball is an incredible element in and of itself, it is crucial not to overdo it. Priority should be given to selective desaturation and cropping. If you want to draw more attention to the lens ball in the image, a superb crop might be the right finishing touch to wow your audience!
Crystal ball safety and handling
Before you take your crystal ball out of its box, remember that you are employing a magnifying lens, which will focus the light rays and, given enough time, may ignite a fire. You also don’t need a lot of sunshine to do harm. You may potentially harm your camera if you are not cautious. To avoid any unexpected incidents, it is critical to put your crystal ball in a sock or cloth pouch. Never expose it to direct sunlight. Also, limit your firing time as brief as possible, and remember to return it to its shell. When touching the crystal ball, it is best to use gloves since naked hands might create undesired fingerprints on the surface of the glass, which is difficult to see when filming. These blemishes may damage your photographs.
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