Thought you might find this an interesting technique

fashiznitsngrins

For my "diffused" entry I had an idea in my head (very similar to my end result). I did some research online and came up with some interesting techniques. For the softer, diffused look, you can put plastic wrap over the lens. One person said that they used the cellophane wrapper from a CD and another person had smeared chapstick on a piece of glass held in front of the lens. I actually ended up using a cheap plastic baggie (not the ziplock kind) held taut over the lens.

I really had fun playing with this idea!

Travis

You pulled it of nicely! I haven't used a "filter" in years. I think my fave was black pantyhose stretched over the lens. Getting them was a different story. The killer part back then was waiting for the film to be developed so you could see if you got a great shot or just a photo of...welll....black.

PaulThomasMcKee

Your portrait turned out fantastic! You know, its funny, I just assumed that the effect had been added in using photoshop. I haven't heard of using plastic wrap over the lens before.

Coincidentally, I was experimenting with black pantyhose stretched over the lens just last night for the Still Life challenge in hopes of achieving a softer look & feel. Seems to work pretty well!

JAG

very cool indeed!

fashiznitsngrins

Travis wrote:

You pulled it of nicely! I haven't used a "filter" in years. I think my fave was black pantyhose stretched over the lens. Getting them was a different story. The killer part back then was waiting for the film to be developed so you could see if you got a great shot or just a photo of...welll....black.

Gotta love the instant gratification of DSLR - huh? I did the black pantyhose too (don't own any other color!) and it just came out kind of blurry (maybe they were too think).

I just get the biggest kick out of trying new things like this though. If anyone else has any ideas/tips/tricks - please share!

samsplace

Hi

The Kodak Workshop series on Using Filter has some good ideas on special effects filters for both lens and flash. Also just some other home made ideas.

Gil

Nikolai

fashiznitsngrins wrote:

For my "diffused" entry I had an idea in my head (very similar to my end result). I did some research online and came up with some interesting techniques. For the softer, diffused look, you can put plastic wrap over the lens. One person said that they used the cellophane wrapper from a CD and another person had smeared chapstick on a piece of glass held in front of the lens. I actually ended up using a cheap plastic baggie (not the ziplock kind) held taut over the lens.

I really had fun playing with this idea!

Lovely effect!

fashiznitsngrins

samsplace wrote:

Hi

The Kodak Workshop series on Using Filter has some good ideas on special effects filters for both lens and flash. Also just some other home made ideas.

Gil

Thanks! I'll check that out...

richtersl

What a neat idea for a filter! Certainly doesn't get any cheaper than that.

Tentacion

Here is a technique I learned from a Film Photographer from the Good Ole' Days BEFORE digital:

Take the milk carton (plastic one with the white opaque look), cut a circle to fit the lens, then use a hole puncher and make a hole in the center....This makes a very nice vignette...Also you can do shapes in the middle with the new fangle hole punchers that make shapes, such as hearts, blocks, diamonds, etc.

Fun technique, you can also do this with colored plastic that is almost transparent.

Also, since a lot of people like to photograph ornaments and such (holiday season)...have you ever noticed that you get "specular lighting" in the ornaments, and in some if you look closely, you will see the Studio or Persons reflection....Get a Black piece of Poster Board, cut a circle in the center and place your lens in it, make the appropriate settings to your camera and this should eliminate that problem.

Thought I would share.

Peace
Donna P.

PaulThomasMcKee

Tentacion wrote:

Here is a technique I learned from a Film Photographer from the Good Ole' Days BEFORE digital:

Take the milk carton (plastic one with the white opaque look), cut a circle to fit the lens, then use a hole puncher and make a hole in the center....This makes a very nice vignette...Also you can do shapes in the middle with the new fangle hole punchers that make shapes, such as hearts, blocks, diamonds, etc.

Fun technique, you can also do this with colored plastic that is almost transparent.

Also, since a lot of people like to photograph ornaments and such (holiday season)...have you ever noticed that you get "specular lighting" in the ornaments, and in some if you look closely, you will see the Studio or Persons reflection....Get a Black piece of Poster Board, cut a circle in the center and place your lens in it, make the appropriate settings to your camera and this should eliminate that problem.

Thought I would share.

Peace
Donna P.

So many cool ideas, so little time...

Thanks Donna.

divamum

Tentacion wrote:

Also, since a lot of people like to photograph ornaments and such (holiday season)...have you ever noticed that you get "specular lighting" in the ornaments, and in some if you look closely, you will see the Studio or Persons reflection....Get a Black piece of Poster Board, cut a circle in the center and place your lens in it, make the appropriate settings to your camera and this should eliminate that problem.

Donna that is a GREAT trick! Back in Polished/weathered I kept trying to think of a way to avoid being reflected - I got as far as dressing in black, but that's about as far as I got...

This is a great thread!

MTag

Something more to try?
My buddy shot video and to get a diffused look they did the cellophane (sp?) wrapper on the lens then, sprayed it with some hairspray...looked awesome on video..might be worth a shot on still photography.

Thanks for sharing!

divamum

And, of course, there's always the old Vaseline on the lens (lens filter, one hopes!) trick... wasn't that synonymous with "aging silent film star" for years?

fashiznitsngrins

divamum wrote:

And, of course, there's always the old Vaseline on the lens (lens filter, one hopes!) trick... wasn't that synonymous with "aging silent film star" for years?

that's another good idea. It's similar to the chapstick on the glass but my problem was holding the glass up whilst shooting. I never thought about putting it in a UV filter. I like it! Next we'll be starting a post on "does anyone have any good ideas on how to clean vaseline off of glass" thread

richtersl

I've done shots where I've breathed on the filter to make it foggy, quickly framed/focused the shot, waited for the breath-fog to begin dissipating and then clicked the shutter when the picture looked right.