See things differently
Its the beginning of a new year, the time is right for some reflections from last year.
In this case, however I am being extremely literal, I went for a walk towards the end of last year, and I took my lensball with me. It just so happened that it was perfectly still and I managed to get some photos of perfect reflections! So without further ado, reflections (and refractions) from 2020
Despite the ever variable British autumn weather, I have been continuing my investigation of the beach huts of the south coast. After all there is no point in waiting for ideal conditions in the UK, who knows when they will be…
My first stop this weekend was Shoreham. Somewhere I had been earlier in the summer with my Polaroid and iPhone but I wanted to see if I could get some better shots and give my lensball a trip out. TO be completely honest, I would have had better light if I had made the trip earlier in the day, however not to be deterred, I gave it a go and managed to get one or two interesting shots. Including one lensball shot I am particularly pleased with.
The Shoreham trip was a little late in the day, badly lit and rainy, but it was absolutely worth it for that one reflection shot!
The second expedition of the weekend was a trip to Rustington. It was another late evening trip, but this one involved a pretty spectacular sunset, and Rustington has an extremely colourful and extensive range of beach huts. Absolutely worth a trip!
All of the beach huts in all of the colours!!
And that was before I had got the lensball out…
All in all I am pretty pleased with these shots. I absolutely want to try some more lansball plus reflection shots. This is beginning to get interesting!
Many moons ago, at christmas I was given a Lensball. For the uninitiated, this is the description of a lensball, taken from their website:
A lensball is a hardened, ultra clear polished K9 crystal ball which acts like a wide angle lens giving you a 180 degree view and creates a refraction effect, whereby the image in the ball is flipped over – in the right setting it creates some stunning visuals.
https://lensball.co.uk/pages/faqs
For one reason or another (lockdown…) I didn’t get a chance to take this new toy out to play until August.
I have to say I am loving it. It is fun and you can get some interesting effects… I am really only just getting the hang of using it, but I can see the possibilities for some interesting shots.
These are the first shots I ever took with it, using my Nikon D7500. I took a couple with my phone, but the quality with the Nikon is so much better that I am sticking to that!
I have read multiple reviews of lensballs, mainly when I was searching around for ideas, and there are definitely mixed feelings out there about the validity of it as a photography tool. There are people who think it is a gimmick, there are people who think that it is not worth their time because everyone is doing it, there are people who think it is not for serious photographers…
I have decided I don’t care what those people think, there is absolutely room for some lensball photos in my photographic shenanigans! Just because lots of people are doing it doesn’t make it a bad thing. Everyone looks at things differently, even through a lensball! And as for those who think it has no place in serious photography, who wants to be serious all of the time! There is a lot to be said for having fun, and you might just end up producing some pictures that people like to look at. Which is the point after all…
These pictures come from the only three times I have taken the ball out for a play. I have already learned a lot about using it and am looking forward to trying even more new things!
Catchpole Creative... 