You’re probably aware of that old film-era wheeze of rubbing Vaseline petroleum jelly over your UV filter to create a hazy, diffuse effect in your photos. Why not take that basic idea further and experiment with putting other custom diffuser elements in front of your lens? Only without getting everything sticky this time.
The two ideas I’ve used here are bubble wrap and stockings. One creates an interesting out-of-focus vignette effect; the other adds a layer of diffusion and tints it according to the color of the hosiery.
All you need is a rubber band to hold your diffusing element over the lens so that you aren’t trying to hold it still while taking the photo. Whether you use a wide-angle or telephoto lens changes how it registers, but be aware that there’s an element of hit-and-miss in this. How the light falls onto the lens affects the final result as well.
01 Attach the wrap
There are two ways of doing this. The first method is to put the bubble wrap completely over the lens, which gives a very diffuse effect. Also, when facing into sunlight, it shows up much more in the image. The second idea is to attach the wrap, but then poke a hole through the middle of it, so that the middle area of the frame will be clean and sharp.
02 Set up the camera
The only parameter here to really be concerned with is the aperture, which was set as wide as possible for the main photo on the previous spread. It doesn’t have as much effect as the focal length, but it’s still better to go wide. That means that the out-of-focus area behind where the bubble wrap covers is even softer. The key element is to experiment until you find an effect you like.
03 Wide-angle effect
For this image, the aperture was set to f/8, so you can see how much more of the scene is in focus. The key point is that with a 24mm wide-angle lens, the bubble wrap is now more apparent and the effect appears to be like looking through a pane of broken glass. Use this effect for more deliberate framing of the photo so that the viewer is looking into the image.
04 Blur it with telephoto
With the focal length now at the telephoto end – 85mm – the bubble wrap is much more opaque and indistinct, and the gap in the middle forces attention onto whatever is in focus in the main area. So with just a change of focal length, you have two different ways of framing the subject. This outcome is most similar to that old Vaseline trick.
Try a soft-focus portrait capture
These projects can also be used for taking soft-focus portraits. With a little trial and error, you can achieve great results without the expense of having to buy all manner of soft-focus filter attachments for your camera.
A second and rather different set of effects can be created by using hosiery over the lens. No, your gran’s thick woollen tights won’t do – you will need to use a fairly low denier so that you are able to see through and record the image. Changing the color and the thickness of the hosiery will have different effects, as you can see below...
Attaching to the lens
One option is to pull the hosiery tightly over the lens, which makes it easier to see through and reduces the effect. Hold it in place with an elastic band as before, making sure you can still use the zoom. The other option is to use a little slack, which creates waves and patterns in the image. Also, if you’re using any kind of colored hosiery, you might want to set the white balance manually, otherwise Auto White Balance may attempt to counter it.
Which tights? Three different results from different colored hosiery
01 Using a tan color
For this shot inside a chapel, a tan color was used, which has given the image a diffuse and warm glow. It perfectly suits the light coming through the window and the building’s gloomy interior.
02 Bring the gloom
For this image, facing into the bright light, a nearly black fabric was used. This has created more of a pinhole effect with the coloring and opacity. It has also significantly reduced the contrast.
03 What about white?
White-colored hosiery was used on this exterior shot of flowers, which has made the image softer and more diffuse in what was very bright, harsh light. Try to match the colors of your tights to those of the main subject in the frame.
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If you have been inspired by any of these projects and have had a go yourself, we’d love to see your results. Email us your high-res shots: digitalcamera@futurenet.com
