WHEN TO USE A LENSBALL

Small enough to be carried anywhere, this accessory will creatively transform your captures across a wide range of genres – the only limit is your imagination!

Landscapes

A Lensball creates a fisheye view of landscapes. When I use a Lensball for this type of photography, I look for the shape that is being created – the arch of a tree or a building will create a distinctive ‘sweep’ within the image. Consider where to position the Lensball in the frame – whether you put it at the side or in the middle. Positioning it in the middle of the frame can create the illusion that your subject is floating in mid-air.

Macro

Lend a macro effect to images with a Lensball, but consider detail and texture. To capture finer details of this pink dishcloth, I laid it on a table; the Lensball also created attractive edge distortion. I find it useful to place the Lensball near to the object I want to add a macro feel to. To shoot the daisy on page 49, I used my 70mm-300mm lens and put the Lensball on the daisy, to stop the daisy moving and add a degree of soft focus.

Portraits

A great tool for shooting portraits, a Lensball will also get your subject involved. Ask your subject to hold the Lensball and angle it into position to accentuate their facial features. Inspired by ‘Awfullogrammes’ and pinhole pioneer Justin Quinnell, I shot this playful image by putting the Lensball on a tripod and getting as close to my subject as possible – you don’t always need to include your subject’s whole face.

Abstracts

To capture an abstract view, I used the Lensball at an angle. Make sure that the Lensball is secure on a tripod or camera support, and be flexible where you stand and the position you get into while photographing abstracts. Here, I used a 50mm lens that offered a range of apertures between f/1.4 and f/32, and selected f/5.6 for this shot. I used a short focal length so that the images would have front-to-back sharpness.