Monday, May 14, 2012

Freelensing

Kings College and Chapel, Cambridge photograph by Tim Irving
Kings College and Chapel, Cambridge - Tim Irving
Freelensing is a technique to try when everything else has been done, when your subject is a cliche. It's a tilt and shift lens for the poor and it allows you to focus on a point of interest and blur out distractions. Kings College in Cambridge is one of the most visited and photographed buildings in Britain. You see all those blurred people at the bottom left of the photograph? They're all tourists and they're all snapping away. Kings College has been photographed to death, so it's an excellent subject to freelens.

Freelensing is simple, just remove your lens, then hold the lens in front of the camera and gently and slowly tilt it. Just play around until it looks interesting, then press the shutter. It does need practice and patience. As you're tilting, use your fingers to avoid light leaks. It works best on standard and short telephot lenses, I used a standard 50mm lens on a 35mm slr camera for this photo.

4 comments:

  1. Great Shot ! I like the Tilt-Effect and the Colors, very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that! What a delicious way to freshen up beloved but well-worn views.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You would also have to fashion some kind of bellows or tubing/extension between the camera body and the detached lens, wouldn't you?

    ReplyDelete
  4. No, Juliet. Use your hand between the camera and lens to block out unwanted light. Try it at home on a tripod, you'll soon get the hang of it.

    ReplyDelete

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