Crystal Ball Photography

acparsons · Dec 29, 2017

Did a search and couldn't find this theme. I've started experimenting with the crystal ball. All tips and tricks will be welcomed and appreciated in this thread in addition to photos.

It was tough to decide which one to buy, I went with the 80mm.

DSC by A.C. Parsons on 500px.com

acparsons · Jan 1, 2018

DSC by A.C. Parsons on 500px.com

smoke665 · Jan 1, 2018

I've read about and thought about trying this for some time. Thanks for sharing your experiences. To me the last one is really cool, though I might crop tighter as the background seems a little distracting with it's bold pattern.

tirediron · Jan 1, 2018

I just did some with an 80mm as well; I'm actually thinking of adding a larger (~150mm) to the stable.

katsrevenge · Jan 7, 2018

I had a go at this yesterday. Let's just say it was really, really cold out there.

Frozen Balls by Kat M., on Flickr

Frozen Balls by Kat M., on Flickr

I edited these both ways, right side up and flipped/cropped. Still not sure which I prefer. The slightly pulled back view with the world right side up reminds me of a Discworld spell. Lot of fun, for sure! I used my 50mm lens on a 40mm ball for these.

Fred von den Berg · Jan 7, 2018

My daughter borrowed my 8 x loupe to do this sort of thing a few weeks ago.

@acparsons : the last one is really great and I agree with @smoke665 that a tighter crop enhance it even more - possibly 1x1.

@katsrevenge : both are nice but do you know what? the first one without the flip looks even cooler (at least when I hold my laptop upside down anyway!)

katsrevenge · Jan 8, 2018

Fred von den Berg said:
My daughter borrowed my 8 x loupe to do this sort of thing a few weeks ago.

@katsrevenge : both are nice but do you know what? the first one without the flip looks even cooler (at least when I hold my laptop upside down anyway!)

I actually uploaded both versions, I really was not sure about these. This is what that first looks like 'right side' up sans crop. I did try a cropped right side up, but it looked weird. That one was fun to take as I was too afraid of blinding myself to look in the viewfinder and it was way too bright to see the screen. Took it blind.

Frozen Balls by Kat M., on Flickr

BrentC · Jan 8, 2018

katsrevenge said:
Fred von den Berg said:

My daughter borrowed my 8 x loupe to do this sort of thing a few weeks ago.

@katsrevenge : both are nice but do you know what? the first one without the flip looks even cooler (at least when I hold my laptop upside down anyway!)

Click to expand...

I actually uploaded both versions, I really was not sure about these. This is what that first looks like 'right side' up sans crop. I did try a cropped right side up, but it looked weird. That one was fun to take as I was too afraid of blinding myself to look in the viewfinder and it was way too bright to see the screen. Took it blind.
Frozen Balls by Kat M., on Flickr