Direct Light

Hard and direct light is what you would typically see on a cloudless day around noontime. This type of light is great if you want images with high contrast and defined highlights and shadows. This is the most difficult light to work with in terms of shooting a lensball because the quality of light is very harsh. You may have difficulty capturing colors or getting proper reflections in your lensball. Your camera also may not have a wide enough dynamic range to take in all the detail within the shot. The highlights may be washed out or details can be lost in the shadows.

Many photographers find this direct light uninspiring and will shoot at an earlier or later time of day. During this lighting condition, you will find me capturing shots under trees or in shaded areas since that type of light better fits my style. If you are stuck shooting with harsh lighting, try to position the sun behind you so that the backdrop in front of you is properly lit.

One thing to take note of is that you may want to use wider lenses when shooting in direct light. Because shadows are more pronounced under midday sun, you can obtain a more interesting backdrop when using a focal length under 50mm. Also, be wary that the lensball functions just as well as a magnifying glass and might burn your hand under direct sunlight!

Dappled Light

Dappled light is sunlight that has been filtered through the leaves of trees or other plants. This effect usually works best in the morning or late afternoon. This can be a hit or miss if you are a portrait photographer, as unwanted hot spots can appear on your subject’s face during the shoot. However, for lensball photos I really enjoy using the scattered light as my backdrop, especially during the fall and spring when the sun travels at a lower angle in the sky. When photographing a scene with trees or flowers, you will notice that the colors of the leaves and petals are accentuated and give the image an overall better color contrast (figure 6.4). In the summertime, the strong light tends to wash everything out and drains out most of the interest in the photo.

The distance between the ball and a dappled light backdrop will affect how scattered the highlights are in the photo. The one challenge you will face in this lighting situation is metering the image appropriately. Your in-camera metering may pick up the scattered highlights and shadows individually, which can cause underexposure or overexposure, respectively. I try to align the lensball or subject in a well-balanced area and expose for that accordingly.

Diffused Light

Soft and diffused light is usually found on a cloudy day or during a sunrise or sunset. It is great if you are looking for mild shadows and blended edges. This lighting scenario is ideal if you want an overall flat image for more control during post-processing.

During these situations, I focus on compositional elements rather than color contrast to build my framing (figure 6.5). Some locations to look out for with overcast weather are places with a lot of trees or moving water. Leaves, bark, and branches create subtle contrasts that can work in your favor (figure 6.6a). Things like waterfalls and long-exposure seascapes appear smooth and well exposed in this lighting. Do not get discouraged from shooting just because it is a cloudy day. There are always unique photos you can capture, and practicing will only make you that much better of a photographer.

Reflected Light

Lastly, my favorite lighting condition is reflected light. This is described as a soft color cast or the glow from light bouncing off objects. Reflected light will affect your image differently depending on what type of surface it hits. Light bouncing off grass will have a different feel than light reflecting off of water. Harsh reflected light can add brilliant colors to your lensball photos. This can be produced by placing the lensball in water or on reflective surfaces. I honestly feel this is where the product shines, and I have seen many photographers compose really creative images with this lighting scenario. The natural in-camera contrast you obtain in these photos will make it much easier to bring out colors when editing.

Figures 6.10a–6.10d illustrate how reflected light affects your images based on the focal length at which you shoot. You will notice that as you use more telephoto lenses, the lighting in the back becomes softer and loses contrast. The photographs shot at 24mm (figure 6.10a) and 35mm (figure 6.10b) appear more vibrant because the light bounces off more surfaces. The images shot at 50mm (figure 6.10c) and 70mm (figure 6.10d) showcase more of the light reflected from the tree leaves and less from the grass.

Overall, there really isn’t ever “bad” lighting in nature; rather, it is whether or not the light works for your vision.

Capturing a City

When it comes to putting compositional theories into practice, urban areas are a great training ground to hone in your craft. Cities are packed with rigid lines and defined architecture, which work really well with lensball photography. My main goal for shooting in urban environments is to look for elements that give my shots more of an impact. For me, these photos concentrate less on color and more on contrast and composition.

Unlike with a scenic nature shot, cities are full of reflective surfaces and artificial light. You can use this to your advantage, as the weather has less of an effect on the outcome of your image. Even when it rains you can find buildings with unique interior corridors or interesting lighting setups. In addition, puddles can be a huge benefactor when you’re looking to spice up a photo. Puddles on concrete or metal help create a better mirrorlike reflection than they do in a natural setting such as on sand or mud. The reason for this is that the puddle is generally more controlled in an urban environment and there will be fewer ripples or shifting in the water. I’m not saying you should be placing your lensball in random puddles in the city, but you can take a strategic approach and carry a bottle of water with you to create your own puddles. The more prepared you are, the better control you have of the environment.

Take your time to research the different monuments and building structures in the city you want to visit. You can take some really awesome lensball photos where you “capture” famous landmarks in the ball (figures 6.11a and 6.11b).

Lighting is just as important for urban shots as it is for nature photography, and it will heavily influence your photos depending on the time of day as well as weather conditions. This is especially important when you’re photographing locations with tall buildings or reflective surfaces. The sun will cast shadows at different angles in the morning, midday, and evening times, which will affect the overall lighting contrast within the lensball. Whenever I travel to the city, I like to take notes of when certain locations have the best light, while also noting the direction and strength of light. This is especially handy when planning out different captures, as portrait and landscape photography prefer different qualities of light.

Figure 6.14 was captured at the Vessel in New York City. A widerangle lens was used to incorporate the repeating pattern in the background instead of leaving it too compressed. Shooting this at my usual 70mm focal length would have not left enough breathing room for the ball. To acquire a full pattern within the lensball, I had to aim it down because I was near the top of the structure. Shooting this leveled would have led to more of the white sky bleeding in from the bottom of the sphere. Even though this was shot at a wider focal length, because there was a good amount of distance between the ball and the background, it still produced a shallow-depth-of-field look. The lighting in this shot was reflective, as I relied on the sun to bounce off the metal structure to create a high-contrast image. The shot was taken midday to early afternoon, which helped draw out the defined highlights and shadows. I would have liked to have captured it with the sunset, but during this season the sunset was eclipsed by an adjacent building after five o’clock.

Capturing iconic structures like the Manhattan Bridge within a lensball makes the shot stand out more than a two-dimensional image of just the bridge as your subject (figure 6.15b). figure 6.15a was taken on a cloudy afternoon in Dumbo, Brooklyn, under diffused lighting. The overcast weather gave the photo an even, flat light throughout the scene. I used a telephoto focal length for this capture to bring out more detail from within the ball. Shooting at 50mm or lower would have weakened the separation between the ball and the bridge and allowed further distractions from the surroundings to creep into the image. Be sure to visit these locations at off-peak times to avoid tourists. Although I visited during a weekday, I still had to Photoshop a few people out of the lensball.

Long hallways and corridors are excellent for defining leading lines in your shot. Be sure to stand directly in the middle and align the lensball so that the lines of the background lead into that of the foreground. Since the ball reflection and the background work inversely, any slight movement can throw you off alignment. I captured figure 6.16a on a bridge that connected two parts of a mall together. I focused on aligning the ceiling and floor edges with the compressed bokeh lines in the back to create cohesive leading lines between the two compositions. I then edited the inside of the ball to incorporate a flipped ceiling, as it was more interesting to look at than the floor (figure 6.16b).

Architectural elements such as ceilings can be great compositional tools. Be sure to look up next time you enter a tall building or structure to see if you can find anything unique to capture. You may be surprised that simple things like windows and stairways can become a main subject for your lensball photos. I would advise using a wide-angle lens for these types of images to capture more of the environment. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, circular backdrops create a unique frame for these types of captures (figures 6.17 and 6.18). Square and rectangular backdrops may not be as interesting, but it is always worth trying them out (figure 6.19).

Lastly, neon and LED lights can be used as strong subjects and backgrounds. Although lights are not tied specifically to the city, you will find they are more common in the streets or inside art exhibits. The best time to capture these scenes outside would be immediately after sunset. Capturing lights can also work during the nighttime, but you run the risk of the environment being too dark and introducing motion blur if you’re shooting with Auto or Aperture-priority settings (figure 6.22). It is easier to darken a properly exposed image than brighten an underexposed one. You can also find a good amount of colorful lights in arcades and at carnivals.