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Sarah Halstead

You are here: Home | Photography | Freelensing Tips and Tricks

August 21, 2012 By Sarah Halstead

Freelensing Tips and Tricks

Filed Under: Photography, Tutorials Tagged With: photography tips, photography tutorial

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Have you heard of freelensing. You basically take your lens off your camera and hold it in front of it. You can get some pretty cool looks with it. I shared some tips and tricks below.

Freelensing Tips and Tricks

Freelensing tips & tricks:

➟Freelensing is where you take off your lens and hold it very close to your camera. PSA: If you are nervous about getting dust in your camera do not do this. There is a chance dust will get in your camera any time you take your lens off. Dusty conditions are not a good place to try this.  Now onto my tips.

➟Use a lens that is at least 50mm, wide angles do not work well. I used my 85mm lens in these photos.

➟Set your lens to infinity (looks like this ∞ on your lens) and take your lens hood off if you have one. Mine kept getting in the way and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Blonde moment.

➟Manually set your exposure while your lens is still on your camera. Once it is off it will not communicate with your camera at all.

➟Take your lens off of your camera slightly and move it around. You will see some really neat effects.

➟Use live view if your camera has one because it makes it easier to see what will be in focus and if you have any light leaks.

➟Light leaks are okay but it just depends on what look you are going for. If you do not want the light leaks bend your lens towards the strongest light so it wont reach your sensor.

➟If you are using a Nikon lens use one with an aperture ring since modern G-style lenses close their aperture down when they are off the camera . Now all my lenses are G lenses so I had to hold open the aperture ring like you see below. Which is very hard. Much easier with an older lens or a Canon camera.

➟Practice, practice, practice!! Take a TON of photos. I did this a lot over the past few days and I did not get many shots. I am just now starting to figure it out.

➟Have fun! It is really fun to experiment with your camera. The blur you see in the photo is all in camera I didn’t add any blur.

➟You could get this same effect from a lensbaby or tilt shift lens but this is free. I love free. Enjoy! Can’t wait to see your photos.

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Comments

  1. Elena says

    August 23, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    I would never even think of doing this! How great! Yeah, I'm a little nervous to try but I think I might just have to :o)
  2. Jaymi says

    August 22, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    such an interesting technique! good tutorial!
  3. Kaylene Maalste says

    August 21, 2012 at 9:54 pm

    This is a great challenge, a lot to learn about and your shots are great. Cheers
  4. misc.alaina says

    August 21, 2012 at 9:49 pm

    Very cool! I may just have to make time for this tutorial! Great photos!
  5. Kim Young says

    August 21, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    Neat. I don't think I will be trying this one but it sure was neat to see the results.
  6. Gina says

    August 21, 2012 at 5:46 pm

    I would totally do this if dust was not off the hook crazy here. Love the effect.
  7. Sue says

    August 21, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    I'm a novice, but this was interesting... =)
  8. alita says

    August 21, 2012 at 11:34 am

    Holy moly I have never done this before and although it makes me slightly nervous I am going to try. Pictures to come soon...
  9. Beth says

    August 21, 2012 at 11:21 am

    I don't know how to set my lens (camera) to infinity. I tried figuring it out for July 4th fireworks, but couldn't There's no symbol on my lens or camera like the infinity one. I have always loved this, but just can't figure out how to make it work with my lenses.
    • Beth says

      August 21, 2012 at 11:23 am

      Ok, never mind. I pulled out the 50mm (instead of the 35) and it has the symbol. Off to try it out!
  10. Jill Wellington says

    August 21, 2012 at 8:30 am

    Okay...now I see what free-lensing is. VERY COOL!!! I'm afraid to get the dust inside though. But I WANT to try it! Thanks for sharing the technique.
  11. Tamar Strauss-Benjamin says

    August 21, 2012 at 7:36 am

    So cool! I need to wake up more before I read that!
  12. Tera says

    August 21, 2012 at 7:15 am

    Very Nice, Sarah! Interesting concept that I will have to give a shot! Hope your summer was good! Ours went too fast! Cheers!
  13. Pam says

    August 21, 2012 at 12:46 am

    I've never heard of free-lensing. Looks neat!
  14. Mama Monkey says

    August 21, 2012 at 12:23 am

    Very cool effect!! I can't wait to try it! Any suggestions on what to do if your lens doesn't have the infinity symbol on it?

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I'm Sarah and I am the writer behind this blog. I love sharing recipes, DIY projects, photos and about my everyday life. I married my high school sweetheart Kenny. We have three boys and one baby girl - Dustyn, Carsyn, Prestyn, and Annelyn. Thanks for stopping by, can't wait to get to know you more. Read More…

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