JPG: Stories: How To: A Sense of Depth

A Sense of Depth

By Connie Cruz

22 Nov 2008

I'm sure you've heard or seen photographs taking with a fisheye lens. Although the fisheye lens could double as a wide angle lens, it does limit what you could do in terms of effects. Even at that, spending the money on such lens that doesn't do much is not appealing to any photographer.

While I was driving to my brother's house, from New Mexico to Utah, I thought about how interesting my photographs would be if only I had decided to pack my fisheye lens. Unfortunately, I had left the lens behind in fear that it would break during the commute.

So I did what any other photographer would do--I made use of what I had on hand. Literally! I held my hands over the lens, forming different effects every time. At some point, I formed a complete circle with my fingers and realized just how close the photograph I took resembled all the other photographs I had taken with my fisheye lens.

Pictured in this entry are some of the effects I was able to accomplish just by playing with my fingers in front of the lens. From semicircles to semi-rectangles, all the way to holding up three fingers--each provided a unique and extraordinary look to the pictures.

Try these effects out next time you decide to take random photographs. Use your fingers instead of that $200 lens. Find objects with holes to give your pictures more depth. Items such as a soda can tab, lace, and flowers are easy to access and will work like a charm.

The hardest part about this technique is focusing the lens. After all, you only have two hands--one holding the camera, and the other positioned in front of the lens. The trick: focus on the background manually before you start messing around with your hands and other objects.

Have fun! And don't forget to get creative!

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