Free-Lensing Photography Tips

I love nothing better on a cold, rainy morning to snuggle deep in my bed with as many blankets piled on top of me as I can stand. Getting out of bed on a dreary wet morning is not my idea of a good morning. However, I have three young children who I happen to home educate and slumbering away on a rainy morning is something I can no longer do.

So, I may get five extra minutes of rest under that huge pile of blankets, but then I am up and ready to start our day. Sadly, this week has been a typical spring day in the windy city. Cold, blustery, wet, windy, murky, grey . . . I think you get the picture. There was a reprieve the other day after lunch and I thought I would quickly nip outdoors to take some photos of my flowers before they all blew away or died.

I have been fascinated with a style of shooting for awhile now, but only tried it once. I thought this day I would try free lensing on my flowers.  This style of shooting is  most assuredly outside of my normal style, but I wanted to try the technique. I experimented with free lensing on my flowers and am actually quite please with the results. Not bad for only my second attempt.

Free lensing is a fun and new technique if you are looking to add some new images to your portfolio. You must be able to remove your lens from your camera body though. It is almost like creating a tilt shift lens without actually purchasing a new lens.

Here are some tips:

I think a 50mm lens would be perfect for free lensing. Even your 50mm 1.8 would work great.  I used my 50mm 1.2 for these images.

I always shoot in manual and in raw, but I am sure you could shoot in AI as well. I set my exposure for each shot before I detached my lens. You can not make any corrections to your exposures once your lens is detached.

Carefully take off your lens and hold it very close to your camera. You have already set your exposure, so you simply need to move it around a bit to find your focus again. Select different angles and approaches. Try moving the lens to the right and then to the left or up and then down. The effects will be gorgeous!

About Tiaras & Tantrums: Rese is a mom of three. She enjoys home educating her kiddos, taking photos, and traveling the globe. Rese is a family lifestyle photographer and home educator. Connect with Rese on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Google+. Sign up via email for the latest updates from Tiaras & Tantrums.