I've heard that taking a small amount of vasaline and carefully placeing it on your lens will creat a good diffusion effect without having to buy an expensive lens specifically made for diffusion photos. It's a bit of a challenge to clean your lens but it supposedly works. Does anyone else have any suggestions for good diffusion photos?

This post has been edited by microscopic^earthling: Nov 7 2005, 02:37 AM

Yes, Vaseline works. My suggestion is that, before you smear it all over your camera, put a piece of Saran wrap (shrink wrap) over the lens. That way you can just peel it off and (hopefully) not get any of the Vaseline on your camera.

And if you apply the shrink wrap correctly, so that it's spread tightly across the lens (i.e. not wrinkled and bunched up) it shouldn't interfere with the "smooth" effect of the diffused photo.


Or, you could take the photo without all of that, scan it into your computer, and use Photoshop's filters to create an effect.

Try shooting with a panty hose over the lens, I have done the vasolineand if I remember correctly also achieved some interesting effects with the pantyhose also.

I've never heard of using panty hose before. Great idea. I haven't been into photography in a while ... I had to take a couple of classes in college but didn't have my own equipment, so when I finished the classes that was basically the end of my time with it. But when I get into it again (i.e. whenI can afford my own gear) I'll keep this suggestion in mind.

Vaseline works for sure - and you can get damned good effect with different swipes, as in, you can put a dab of vaseline and then swirl in around on the lens or make horizontal/vertical/cross-hatch patterns etc. You can experiment loads with this thing.

BUT - always be CAREFUL - you should NEVER put vaseline on your lens directly. Make sure, you've got some cheap UV/Polarizer covering the main lens. It is on this filter that you apply vaseline. The problem is while taking is off (ONLY DO IT using a soft tissue) you might accidentally scratch the lens. So it's always advisable to have a clear filter when you're trying these antics

Secondly, a suggestion - this always worked better in creating diffusion shots for me.
Use KY-Jelly - or some other commonly available lubricant in the market - it works 100 times better than vaseline. Vaseline in most cases, ends of obscuring a whole of details - and you end up compromising on the quality of the shot. With CLEAR lubricants like KY-Jelly, the light gets scattered and diffused all right, but the through-and-through effect makes your pictures very sharp, yet diffused. Give it a try

Hehe.. what better use of Ky-Jelly could you get

A desert weed plant. Smeared transparent gel over clear filter & did B/W conversion in post.

When I first seen some marco shots of flowers I was wondering if i could repeat this technique. Bare in mind I have to formal photography training, no DSLR, and filters. I uses a clear plastic picture frame and some Carmex (chap stick stuff). Sorry no KYJelly And, the camera I was using was a point and shoot. I wanted to make the swirls but I was not that good at it, the hot sun, and the temperture of my fingers also had an effect on the Carmex. So I just made random streaks across the plastic frame.

Levimage

photo.rcssx.com - Web site the picture came from