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Turn Them Christmas Ornemants to a 360 Fisheye Lens
Wed, 2007-12-19 00:21 — udijw
Christmas it coming. It is a wonderful opportunity to get them shiny tree ornaments out of the storage and decorate your tree.
Have you given any thought to the day after Christmas? Under the tree there are tons of presents, everyone is opening the presents. Let me add a DIYP present to the heap. (Click the image to see a larger view)
Reader Simon*B has a great use for the tree ornaments for the day after the sock is empty.
This is a fun and fast project, at the end of which, you'll be able to take 360 images with your digital camera. (There is a "slight" fish eye effect that will make Rudolf's nose like a button compared to yours but that's part of the fun).
Materials needed:
- 1 Digital camera
- 1 Silvery shiny Xmas ball
- 1 Iron wire
- 1 Tripod shoe (not a must)
Here's how to make the ball in 3 simple steps:
1. Connect the tripod shoe to the camera. Don't fasten it all the way through. Just make it kinda loose. Loose enough to wrap a wire between the camera and the shoe. Another option it to wrap the wire on the lens (watch that lens, though).
2. Place the ball on the other end of the wire using some tape. The wire should be long enough to enable focus so make sure it is longer then your lens's minimal focus lens. If you are using a point and shoot, you are in luck - switch to macro mode.
3. Focus the camera on the christmasball - you are good to go!
Here are some samples by Simon, Watch his entire collection here:
Some shootin' tips:
- You don't need to look through the view finder, you can hold the camera a bit further from your head.
- There is absolutely no way to avoid being in the picture. If you can pull this off, there's a free trip to the north poll and a visit to Santa's workshop (Provided you can get Santa to give you address of the workshop ;)
- Post your images to the DIYP pool.
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Related Links:
- Create your own Bokeh
- The Zebra Project
- Really cheap homemade diy studio - no lighting needed
- Pocket Camera Tripod
- The Super-Small Bottle-Cap Tripod
- Photography Project - A Burning Light Bulb
- The DIY Fisheye Lens — Using Nothin’ But a Pair of Old Glasses and Some Tape @ Photojojo
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Comments
Santa's address
Provided you can get Santa to give you address of the workshop
As a friend of mine found out, rather than giving out the address, Santa provides the transportation. More details here.
Parabolic Reflector
If you could get a highly polished parabolic reflector (say, a very polished stainless steel wok lid), you could surround the lens with that, and hide behind it to avoid getting in the shot -- and would allow for actually taking a picture of what you're pointing at, as long as you manage to get the ornament reasonably at the focus. I originally thought a mirror, but it's hard to cut a hole in the center of a mirror.
Now I wish I had a stainless steel wok to take apart -- stupid teflon cookware.
Mistake
"The wire should be long enough to enable focus" - I don't think this is true, since you are focusing at the reflected image, which is at infinity...
However if it is too short then certainly the "self portrait" of your camera lens will be very dominant in the ball.
Location of focus
Hi there,
I think that the location of the focus is "inside" the ball. This is why you need to focus closley.
- udi
It's not a Fisheye Lens
it's a Bird's eye
time ago i see an lens add on made with a half sferical mirror at the end of
a plexiglass tube .
location of focus
You need to focus closely because the ball is close to the camera. It doesn't matter wheter the ball reflects or not. the environment is reflected sharp on the ball.
If you're interested,
If you're interested, there's a Flickr group dedicated to portraits and self portraits taken in Christmas ornaments. It's called Ornamentz, and I have a couple of shots in the pool.
cool
thanks, that's nice. I posted two pics in the pool.
Out of the picture
Um..what if you use a camera with a timer...that way you can be out of the picture...You could try using something to hold the camera...i would only try this with a cheap amera though cu what if it falls?..
...Can I get my trip now?
Oh der, why didnt I think of
Oh der,
why didnt I think of that? Brilliant! Get this man to the north pole, stat!
That was easy - what I meant is
Taking the picture without you or the camera being in the shot :)
- udi
OK Um...
What about using some sort of mirror.
You know, those one way mirrors, that you can see from one side and the other side is a mirror? You could use that in front of the camera...that is if it can see well through it....
Gimme a break i know nothing of photography, I just found this site and seems cool.....
Or some other mirror in a specific position...Work with me people!
This site has a quick
This site has a quick tutorial merging 2 images, which removes the camera from the scene:
http://athens.ict.usc.edu/HDRShop/tutorial/tutorial5.html
.
Totally neat idea! This is sort of what I do with marbles. I have worked with marbles an awful lot, and enjoy it very much. :)
baby soft box
Baby softbox
Photo using it .. I don't have any balls, Christmas that is, so how about a good old white trash motorhomes spot mirror
I wonder what that shot would look like if the camera wre placed at his feet ?
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