Another cold night here in North Georgia. Really getting tired of all the cold, rain and ice. You know, I normally hate the heat of summer, but this gloominess is just getting to me. I think its the el nino…its gotta be that.

So, I’ve been wanting to try out this new photography trick called “freelensing.” It appears that a photographer named Luke Roberts came up with the technique. What it basically is, is actually taking the lens loose from you camera while take a picture. Think of it as kind of like a really cheap way of getting a tilt-shift effect, like you might get with a lensbaby.

- Scroll down for the video tutorial -

Here is an example of a shot with my 50mm

A few things you might want to have handy to make this a more enjoyable experience:

• Tripod
• An older manual lens. I use an old 50mm.
• Something to clean your sensor (because it will get dirty).

One note of caution, your sensor will get dirty doing this. So, be prepared to clean it before your next big shoot.

In case you’re stuck at work, or in another spot that makes watching the video sorta difficult I’ll go over a few things to note about trying this out.

First, like in the list above, it seems to be easier to make this work with an older manual lense, something with a large apeture. You also don’t need to move the lens around very much, just slightly will usually give the desired effect. I’ve also found it easier to do with a tripod, though I’ve gotten better with practice and can do some of this now without always needing three hands.

So, on with the show! Watch the tutorial below. And leave me feedback with links to your own experiments with this technique.

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The Photos

More tutorials:

Tutorial on cleaning fungus off a camera lensTutorial - making a neutral density filter with welding hood glassTutorial on making a home made light tentQuick and dirty lighting setup on the back deck.Making your landscape photo look like its somewhere elseTaking some winter snow photographs in North GeorgiaConceptual post-processing idea 01 from Freemans MillFreelensing tutorialFaking a sunny dayDown at the creekTaking a pause.