Photo Ideas # 2 of 10: Dreamy Photos Using Plastic Wrap!
This past week I’ve been photographing snow scenes from Ohio’s first Winter storm of the year. Photographing on the day of a snow storm or the day immediately afterward can present great opportunities for captivating unique Winter scenes. I find that newly fallen snow offers a stunning for photographing subjects with contrasting colors such as animals, trees and even frozen leaves such as in the three photos below.
In the last post I offered some tips for making better Winter photos. In this post I’d like to share a personal technique for adding an artistic or a soft dreamy look to photos made with almost any type of camera including a DSL, point-and-shoot or a camera phone. And, it uses something everyone already has in their home; cellophane wrap.
Like many other photographers I use a variety of screw-on glass filters that attach to the camera lens. Some help whenmaking photos in extreme light situations such as on a bright or cloudy day. Other filters help enhance certain colors or add a soft, out-of-focus look to a scene. Most filters, however, are expensive and only available for DSLR cameras.
On a photo shoot years ago I’d failed to bring along any glass filters. As an alternative, I placed some plastic wrap from a sandwich (also known as cling film in the UK) in front of the lens and discovered that by using several layers it produced a lovely soft focus image. Since then I’ve used a wide variety of clear and colored plastic and cellophane wraps to add unique and artistic looks to photos. Those heavier cellophane wraps, by the way, are often sold as wrapping paper for gifts or used in the packaging of hard candy or flowers sold in grocery stores. The abstract photo above, of a sunset in a snow covered forest, was made by placing several layers of cellophane wrap over the lens.
QUICK TIP
Plastic wrap, cling film and cellophane can be used any time of year, indoors or outdoors and with almost any type of camera including camera phones. Simply place it in front of the lens, compose the image as you normally would and press the shutter.
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WOW! what a great way of creating a soft image.. and those photo’s are amazing!…. I love the Snow , although dislike driving in it as here in the UK everything goes a little haywire at the first fall of snow on the roads…,.
I just love also the colour of the Bird with the snow backdrop… very eye catching…
I hope that you enjoyed your Christmas Holidays and may I take this opportunity at wishing you a Wonderful 2013, may it bring you success and Happiness and Peace..
Sue ~Dreamwlker
I’ve wondered about doing just that, but never followed through. I’b sure to try it now. Thank you!
Well that’s a pretty creative solution. Great effect.
Many thanks Sue (Dreamwalker), not only for your visit and comment, which I always enjoy, but for sharing your kind words on the images and the new year. Nature honors each of us every day with dozens of beautiful sights and I’ve been blessed many times over that she allows me to capture and share many of those experiences with others to enjoy. I wish you a new year filled with great joy, good health and much happiness.
Oh Elena, I believe it’s true what they say about great minds (and artists) thinking alike! From enjoying so many of the art works you post on your own blog, especially those in the Watercolor Wednesday series, I’m not surprised at all that you might have contemplated this technique. And, I believe you will definitely have great fun experimenting with this technique. Best wishes and, if you get time, I’d love to hear about it works for you.
Thanks for taking time to comment Lyle. It’s a very easy and fun technique to use and, there is an almost endless supply of free or low cost plastic wraps and cellophanes to experiment with. I hope you’ll give it a try.
I can’t wait to try this myself. How wonderful that it also works for those of us in the very (VERY!) ‘amateur’ range without a lot of nice equipment to work with.
I have got to try that. Those photos are beautiful. Of course a lot of experience went into setting them up but still I want to try. Great post.
What a fantastic idea. Sometimes the easiest solutions work as well, or better than the fancy (more expensive) stuff. I’ll have to try it when I’m out at the coast and the salt spray is really heavy. It’s a pain cleaning up the salty residue!
Hi Alex. I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you. When you try this give yourself lots of time to play with various types of cellophane and plastic wraps and in different combinations. Take lots of digital photos then see which materials produce images you like. Have fun!
Wow, using plastic wrap to also protect the lens from salt spray. What a very interesting idea Gunta. It got me to thinking about the many times each year when I’m photographing in blowing sand or dust storms and need to protect the lens from scratches. Remember though that even if you use a single layer of clear plastic wrap it will almost always produce some type of soft focus or light distortion in your images which may or may not be desirable. Thanks for sharing great idea and when you find time to give it a try I hope you’ll let me know how it works for you..
Thank you Rick! Here in Scandinavia we have a few months around winter solstice when the daylight is very faint. Long exposures and poor focal depths limits the ways to photograph horses and landscapes. Do you have any tips to share on this subject?
So wonderful to hear from you and thank you for this great question. I have photographed during Winter in Alaska and know exactly the type of lighting challenge you are describing. Also, since most of my landscape photography is done during faint light (early mornings and evenings) I have several suggestions I am happy to share. I will plan a new blog post for later this week to demonstrate one of the techniques I use with animals, especially with horses, that will not scare them as a flash can sometimes do. I have other suggestions I am happy to share but it would help me first to know the type of camera you usually use for photographing. My best regards to your family including Bluebell Star, Windflower Dancer and Wild Prairie Rose
Brilliant. I’m going to try it with landscapes on my new camera.
When the lenses I’m using for landscapes will not produce that “bokeh” effect this method has worked well for me and it’s always fun to use since you never know exactly what you will get. Remember to experiment with all types of plastic and cellophane and over time you will find ones that work better than others for the type of photos you make. Have fun, thank you so much for your visit, and best wishes.
I like your photo tips. To think I spend money on lenses, etc to achieve this look and your images are awesome with cellophane.
Hi Martina. Like you, my gear bag of today has quite a few of those expensive lenses, filters, etc. that I do use regularly. But in my early years of photography when I couldn’t afford more than some very basic equipment, I always wanted to create photos like the professionals did. By experimenting with things like cellophane/plastic wrap I was eventually able to do that. And even today when I have a wide variety of professional lenses available, I find that at times those simple techniques offer more flexibility and/or let me create a more distinctive look with an image. Thanks for your visit and your kind comments on the images. I hope you’ll stop back from time to time.
Thanks for the photo tip; can’t wait to try it! Your photos on this site are beautiful!
Hi Heather. Thanks so much for your visit and for the kind comments on the the blog and photos. I am very much enjoying all the great travel stories on the 7feetnorth blog and also the lovely images you post. Hopefully you’ll find a tip or two that will prove useful. I hope to see you back.
Very helpful. Thanks for sharing the tips.
It’s a joy to share them J.A. Thanks for stopping by and taking time to post a comment.
Rick, I just LOVE your breathtaking photographs, as well as the wonderful photography tips that you have been sharing with your readers. I will definitely try some of your great ideas out. Thank you!
More cool ideas to try. Does the plastic wrap require an exposure adjustment or does the meter usually get it right? I’m sure I’ll bracket my first attempts just to see the difference but thought I’d ask.
–Wally
I’ve used plastic wrap with many different DSLR’s, point-and-shoot’s an Android camera phone and an iPhone and never had to do any exposure compensation. Since you’re using a DSLR Wally I doubt you’d have to do any as long as you’re using some type of automatic exposure setting such as full-automatic, Aperture or Shutter priority
Hi Linda. Welcome and thanks so much for your visit and your kind words about the tips and the photography. I believe there is an artist hidden in each of us. And, since most people today own at least one type of camera (DSLR, point-and-shoot or camera phone) I believe they are great tools for helping to let that artist out in each of us and hopefully the tips make that even more possible. I hope you’ll stop back from time to time.
Very well put, Rick.
And very well done! I am already a regular reader of your wonderful blog and will always be. Your photographs and photography tips are unmatched.
Thanks for sharing the tip
It is a pleasure to do so and thanks for your visit.