The concept of prisms and/or shooting through different optics isn’t exactly novelty. It’s been around for a long time. However it seems to have taken on a new popularity lately. Over the last 10+ years of my career I’ve always had a habit of collecting random pieces of glass or objects that I can use to frame or shoot through. I LOVE digging through old antique shops and vintage stores for items. Recently I was in Maine and was just giddy with all of the places that I was able to find items. I think we got lost in one shop for a good hour finding treasures to use. I believe credit for the pioneering of the technique with the triangular equilateral prism goes to the amazing Sam Hurd. Love his use of them! I have always tended to gravitate towards the circular lenses or crystal pyramid pieces. Or even old light bulbs, pieces of broken glass, or mirrors I find. I posted purchase links at the bottom of this post to some of these items that are available to purchase and use for everyone, but I still encourage you to go find fun unique pieces! This light bulb below was a vintage piece that I found on a recent trip to Maine, for example.
Some people ask “why bother with this technique when you can Photoshop similar effects?”. Sure you can do double exposures or use Photoshop all you want to make unique images and creations. For me though, working like this feeds my obsession with capturing as many reflections and angles in one straight out of camera shot as possible. I love the challenge of it and I love that it is never able to be duplicated exactly.
Below you will find answers to all of the questions that you have submitted, but first I will start with the basics of how to use these things. Yes it is absolutely normal to be completely maddeningly frustrated with these things at first. It is however, SO worth it. Simply put, it is just about placing the prism/glass/optic in front of your lens and shooting through it or into it. This results in different reflections, narrowed focus, extreme bokeh, light refraction, rainbows, light leak style effects (think Holga style), and sometimes a double exposure type look.
WHAT IS A PRISM?: Well…according to good old Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prism “In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. At least two of the flat surfaces must have an angle between them. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application.”
WHAT IS OPTICAL GLASS?: These circular pieces of glass I use to get that extreme boken and frame? I don’t really have any idea where these originated. They were in the science section of Amazon and are listed as being useful for optical experiments and starting fires (little known extra perk if you’re lost in the wilderness….just be careful not to aim them at clients for too long :-P). But I found them randomly and got hooked! I have 8 different ones all different thicknesses.
WHAT IS THE BEST LENS TO SHOOT WITH WHEN WORKING WITH PRISMS?: I tend to use my 35mm 1.4 and 50mm 1.4 (both Sigma Art Lenses) the most when working with prisms that I shoot through/into. They are both an easy length to be able to hold with one hand and hold the prism with the other and still be able to focus. Occasionally I use my 24mm 1.4, but I find myself needing to use my longer 9 inch triangular prisms for that one to avoid getting my fingers in the frame.
WHAT TYPE OF LIGHT IS BEST TO SHOOT IN WHEN USING THESE?: For flare, rainbows, and refracted light having the sun or a bright light source is necessary. To get a flare like this one, the sun was setting to my left. I held the prism up vertically and turned it until the flare reflected back into my own lens to create this look (please forgive image qualty…quick screen grab):
For the circular pieces of glass, I find any light works great with them! The sky is the limit!
WHAT SIZE PRISM OR PIECE OF GLASS IS BEST? Ummmm…All of them? This is kind of too subjective to ask. It really depends on what your goal is for the image. The great thing about this process is that each frame you get will be unique and never duplicated exactly. For reflections, rainbows, and flare I would use a triangular prism. I have both a 6 inch and 9 inch. For areas that you want extreme bokeh and narrowed focus, the circular pieces, and for making yourself want to scream with frustration, the pyramid (JK…it’s totally worth it I promise). For the circular pieces I find that the ones that are about 75mm size work best for hand holding.
WHAT CAMERA SETTINGS ARE BEST?: Well this is a bit subjective, as art is subjective. I will say however that I find that although my usual style is to shoot wide open (1.2-1.8), that when I am shooting with prisms or especially the circular pieces of glass, I tend to find myself stopping down to the 2.8-3.2 range so that I can achieve better focus and clarity. Obviously since those pieces of glass aren’t of the same quality as the lens I am using and are somewhat concave sometimes, they require a wider depth of field to keep things sharp.
WHERE SHOULD I FOCUS?: For reflections using the triangular prism, I place the prism in front of my lens while looking through the viewfinder or live view on back of camera, then when I see the reflection I want I focus on my subject. If I am using it to create a flare then I focus on my subject first and then place the prism in front of the lens. For the pyramid prism, I love to frame and focus my subject, lock that focus in, and then slide the pyramid into the side of the frame slowly until I see the reflection that I want. For the circular pieces of glass, it is important to have your aperture up a bit higher around 2.8 and really find a good point of contrast on your subject to focus on. Making sure that they are dead center in the middle of that circle helps as well.
OTHER TIPS: Always have a backup! These will break rather easily if you drop them, and if you are like me, you will drop them a lot. However, broken glass makes for fun angles too.
With the circular optics you will notice I typically have one small part of it cropped out of the frame wherever I am holding it. You will be limited to this unless you can find a way to prop it up in place without holding it.
MOST IMPORTANTLY! HAVE FUN!
These images were all shot using different pieces of circular glass that I bought on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CLC7UJE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
(use slider arrows to scroll through images)
The Images below were all shot using either the pyramid prism here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KAZ5XQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 or this prism now sold by Clickinmoms: https://store.clickinmoms.com/triangular-glass-prism/ (use slider arrows to scroll through images)
And finally, don’t forget that you are always surrounded by different reflective surfaces. Puddles, mirrors, pieces of metal, etc. So many things to shoot into and use! Here are just a few examples:
BELOW I HAVE RELISTED THE PURCHASE LINKS TO DIFFERENT PRISMS I USE THAN CAN BE PURCHASED ON AMAZON.COM AND CLICKINMOMS.COM
CRYSTAL PYRAMID: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001KAZ5XQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
CIRCULAR GLASS LENSES : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CLC7UJE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
TRIANGULAR PRISM : https://store.clickinmoms.com/triangular-glass-prism/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C4P9X5M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
PS – If you have any more questions you want me to answer feel free to leave them in the comments below and I will add them to the post!
