Lens ball experiments
To further my experiments I took photos of a lens ball in a nature/forest environment to see how the lens ball manipulated the nature within it. Furthermore, I adjusted the brightness and contrast of the photos to make them more detailed. However, in most of these they do not show much of the outer area surrounding the ball and/or what is meant to be distorted, so the next time I take lens ball images I will improve on this. I do think that these images were still successful as they do show a distorted image of undergrowth and nature, but they do not give the desired effect of using a lens ball.
I like how these turned out and I think that they clearly show how they distort the background. However, I think these may have been more successful if I either included less of my wrist or if I was not wearing anything on my wrist so that the main focus of the image is solely on the lens ball, not the clothes being worn. However, despite these factors, I still think these look cool and show different perspectives within the forests and I also like the contrast between the lense ball and the blurry background, but if I were to take photos similar to this again i'd have to be cautious to make sure the focus remains on the lens ball and there is no further distraction.
The last set of lens ball photos that I took were the most successful as I took into account the aspects of my previous work that I needed to improve on, I did this by making sure the background was visible to show what was being distorted or give some context to what is within the ball. To get higher-up pictures I place the ball on peaks within the forest, that have interesting aspects surrounding them. Overall, I think these were very successful in responding to my title of undergrowth, as these photos distort, warp and place focus on the interesting, often overlooked, aspects of undergrowth. To further my experiments I tried some digital animation on photographs of lens balls and for the most part I think these were successful as they add a more interesting element to my pieces. For these experiments I tried a range of different things, such as making the ball move in different directions, making the background around the ball move, or adding smoke, and other effects around the ball, I did these through an app called motionleap.
