Happy Valentine’s Day: With a Lensball

Happy Valentine’s Day with a Lensball! What a fun way to say I love you from a photographer. Everyone has their own special way of celebrating Valentine’s Day, mine is a little different than most. I’m just not into all the commercial ways of spending the heart day. Don’t send me candy or flowers, those things just add unwanted calories and the beautiful flowers wither away. I prefer to get a new piece of camera gear (a Lensball in this case) or a Latte, or to just pamper myself a little extra that day. No matter how you like to enjoy the Day of Love, single or not, take some time to treat yourself with a little something that’s special to you.

Valentine’s Day

My 1950s now antique Webster’s Dictionary defines Valentines as:

1. A sweetheart or choice made on St. Valentine's Day. This term is delivered from St. Valentine, to whom the 14th of February is sacred. It was a very old notion, alluded to by Shakespeare, that on this day birds find a mate.

2. A letter or missive sent by one person to another on St. Valentine's Day; a printed missive of an amatory or satirical kind, generally sent through the mails anonymously. The sentimental class are often highly ornamental and expensive productions, usually bearing attractive pictures on the subject of courtship or matrimony; the comic class have usually vulgar representations of the human form depicted on them, and are meant to reflect on the personal appearance, habits, character, etc, of the recipient.

3. St. Valentine's Day; February 14th widely celebrated by giving love tokens.

I enjoy studying history, collecting old books, and going back to read how people thought or wrote in the days of old. In today’s world, we do everything through a text or email. Very seldom does anyone send anything through the snail mail. I, for one, am still a bit old fashioned. I enjoy sending handcrafted cards and gifts to loved ones through the mail. Us artisans call this “Happy Mail”.

The Valentine’s Day Lensball photo above gives the impression that the crystal ball is floating. All I did was turn the photo upside down so the hearts would be right side up. When taking photos with a lensball, everything inside the glass will appear upside down. You’ll need a program to flip and turn your image, or just leave it for something of interest. Lighting is something else to keep in mind with this glass globe. Since it is glass and crystal clear, it may get difficult at times trying to get the right shot without bright glare.

Lensball

The lensball I purchased was a knock off of the original, which you can find here. I wanted to give this type of photography prop a try, to see if I’d even like it or not. If not, then I didn’t have much invested in it and it wouldn’t have been a loss. After playing around with this clear glass ball for a few days, I can say I’m really enjoying it. It’s added a lot of creativity to my photos. I’ll have to give this a try with my snowflake photography, and see how it magnifies them.

If you’re interested in the original Lensball, you can find it here. It has great reviews. It comes in two sizes: 60mm and 80mm. There are also extra accessories you can purchase, such as Lensball stands and an extra heavy duty pouch.

I have the original Lensball on my Birthday wish list, so I hope one of my kids is reading this (hint, hint)! I’ve fallen in love with this little crystal ball.

Happy Valentine’s Day with a Lensball! Maybe you’ll add one to your camera gear collection. I’ve found it to be a lot of fun, but I like to change things up and do a little experimenting.