5 Simple Lens Effects You Can Make For Under $10

Last Updated on 09/04/2017 by Chris Gampat

Featured image is a screen capture from the video. All credit to Aputure.

We have all seen those really sweet shots on the web or social media where everyone is asking the photographer how they created an effect or produced a shot, and the answer is some silly item they had on hand at the shoot that they shot through to create the effect. It is counter intuitive to most of us, being used to the insane prices on everything associated with photography, but it is true, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to create sweet practical effects at your shoots.The guys over at Aputure have put together this great video detailing some sweet effects you can create with common household items/materials or are easily available for under $10. The video is more aimed at video shooters, but nothing would stop you from using any of these for still images either. Heck, even if you don’t want to use these in particular, maybe some of the effects in this video could spark an idea for you to try something similar with a different item in your home.

So, as you can see, these simple effects are actually really easy to produce yourself and they can have a major visual impact on your images in camera. For example, that LED ‘sun flare’ effect, that could be incredibly helpful for creating an evening golden hour look for portraits or boudoir indoors on an overcast day. You can pick up cheap LED lights to use for that [amazon_textlink asin=’B004JZI78O’ text=’over on Amazon’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’27e3d9a0-8e6e-11e7-be02-99680752017a’] too, I mean why not, right?

As they mentioned on the water effect, if you try this on unsealed cameras or lenses, just be really careful. No effect is worth ruining your gear over, so with that one… heck, with all of these, just be careful and always put your gear ahead of the effect. There are safe ways to do all of these without putting your gear at risk.

Now go forth and give these a try! Share what you created over on our Facebook page! As well, make sure and check out Aputure’s Youtube channel for more killer videos like this one.