Anyone who has spent enough time in the Lomo Society will have a faint idea of some popular tricks people like to do which give you great results! So this Tipster is for all the Lomo-Beginners out there! (Not saying that I am in any way an expert on these! I just happened to see other people doing them and felt like spreading the idea for the newbies!)
I do know what it’s like to experiment with film and photos, and get back horrible results. It’s not nice, or fun. And it costs you. It costs you film, developing and the effort you put into your photos! Now if you do want some nice results without staying completely on the safe side, these are some super easy tips that always work…with me at least!
1# Doubling your subject:
I’m not really any good at multiple exposures, they are hard to compose and get right! Yet there is a way to guarantee a good result! Choose a subject. Shoot. Don’t scroll! Change position or angle. Shoot again. Voila! (A very popular way is also mirroring! I haven’t tried it too much myself, but if you take a photo then flip the camera upside down and take it again, you get a nice reflection kind of result!)
2# Underground:
Go Under the ground! Its way too cool to not do it. Electric lights, Green, blue, yellow tones. A sense of movement, and thats it! :)
3# Hand in the sky:
This is one of my favorite tricks! You hold your hand up against the sun, aiming to cover the sun (or let a few rays of sun flow through your fingers), this way your hand will be dark and you can’t really recognize the details when you take your first picture! Don’t scroll! Then you take another shot of anything you like after that, flowers, a pattern, a person! Whatever you want! The hand will then get filled in with the shot you take on top and you get a funky looking photo! This, of course, works with things other than a hand as well!
4# Dreaming up in the sky:
Simple, cute, natural. Why not eh? Just angle your camera up to the sky and see what you catch! Trees? Flowers? A bird maybe? I find you can often get a lot out of the atmosphere around you in the sky. One can tell if its moody or bright! You might have bare trees indicating it’s autumn, or full on flowers for spring! Maybe dark clouds will tower over you or happy white candy floss in the air!
5# Focus vs. Blurry:
Notice the blur in the background?
Now what I love to do is make a nice contrast between focused and non focused areas in my photos. In some its more clear, in others it isn’t. But its basic: choose a subject. Go close up or a few meters distance. But no further than that since you want to be able to show the difference! Then stand your subject still, get ready to shoot, wait for movement in the background…SHOOT! It often works well with underground shots, but go ahead and try out other subjects with this technique! I’m sure they will turn out great!
6# Mirror/Elevator:
This one is a classic. Everyone takes these, and you probably thought of it without this Tipster! First the mirror shot. Mirrors are so great for experimenting, especially when you have more than one! I have never gone for a crazy mirror shot, but it’s great when you have multiple mirrors in one shot reflecting different things from each other! Then you can always go behind someone who is looking in a mirror, focus on them in the mirror and get a blur of the back of their body in the front part of the image! And of course simple portraits! Elevator shots work super well with these techniques! I especially love the tones that a elevator usually gives :)
7# Go close:
Go close. Thats all. No more. Of course not too close. Unless you have a macro lens that is…
8# Light Painting/Graffiti
Photo by nadinadu
I have only done this once, and only one photo. But it did turn out well! All you have to do is first of all make sure you’re somewhere dark. I used a torch but you are free to use anything that shines light in some way! Put your camera on Bulb mode (not all cameras have it!) Bulb basically means that as long as your holding down the shutter, the picture is still being taken and light can enter the camera. So hold the shutter down, from a few seconds to minutes! It doesnt matter. Draw or write whatever you like into the air! And thats it! But do be more creative than I was! I hope you can make it out! It says “London”!
9# Theres a number 9 your thinking?
Thats right! There is a tip number 9 here…
It happens to be the hardest for me. But I love it.
It doesn’t sound hard, and maybe it wont be for you! But I treasure my film and don’t want to waste any shot! So I plan everything. I never just go for it. Thats it: “Dont think! Just Shoot!” and have fun while your doing that!
Good Luck with these tips, I hope they bring you somewhere. Enjoy, and spread some Lomo-Love!
31 comments
francesco1
Love the pictures!!
h_silva
davzoku
Great compilation!
realisticdreamer
Cool:))))
leva12
Thank you for this tips! And your pics are great :)
whizzkidd
Great pics... The blurred ones are great...
arrogantbastage
Thanks for the tips,, I'll have to try a few of these out. Great pictures in the article as well.
lomomomma
Thanks for the fun tips! I adore picture #5 (focus vs. blurry).
kingt4
Very instructive.
jarvislomo
good pictures good tipster bravo :-)
lizziebets
lizziebets
lizziebets
julita-
thanks for all tips, really helpful
lyle_st_lynn
photomood
thanks for the tips! And love the pictures in the article too!
stratski
Great tips, and great result on your first lightpainting! Your last lines made me grin a bit: 'I plan everything. I never just go for it. Thats it: “Dont think! Just Shoot!”' ;-)
foxypoxy3
joyceyjoyce
yay i love me some bulb photos!!
ho0la
awesome tips :D
everynameistaken
lucianalfaro
Love your photos. And the tips, so useful. I've just had my first photografic disapointment. Your tips gave me new ideas of diferent ways to do things. Thanks!
fergiesilva
great article, congrats! very useful!
lovebuck
Thanks for the tips!!!
mellisa
nadinadu
thank you all so much for the likes and comments! its so nice to get such great feedback :)
and @mellisa personally i just take each shot with the correct exposure, i wouldn't really know which shot to under/overexpose and probably just wouldn't be bothered about it! But i´m sure it would also look cool if you try it out! :)
scarlie
bobby_sekeris
Thanks for the great tips! Will try some of them for sure!
astrangeday82
g1toons
eleven211