How to Use a Lens Ball: 10 Creative Lensball Photography Ideas

Whether you’ve already purchased a lens ball or are considering getting one, you’ve come to the right place to learn some creative ideas for how to use a lens ball! A lens ball (also known as a lensball, glass ball, or glass sphere) is an incredible toy for photographers looking for a new perspective.

There are some obvious ways to use a lens ball, and some that you may not have thought of on your own! Check out these 10 glass ball photography ideas to see if you can think up some creative ways to shoot with a lens ball, whether shooting landscapes, portraits, inside, outside, or anything in between!

For my photos, I am using the 80mm Lensball Pro, which I find is the perfect size for any situation! They also have a 60mm lensball mini for anyone who is constantly on-the-go, and a 100mm limited edition BIG one for all your lensball photography needs.

Chosen your lensball? Let’s proceed with cool ways to use it!

1. Hold the Lensball Yourself

The most obvious tip on how to use a lens ball is to hold it up in front of your camera and shoot it yourself! This is the easiest way to start shooting creatively with your lensball.

To get started, head somewhere where you’ll be able to see an interesting view through the glass ball. I went to the colorful beach boxes of the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, but you could go to a beach for sunset, a cool street art mural, or a well-known monument or landmark, to name a few.

Hold the lens ball up in front of your camera, get the focus right, and voila! A pretty cool photo. My top tip would be to make sure the lensball is centered in the frame for a well-composed image.

2. Have Someone Else Hold the Lensball

To gain even more perspective, have a friend hold up the lens ball for you so that you have greater control over the framing and zoom of your shot. If you have a zoom lens, you could play with the different depths of field that come from having a longer or shorter lens if your friend holds the lens ball up for you.

This way, you can get TWO hands in the shot also, for a different perspective yet again.

3. Use Lensball with Typography

There are a lot of cool ways to get creative with glass ball photography and typography. First, you can hold your lens ball up to a sign, logo, or word of your choice so that you can perfectly see the world upside down in the lens ball.

Then, take a photo! You can keep the photo as-is, or you can flip it upside-down so you can read the word in the lensball right-side-up and the real sign upside-down for a bit of a cool effect (if that makes sense! 😛 )

Next, it’s pretty cool experimenting with how to use the lens ball on printed words/typography. You can print out words, verses, or lyrics you resonate with, or simply grab a magazine or book. Put the lensball on top of the page/paper, and be amazed at the magnetizing effect it has on the words directly below it!

It will only magnify a few words at a time (unless you find/print VERY small words, which you can do also), so choose a few you love and photograph them through the lens ball. It makes them look 3D!

4. Position Lensball in a Scene

If your hand (or someone else’s hands) within a scene may not look so good, try positioning the lens ball ’naturally’ within a scene. You can place it within foliage or a tree in nature, on a flat surface in front of a viewpoint, or balance it in any nook it may fit into to refract a cool scene. Then, shoot away! The shot may look more natural without a hand or two in it.

Having a “lensball stand” makes this point a LOT easier, which is basically like a little unassuming tripod for your lens ball wherever you may decide to place it. It’s tiny, black with brushed gold, and quite easy to remove from the frame with proper angling and framing. This way you won’t have to worry about it rolling away!

5. Flip Lens Ball Image Upside Down

One of the most interesting lensball photography ideas is to take a photo of something through it – whether a mural, scene, landmark, portrait, or word – and then FLIP that image upside-down in post-production.

This creates a rather trippy/psychedelic effect as it warps reality and makes it fascinatingly confusing. Flipping a lens ball image upside down looks great in a LOT of different ways – experiment with a few yourself!

6. Take Fun Portraits of Someone

Using lensball photography to take a portrait of someone can present a totally unique and interesting perspective. To take a portrait of someone, all you really need is the right lens, your lensball, and your subject.

Try different kinds of angles taking photos of someone through the lens ball. Start looking straight through the lens ball at them, focusing on them through the glass, like I have in the example above (which has been flipped, of course).

You can slowly start to experiment with shooting the lensball at an angle. Have your subject look a certain way, which will appear as them looking the opposite way through the glass ball. If you focus on them through the glass, you should end up with a clear photo of them through the glass, with their blurry ‘actual’ head facing the other way behind it.

You’ll want to make sure there isn’t much reflective light to do this well (unlike my second example which was taken outside). Try flipping this upside down for the ultimate awesomeness!

7. Use Photoshop with Lensball

If you want to create an extra trippy scene, try using photoshop with your lensball. This should be easy enough for even beginners to photoshop. First, take a photo of your desired scene through the lens ball. Then photoshop it into a totally different scene for which you have also used the lensball!

You can photoshop a scene looking one direction into a photo looking the other direction; you can photoshop a cool scene into a photo of you holding the lens ball (so you can see a scene rather than your face upside down), or ANYTHING else, really! Get creative! One of the top tips on how to use a lensball includes trying your hand at creatively photoshopping it into different places.

8. Line Lens Ball Up with a Corner/Line

As you probably know by now, the lens ball produces to you the exact mirror/opposite of the scene you can see in front of you. This gives you the unique opportunity to play with lines and contrast like never before!

Try lining the lensball up to a hard line – like the side of a building, the horizon of the ocean, or the like. If you line it up perfectly, the lensball will present a small globe of the exact opposite scene perfectly lined up and contrasted with its counterpart. See photos for an example. There’s no limit to what you can create!

9. Use Lens Ball to Add Dimension to Flat Patterns

An interesting way you can use a lens ball is to make flat patterns seem 3d! The spherical glass naturally adds an extra dimension to anything you see through it, making it seem globular or circular when everyone knows it’s flat. You can get super creative with this, too, with patterns in the sand, stacks of firewood, patterns on the sidewalk, and more!

10. Lensball Photography With Water or Fire

If you are happy to dedicate some time, the lensball is pretty incredible with both water and fire. As it is clear glass, it photographs well with water droplets to create yet another rather trippy lensball photography effect. Try tossing some water up in the sir with the glass ball to see what kinds of effects you can come up with!

Next, if you are able to access fire or light one safely, it looks incredible through the lens ball! Just make sure not to get too close 😛

Bonus: Throw Lens Ball in the Air

If you are able to get your focus and settings right, you can create some incredible imagery by throwing the lens ball in the air and photographing it at a high shutter speed. These images come out looking like a clear orb suspended in the air, which are fascinating to look at for anyone.

Bonus 2: Create a “Reverse-Selfie”

Hold the lens ball up in front of your face (so you can see your face through the ball). Have your friend take a photo of you, focused on the lensball. Flip the photo upside down and it will come out looking like you took a selfie through the lensball!

How to Use a Lensball: Final Tips

Heat: The Lensball magnifies sunlight to an extreme degree. Make sure to keep it out of the sunlight as much as possible and to be EXTRA careful with positioning it on a hot and sunny day. Your lensball can get VERY hot to the point it could actually burn skin, wood, or anything else in the vicinity. Be aware of the sun at all times!

Timed Shots/Throws: Make sure if throwing or tossing the ball you don’t let it hit any hard or rough surfaces! Your lens ball can crack or scratch easily, which will impact your images greatly. Be aware of hard surfaces, sand, and the potential of rolling off a surface. Use the lensball stand when applicable.

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Well, I hope these have been some great tips on how to use a lensball! These photos were shot in Mornington, Victoria, Australia on Mother’s Beach – one of our favorite Mornington Peninsula Beaches! Check out the Mornington Peninsula Breweries and Wineries if you are at it, too – I lived here for a few months!

Which tip is your favorite? Do you have any that I could add to the list? Let me know in the comments! And make sure to check out my presets and my Lightroom course if you are getting into photography.