achieving soft focus in camera

hi all..

 

i have a gig in a couple of weeks where i'll be shooting a 2 person cabaret

tandem, and the look/feel they would like is something ziegfeld follies/marlene

dietrich-ish...which to me speaks heavily of very soft focus shots..

 

my hope is to be able to achieve this moreso in camera so there is very little

pp work to be done, and i'm wondering the best way. I've read things in the past

about smearing vaseline over filters, etc...but wanted to know if there were any

other methods. Any ideas/thoughts would be appreciated.

 

thanks

You can get a soft focus filter. I think that the soft focus filters are a bit hokey but thats me. I have also heard of people doing the Vaseline thing.

Abdul,

This can be done as you say, buy smearing vaseline on a filter, or by buying a soft focus filter, or by simply shooting through some food-film stretched over the lens, but I'd suggest it's far more controllable in PP.

 

The reason I say this is that you can e selective about WHERE in the image you apply the soft focus effect. If it's overall, then sure go with the lens, but if you want sharp eyes etc, then PP is probably the way to go. Its a five minute job, and that includes booting up your PC!

 

cheers,

Guy

Vaseline is OK, but Cokin has some clean filters that will work just fine for the situation you are talking about.

A word of warning on soft focus filters. The sofftening is enhanced the wider your aperture (my experience). I achieved better at camera results with a piece of black pantyhose over the lens. Old trick but it worked.

 

The filter at F8 looked like no filter at all. At f2.8 it looked so soft that I thought I had a blurred image (but the beast was on a tripod so it wasn't blur and the SS was plenty high enough so it wasn't blur).

thanks for the responses all. i'll look into these options. Guy you bring up a good point in that in pp at least its reversible...

I'm not going to hunt for it, but I did read lately about some lens that had a soft focus switch. Not even sure of the manufacturer, might have been a third party lens for Canon, since that is what I'm using, but not sure.

<a href="http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-135mm-f-2.8-with-Softfocus-Lens-Review.aspx"> Canon EF 135mm f/2.8 With Softfocus Lens Review</a>

Dietrich was a goddess and was photographed by gods. Practice a little before your shoot.

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=marlene+dietrich&spell=1

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://portrait.gov.au/exhibit/cecil/_lib/img/large/exhib_7.jpg&imgrefurl=http://portrait.gov.au/exhibit/cecil/exhib7.htm&h=380&w=298&sz=28&hl=en&start=77&sig2=hOBwJEMKrhzbvtJQ1p4OEg&um=1&tbnid=ndHLPLAEQR6m9M:&tbnh=123&tbnw=96&ei=_qhER4i6Mo66iQHK682hCw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmarlene%2Bdietrich%26start%3D60%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

I like the stocking over the lens. Different shades for different effects.

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/6170546

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/6399978

If you try the vaseline also try making a star pattern on the filter with it, but leave the center area clear (like 5 or 6 fingertip strokes outward). It will still soften the center area, but less so. It will increasingly soften as the image moves out to the edges. Also try different sizes of clear area to get different effects.

"...which to me speaks heavily of very soft focus shots.."

 

You should look at some:

 

http://www.doctormacro.info/

 

The traditional way is, I'd guess, a large format camera and shallow dof. Plus perfect lighting and makeup. It really helps if the subject is to die for, as well.

You made my day Don. Love those movie images!

Anthony, those shots of yours are fantastic. You said different color stockings for different results. Can I ask which stocking you used for which photograph?

 

Do you use the same setup as you would without the stocking, or do you compensate for the stocking with more strobe output?

A tan colour for the male and black for the young lady John. And yes a little more light. Shot at f5 and f5.6 using a 50mm 1.4...a tad wider than I would normally shoot. The different colours suit differing skin colour. Though the Missus wasn't pleased ...when she found all her new stockings had been cut up!

p.s. the individual colours also effect contrast differently. Try whites and reds!