If you are looking to have a little fun with your photography you might try getting a crystal ball. Crystal balls can add that little bit of spice to a scene. Mix in some Photoshop skills for a really cool look.

Neewer three-inch crystal

If you put ‘crystal ball’ into the search on Amazon.com you will see a veritable plethora of selections. Who knew? Living in Sedona, AZ — a major crystal center — you would have thought I would. But, I digress.

There are different sizes and varied display stand options. I opted for the three-inch Neewer Tech model because it came with a simple crystal base and was under $15. Using that type of base makes it easier to cut out the image in the crystal. It can then be rotated to match the scene orientation.

As you know, when a scene is reflected in glass it will flip the image upside down. While I enjoy that look for certain subjects I usually turn the crystal image around in post-production.

Photoshop to the rescue

The crystal image was flipped around. I decided to add a little magic and make the stand disappear leaving the crystal to float on its own.

Place the rotated crystal in the scene. Make a selection in the shape of an oblong circle. Fill with black. Add a Gaussian blur to make the shadow density match shadows in the scene. When making these kinds of pictures it should be believable within the fantasy for the image to be a success.

Final photo

crystal ball photography
Completed photo with the crystal image rotated and floated in the scene.

Caution!

Watch out for one thing. If you are shooting in the sun and holding the ball in your hand you can get a burn very quickly.

Remember burning leaves with a magnifying glass when you were a kid? This is a huge magnifying glass. You want to keep this packed away when you are not using it for the same reason. If it’s rolling around in your car and sits in the sun or ends up near a window at the house the sun can be concentrated in a bad way starting a fire.

Yours in Creative Photography, Bob