Photographer Puts Her Hair Over Camera Lens For Soft Focus Photos
A photographer has shared a neat trick that gives photos a soft focus look: putting her own hair over the camera lens.
Jacey Spencer, an elopement and wedding photographer from Florida, revealed how she places her hair on her lens to produce a glowing effect on her photos in a viral TikTok video that has amassed over 8.5 million views.
@thisblissphotography I STILL havent edited this shoot from october ๐ญ weddings have been insane so i always edit paid shoots first (obviously) but i am ITCHING to edit this one. #hairoverlens #floridaphotographer #utahphotographer โฌ original sound – Bella เฟ
Her hair causes some of the light traveling through the lens to bend while allowing the rest to travel straight through and create a dreamy and misty aesthetic.
A Happy Accident
Jacey, who runs This Bliss Photography, revealed that the technique came about after she accidentally got her hair stuck in front of her camera lens.
She assumed that her locks had ruined the photos but she was pleasantly surprised when she saw the results.
“The idea of putting my hair on my camera lens kind of came from my hair accidentally getting in front of the lens,” Jacey tells PetaPixel.
“At first I was upset thinking it ruined the photo but then I saw the photo and I thought that it looked cool.
“So I started using it for some creative shots and other photo shoots. I never expected my TikTok video about the technique to go so viral!”
Jacey uses a Sony A7 III and a Sony A7 IV with either a 24-70mm Sony lens or a 70-300mm Sony lens in combination with the technique.
After the video was published, hundreds of commenters demanded that Jacey show the results of this trick. Jacey posted a follow-up video of the gorgeous photos she had created using this technique.
Although the implementation of hair over a camera lens is not a well-known technique, strategically placing stockings over a lens or “netting” is an age-old cinematography trick that has been used in filmmaking for decades to soften a shot and give subjects an angelic “glow.”
Hollywood cinematographers would use either light or dark pantyhose stretched either tightly or loosely in front or behind the lens to achieve a specific look.
thinking about how they used dior stockings over the camera lens to get this soft dreamy effect pic.twitter.com/tUYI3gAvx0
— ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ (@wispofsilk) May 29, 2021
For the 2007 film Atonement, cinematographer Seamus McGarvey shot most of the scenes in the first third of the movie with Christian Dior’s 10-denier stockings stretched behind the camera lens to achieve a soft, dreamlike focus.
More of Jacey’s work can be found on her website, TikTok, and her Instagram.
Image credits: All photos by Jacey Spencer.
