A while ago, I somehow quite badly scratched the lens of my favourite (and actually, my only) proper camera. I tried several curious techniques that I found online in an attempt to remedy my carelessness and I discovered that other people are able to magically remove scratches by rubbing peanut butter over their lens…but that I am not. I decided that as I invariably rely on my iPhone's camera anyway, that maybe I could do without a proper camera altogether. The only thing I minded about that, was that it's not great for close-up macro shots, so a quick Google search later and I had discovered the Olloclip!
This tiny device can be clipped on and off an iPhone and gives the option of a 10x zoom, 15x zoom or wide-angle lens (it also has some fish eye capability, but I haven't tried that out as fish eyes make me feel a bit unwell both as an item on a plate and as a photography style. I prefer them just on live fish).
Its limitations are that it offers no in-between range of zoom - it's either using the phones inbuilt camera or going for extreme close-ups with the Olloclip. This can be quite limiting as often I'd prefer a wider angle than this offers.
However, I am really enjoying using it and I find that the extreme close ups that it takes are far better than I ever achieved with my point-and-shoot camera, largely because it blocks out far less light when going up very close to something than a conventional lens would because it's so incredibly tiny.
It can mean that although you can capture the delicious colours of fabric, you fail to get any sense of the overall print. But it's perfect for flowers…
And water droplets...
Dandelions...
And bugs...
It takes a little practise to get used to and I've read in reviews that even professional photographers who carry one for snapshots often take several photos to get one that they're happy with…which I found reassuring, as that's been my experience of it.
I have very little technical knowledge about photography, but I do enjoy taking photographs hugely. I am possibly one of the most risk-averse people to be found on the planet, but put a camera in my hand and I will scale trees that I'd never normally feel compelled to climb, go dangerously close to cliff edges and put myself at risk of being stung by angry bees…I'm yet to take a really good photo of a bee, but I will keep trying. This was my best attempt from last weekend.
Despite the new wonder of the Olloclip, my husband, probably rightly, insisted that it was craziness to abandon conventional cameras altogether and we did need one in the house that didn't take photos blurry with combination of scratches and peanut butter, so ultimately, this isn't a replacement, but a nice thing to keep in my bag for when we're out and about as it's so incredibly tiny and light. I thought I'd share it here as I know many of you use iPhones too. I bought mine from the Apple store. I have no idea where the name comes from, but I love it as one of my friend's has a child whose nickname is Ollo and it reminds me of them every time I use it.
Florence x ADSENSE HERE
