When future film students start writing papers creating virtual reports about the visual styles of the 20-teens, those kids are going notice a whole lot of lens flares and light leaks.  Right now, that dreamy, home movie-esque, Instagram-y look is all over the place.  Most hipster photographers and videographers just slap some filters on their photos and videos and call it art.  But you’re no poser so if you want want flares and light leaks, you should lean how to create them for real by “whacking” your DSLR’s lens.  posted a great tutorial about the Art of Lens whacking and the site describes the practice thusly*….

Lens whacking, also called free lensing, is a method of shooting with the lens detached from the camera body. It allows light leaks, creates a tilt shift focus effect, and adds a dreamlike, vintage quality to your footage.

Here’s what a lens-whacked video looks like.  If you can master this little trick you should be able to create some seriously cool looking footage:

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Vimeo says that entire video was shot with the lens detached from the camera.  Here’s how the trick works:

Normally the only light that hits your camera’s sensor is filtered through the lens. When you remove the lens, light can hit the sensor from many different angles. If too much light is let in your image will be over-exposed and hard to make out – but if you let just a bit in, you’ll get some lovely lens flares and light leaks.

Now that you’ve read these descriptions you probably already understand how to whack your lens.  Basically you just detach your lens from your DSLR and then hold it in place while you shoot.  If you tilt it a little, light will leak in through the opening.  Vimeo does a very thorough job of describing how to correctly whack your lens so to read the full tutorial.

*Please note, “thusly” is not exactly a real word.  So every time you say it, stuck up people will think you’re dumb.  But screw those pretentious jerks because “thusly” is a fun word and you should use as much as you want.

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