Those Crystal Balls

We’ve all seen marketing, I’m sure, for those crystal balls across social media recently. Are they a gimmick or can they actually enhance your creativity? Well it seems that for one Chilean photographer, Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mateos, it was something that would truly enhance his passion. Juan Carlos is the Operations Staff Astronomer at the Eastern Southern Observatory in Santiago, Chile.

Juan Carlos picked up his crystal ball at a flea market for just a few bucks, and what he did with it is incredible: –

The Galaxy in a Crystal Ball – Photo by Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mateos

The shot was caught with a Canon 6D, with a Rokinon 24mm lens mounted. It was shot at ISO 6400, 30 seconds, f/4.

Here are some crystal ball tips for you: –

Everything in the ball is reversed and flipped, so flip it back in post if you need the image inside the ball to be the right way up!

Shoot a well lit subject to overpower any glare that may occur on the ball.

Don’t shoot too narrow or you’ll lose the edges of the ball to bokeh. f/4 seems to be about right in most cases.