Lens Skins – pretty up your photo gear
Wildlife photographers have had camouflage for their equipment for years now, but now photographers have the option of prettying up their photo gear as well. Lens Skins (affiliate) are vinyl cut-outs that fit the shape and contours of a wide variety of lenses, and come in a huge variety of designs. The Lens Skins easily attach, and are easy to peel off again.
I was curious about getting one for my one lens – wondering whether people would react differently to a pretty camera rather than the menacing bulk of a big camera and lens. The Lens Skins are spendy, but my curiosity was piqued enough to get one.
Sometimes I feel like the photo-geek version of The Terminator when I arrive at a client’s home with two Nikon D3 bodies slung over my shoulders, each with an f2.8 zoom lens and flash. Maybe this psychedelic flowery pattern would be an ice breaker. And true enough, this lens is a conversation starter – kids to older folks ask me about it and strike up conversations. So perhaps it makes me look less intimidating. Really, who can be afraid of this big bad wolf when his camera looks pretty?
This was snapped by my friend Josh Lynn earlier this year when I shot a wedding with him. I couldn’t resist hamming it up a bit. The rain came down hard, hence the tiny umbrella. Well, I wish the umbrella had been larger, but it is what I had with me.
If you’re interested in seeing the variety of Lens Skins (affiliate) available, check out this affiliate link to see what is available for your lenses.
LOL,
you look cute, just because of the flower skin :D
… and if I hid in a field of psychedelic flowers, you’d never even see me.
haha this is so great!!! I wouldn’t guess it was your camera! :)
Really Neil? Really?
:)
Not quite the same, but in a similar vein, when shooting photos of children, my wife often uses an “owl” that she made, which fits around the front of her lens – so instead of a big camera and lens (especially true when working with a 70-200mm f/2.8), the kids see an owl with big round eyes. She has been doing some jobs shooting photos for daycare centres, where you inevitably find kids who are scared of the camera – the owl has been a great icebreaker – which is a real aid when she has to ration her time to spending no more than 5 minutes per child and getting at least 10 keepers of each child, with enough variation in the shots for parents to want to buy an album.
Geoff … excellent idea.
Come on. You must be kidding. It looks like something a 5th grade girl puts on her locker and laptop. People can’t really be spending money on this.
hmmmmmm… no offense but you need to re-think the lens skin print. How about something that looks boyly boy instead of girly girl, thoughts? All in all, I like the idea.
Yes Geoff, that’s a darn great idea.
I shoot small schools of kids photos also, and some kids simply don’t see a harmless lens, they see a stranger with a big black camera pointing at them and unfortunately out of necessity,in this day and age, have been taught to not ‘smile for the strange man with a camera’. Great ice-breaker all right.
soooooo…. when is the missus going to put up a website selling these little trinkets? :) lol
Trev.
I do a lot of volunteer work at the local elementary school in my area…Wonder if I could get a lens skin with Sponge Bob Square-Pants??? Bahahahahahaha :)