Not every shoot goes according to plan…
With our personal projects, we love challenging ourselves to try new things and experiment with new gear and materials. It helps us build our toolkit, so when big client projects come around, we know exactly how to use different techniques. But sometimes, these experiments don’t play out the way we expect.
Prism Lens FX sent us a mystery box filled with their wild lens filters and four words for inspiration: royal blue, astronaut, futuristic, and jump. We were excited and came up with what we thought was a brilliant plan. If you haven’t heard of Prism Lens FX, they make filters that attach to your lens, creating unique in-camera effects, especially with direct light or reflective materials. We wanted to maximize those effects, so we decided to build a set entirely out of balloons, aiming for a shiny, reflective “balloon cave” where our model would explore and “jump” as an astronaut.
We bought 400 balloons for the shoot. Despite watching some YouTube tutorials, we quickly found ourselves overwhelmed. My fingers blistered from tying balloons, and the structure kept collapsing because we followed advice that didn’t work for us—no framework, just balloons. It felt like a disaster; everything was falling apart. David and I were ready to give up, but when our model, Ceili, arrived, we decided to push forward.
The filters—Lucid Dream FX, Halo FX, Split Kaleidoscope FX, and Moody FX—transformed the set, making it far more interesting on camera than it looked in person. We managed to hit three of the four inspiration words, but “jump” just wasn’t happening.
You can view more from that mess of a photoshoto here.
So we decided to try again. This time, we went with materials we knew: plywood and paint. David built a forced-perspective hallway, and we used Nanlite continuous lighting to create a portal-like atmosphere. The Halo FX filter added to the “lost in space” effect, with surreal blue hues playing up that royal blue feel.
Trying new things teaches you a lot; that’s how you learn. And another takeaway? Never give up. I’m so glad we were determined to try again because the results the second time around were so much better.
If you’re curious to try these filters, use our code JADAANDDAVID for 15% off at Prism Lens FX. And if you’d like to learn more about set building or creative shoot planning, check out our set-building course and creative photoshoot guide!
Model: Ceili Galante
