Pantyhose!?!

Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 9

I was talking to my grandma today and she told me that in a book this photographer used black pantyhose for a filter. Can this really work or is it just something in a book?

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 2:36 pm

Yes they do work. I have used them in place of a soft focus filter when shooting portraits as they work good at hiding skin imperfections.

Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 9

Do you mean like freakles on a persons face or something

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 2:51 pm

They work fine. I usually buy the fabric (Tulle) in a fabric store and rubberband it onto the lens barrel.

I use white fabric when I shoot high key, and black fabric the rest of the time.

I'll usually cut a small hole in the center (about 1/2" diameter) so that I don't get too much diffusion.

They work well, very cheap, but not so repeatable. Mostly I use a Ziess Softar II, but I keep some tulle on hand just in case.

The stuff is cheap enough that you can afford to play with it--give it a try.

Good Luck

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 2:51 pm

Not so much freckels but pot marks, blemishes, age spots, some scars and stuff like that.

Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 9

thank you all!!!

Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:11 pm

name thief!

Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:33 am

If you shoot b & w, then an orange filter is a "freckle filter".

Joined: 28 Jan 2004 Posts: 458 Location: Seattle, wa

For B&W pantyhose can be used as a diffution wile printing. This will do the oposit of using it wile shooting ie insted of the lights bleading into the darks, the darks with bleed into the lights. I have done this but don't anymore. Then agen I don't use softfocus for anything anymore =)

P.S. for B&W a green filter will help get rid of blemmeshes (not freckles).

Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 28 Location: Montana

so with the pantyhose do you stretch it across the lense, or just like lay it over and rubber band it on? sounds like a cool cheap alternative..

Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:56 am

"no, honestly honey,.... i just keep woman's pantyhose in my briefcase for work! The photographers use it!..... no i'm not having an affair!...."

that's the conversation that came to head when i heard this... but very interesting... i never knew this. :)