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Kaleidoscopic Images
ave you ever thought about taking pictures through a kaleidoscope? It’s pretty much impossible because the viewfinder is so small. But the intriguing designs and colors are breathtaking, and I’ve always wanted to be able to capture the abstractions. Many years ago before the digital revolution, I made a kaleidoscope for photography. I had a glass shop cut three pieces of mirror 6 x 12 inches each. I then used duct tape and taped them together with the mirrored surface inside the triangle. By placing a wide angle lens inside, the result was a kaleidoscopic interpretation of anything the camera could see. The wider the lens, the more facets you’d get in the image. The picture at right shows a layout of colored construction paper photographed through my makeshift kaleidoscope. In the 1980’s, I thought this was really cool. Fast forward to today There are now software programs that will turn any photograph you have in your collection into myriad kaleidoscopic designs. The software I recommend is Filter Forge (filterforge.com). I’ve written about this program in past issues, but not in the context of kaleidoscope patterns. Filter Forge gives you access to over 13,000 filters (really). Several of them are designed for different kinds of kaleidoscopic patterns. When you buy the program (it’s a one-time fee, not
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a subscription), you can search for various types of filters. For example, when you enter the keyword ‘kaleidoscope’ in the search box, you can choose one or all of the following: GF Super Kaleidoscope Art Deco 2 - kaleidoscope Kaleidoscope Window Supreme Kaleidoscope Grungy Kaleidoscope Ornate Kaleidoscope Art Nouveau The Black and White Kaleidoscope Machine Kaleidoscope Kaleidoscopic Funky Kaleidoscope Kaleidoscopic Effects ... and there’s more
