Fish Eye Lens Photography

Who needs Instagram? Extraordinary landscapes of America captured with good old fish-eye lens By Tom Gardner These stunning images should certainly give you a new perspective on the world. Photographer Randy Scott Slavin spent months taking hundreds of shots from some of the most iconic and beautiful parts of the U.S. to create his amazing collection of landscape pictures. The 34-year-old New Yorker used hi-tech computer software to stitch a series of snaps taken with a super wide angle 'fisheye' lens into one jaw-dropping 360 degree image to make. Curved: Photographer Randy Scott Slavin captured this stunning picture of the Empire State building in New York with a fisheye lens which enables him to get all 360 degrees of the city into view Topsy turvy: This amazing photographs shows Battery Park in New York as it's never been seen before with the ground warped around the sky His post-production work can take from a full day up to a couple of weeks to finish, but resulted in the stunning Alternate Perspective series which will be exhibited in July. Randy explains: 'In my music videos, I've continually tried to take concepts to the next level, to push the ideas to be more engaging, moving and stimulating-and I approach photography with the same philosophy. 'When I began shooting landscapes, I was compelled to push the perspective. After experimenting heavily with panoramic photography, I developed a technique that could realise my desire to turn the real into the surreal. The result is something rebellious, beautiful and provocative. My 'Alternative Perspectives' series is a collection of the works culled from these photographic explorations.' Randy - a cutting edge filmmaker and music video director for bands including Foo Fighters - travelled across America to seek out landscapes for his work, taking in views ranging from California to Florida. He says that the calming nature of the work is an antidote to his fast-paced New York lifestyle. Creative: Snapper Randy Scott Slavin not only used his technique to photograph iconic landmarks across the U.S. he also captured other picturesque locations, including this dock in Westport, Connecticut On tour: The 34-year-old headed to all four corners of the U.S. as part of his Alternate Perspective, taking this picture of the Big Sur, in California He said: 'I do the work that I do because it inspires and motivates me. I will eagerly jump out of bed at 4am to catch a sunrise, to hike, climb or endure treacherous weather for the good of the shot. The effort is always worth it. 'Taking great landscape photos are extremely difficult. The photographing of the images is the actually least time consuming part of the process. What takes the longest is finding the places that are worthy of shooting and getting to the spot that's best to shoot them from. 'You can't light landscapes so it's important to figure out what the best time of day is to take a photograph. Sometimes this means long hours of waiting and watching... This is one of the most meditative parts of the process and one which I really enjoy. Being from New York City, where the pace is blistering, there's nothing better than finding a beautiful spot and just watching the light change throughout the day. Randy chooses his location in different ways; sometimes stumbling onto an ideal shot or at other times knowing exactly what he is trying to capture. 'While on a vacation with my fiancé I took the image entitled Big Sur. Northern California is a magical place where epic elements collide. It's really hard to take a bad photograph there. Vision: The New Yorker, who has also directed music videos for bands including Foo Fighters, took himself out of his comfort zone with this landscape photography project Enveloping: The Everglades, in Florida, appear to close in on the viewer in this picture, which forms part of the Alternate Perspective series by photographer Randy Scott Slavin 'We spent the day on top of a cliff and the clouds had rolled in below us. It was like being in an airplane. I ran to get my gear and just barely caught the sunset. The scene was surreal even before I touched it in post. 'I found the location for Sea and Moon while driving on the Florida coastline. I saw a jetty that looked beautiful and the sun was about an hour from setting. Perfect timing. I ran out to the end and set up my gear. 'It was beautiful and warm with a light drizzle but the sky was heavy with dark clouds. As the sun was setting there was a moment maybe lasting for ten seconds where the sunlight was so golden It felt unreal. A minute after I got the shot the clouds opened up and it started to pour.' In July, Randy will exhibit his Alternate Perspective series at the opening of a new boutique by celebrity jewellery designer and goldsmith Kristen Farrell in Soho, New York. Painstaking: Randy Scott Slavin can take up to a hundred pictures of a scene to build up a 360 degree image before using clever computer software to stitch them together to make what is called a stereographic projection Clever: Technology is used to turn sometimes hundreds of pictures, in this case Redwood trees in Big Sur, California, into a single image