Owl Camera Lens Buddy

If I ask Lucky to "Say Cheese!" he will frequently grin and say cheese... but not in the direction of my camera lens.   My almost 3 year old understands I want to take a picture, but not exactly where to look.  When I saw patterns for some crochet lens buddies I knew that this was something I needed to try for myself.

The free owl camera lens buddy pattern is simple enough that if it doesn't work to attract the attention of my kids then I wouldn't have wasted too much time.  Anything is worth a shot, and if it works then I'll have to make more!

I grabbed some remnant yarns from my stash (stash busting, woot!) and my size H crochet hook.  This is slightly different than directed by the pattern but I am using worsted weight yarn (Wool of the Andes in Spruce, Semolina, White and Coal) and I know I like the gauge with this hook.

I just discovered that this project uses a hair tie to give it some stretch.  This is genius!  I don't know why I thought that it would just need to be carefully sized to fit a specific lens.  With the hair elastic in the center the lens buddy can stretch to fit almost any lens.

I made the eyes with a size E (3.5 mm) hook.  Most eyes I've crocheted only used two colors.  I really like this three color version and plan to use them again in the future.

I even embroidered catch lights on the eyes.  How cute is this!  I am part of an off camera flash facebook group (even though I do not yet have any off camera flashes) and I think that has helped my compositions improve but now I find myself looking for catch lights in all of my photos.

I selected this owl lens buddy crochet pattern because I thought the ear feather tassels were just so adorable.  Hopefully they will attract the eyes of my children.

Looking at the finished lens buddy, the color choices feel a little Green Bay Packers to me.  I promise that this is 100% unintentional.  I am a Patriots girl at heart.

Of course I had to take a picture of it with my camera.  It doesn't get in my way so now I'll just have to see if the boys like it.  It was hard to focus on my lens and kep the lens buddy straight up and down.  Overall I think it might attract some attention from my boys.  What do you think?

After nap I went to photograph Lucky and Rowdy together.  Lucky wasn't that into it but he got a big grin when I whipped out this owl lens buddy.  I was able to get a few shots with him looking and telling him to look at the owl was easier than telling him to look at the camera.  I may need to make some other varieties of these to keep them fresh, but hopefully it will help me in my photography project with the boys.

Besides this lens buddy, I like to sing songs and mess up the words on purpose.  This usually will get a giggle from Lucky and he'll look in my direction.  (Baby Rowdy will smile from just silly sounds and eye contact.)  How do you get your kids to look at the camera?  I'd love to hear any tips you have!