nice shots Cindy, are you on your tripod??
:beguiled: I envisioned a tripod up my arse!!! Lol.
No, I used my 105mm macro since it allows close focusing with VR and held the ball as far ahead of the lens as I could. My right hand held the camera. I don't know if BBF would work well in this case, but I used the regular shutter release button for both focusing and shooting. I'm not sure if I would be able to reach quite as far in front if the camera was on a tripod. But I also never tried.
The original thread/article that Nikonpup posted mentioned focusing manually. Well...forget that! I missed too many that way. I stopped down enough to keep the subject in sharp enough focus and used AF. If there is a horizon line in the pic, you can make it appear curved by positioning your subject either higher or lower within the ball. That makes more of a fisheye appearance inside the ball.
The 105mm lens just fit the 80mm ball within the frame although there were times when I didn't quite position the ball totally within the frame. You can see in one of my photos that the bottom of the ball was slightly cut off.
Not sure if using a remote would work in this case. Focusing specifically on the subject is key (VR helps immensely due to such close focusing while your outstretched arm struggles to hold still). If you focus elsewhere within the ball, the subject can appear slightly soft (not quite in focus).
If you don't yet have a ball, this 80mm one is by Merry Nine (Amazon). My first ball was also thru Amazon but was made by Amlong (also 80mm). There were too many imperfections that showed up in the Amlong ball so I don't recommend it. This Merry Nine ball is a much better quality.
If you are in a warm to hot location with the sun out, a good quality crystal ball heats up REALLY fast! Putting it in a pocket won't help because it still reacts to sunlight through some clothing. The Amlong ball wasn't as good a quality and didn't cause the heat. The better quality crystal will act like a magnifying glass that gets hot. When I was out the other day, I carried a small camera bag just for the ball. The bag was thick enough to cut the sunlight and allow the ball to cool. But the temperature was in the 40's or 50's so the ball never got hot anyway...just warm.