I’m a member of a Facebook group called Lensbaby Blog Circle. The idea is that we all write a blog post once every month that documents a day or project shooting with a Lensbaby lens. This is my post for July. You can follow the rest of the circle at the bottom of this post.
Mmm, the monthly Lensbaby blog. What to shoot? What to write? Usually, I like to include a good mix of both words and pics. This month may be different – let’s see how it goes. l only got out once with this lens in July – so far, and here are the results.
I do try to get out and shoot people as often as I can but because of life commitments – theirs and mine, it doesn’t happen as much as I’d like.
However earlier this month, Tony, Mary, Rachel and myself did manage to get a few hours together to shoot. This project would involve all the photo gear – cameras, a variety of lenses, triggers, receivers, softboxes, reflectors, lights, light stands and some kind of theme. But I did pack the Edge 80 and managed to get a few shots with that. Here is a selection of them.
“There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.”
― Edgar Allan Poe
Usually, on my photoshoots, I like to keep it simple. Pick a theme. Pick a location. Pick a colour. This day, the (loose) theme was femininity, the location, an old church, and the colour was red.
Thanks to Rachel and Mary for all the rolling around on the cold dusty stones, and the hands. I have a thing about hand placement. 🙂
Except for some colour correction, I use minimal editing as there is often not a lot to do when shooting with the Lensbaby. I composed tight to bring the viewer closer to the scene so that they could almost be a part of it, and the moment.
I wanted Rachels hair to be blowing free and her eye to peep out from under it. It was a happy accident that the wall on the right side stayed in focus while the left side is blurred out. I usually shoot with the edge 80 wide open. It’s sometimes tricky to get in focus, what you actually want in focus.
Often when you look at a photo, you instinctively know it needs to be another way. I rotated this shot because I believe it works better this way up. I’ve done this before and sometimes it’s all the difference a photo needs to make it “right”. I’d suggest trying it with some of your images. it’s easy to do in Lightroom – just hit Cmd/Ctrl + square bracket.
I grabbed this shot below while Tony was working with the girls. I liked the moment they were creating. It’s a composite of 2 shots – both taken a few seconds apart but with two areas in relative focus. It was a bit of a rush job and I know I could have done it better – but, there you go. :-/
And lastly, one more upside down shot. I’ve often found that doing this can often change the expression on a persons face. So that’s my Lensbaby post for this month. Short and sweet!
Feel free to leave a comment or share this post. I’m quite happy to share my Lensbaby and ICM tips and tricks with anyone on the workshops I hold. Follow along the blog circle and read the next contributor.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Read The next Lensbaby Blog: Seonaid Teal [/perfectpullquote]
