About a week ago a friend of mine asked me if I could demonstrate the different looks various lenses can create of the same subject – including the Burnside. I picked a rose in my brother’s garden for my subject, and used four different lenses: Nikon 35mm, Lensbaby Burnside 35, LB Velvet 56, and LB Sweet 35. Please don’t expect this post to be a complete test of the 4 lenses; my goal was to give a good indication about the various looks you can achieve. I haven’t done any post processing on the following images. I will show a few images from each of the four lenses, then later in the post I’l put them next to each other for an easier comparison.

First, I’d like to show you three images I took with the Nikon 35mm lens, which is an automatic focus, prime lens. I got as close to the subject as I could, which was about 10″ (click to enlarge).

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After trying out the Burnside on the gorgeous architecture of Budapest, I’d like to post again about my favorite subject: flower photography.
One day last week I walked around in my dad’s garden and found some very pretty flowers. I added a macro filter to the Burnside lens to be able to get even closer to the blooms. The Burnside allows you to get as close as 6″ from your subject, but adding a +1, +2, +4 or +10 macro filter lets you get even closer. I forgot to record it, but I believe I used the +10 or +4 filter for the first 3 images on this page. They were all shot handheld.

 

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Another gorgeous morning in Budapest on Saturday… I visited City Park to continue testing the Lensbaby Burnside 35 lens.
The first shot of the day turned out wonderful. I tried a silhouette picture of the Heroes’ Square statues, and this is what I got. I LOVE the birds in the image. Although there is a distortion on the left side, since it is a silhouette, it works for me.
​My next stop was a closer image of the statues of the Seven chiefs of the Magyars. I experimented with the different vignette settings, and I’ll let you decide if you prefer this picture with a little or with a lot of vignette.

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The weather finally cooperated and I visited the Buda Castle District to try out the Burnside 35 on my second favorite subject: architecture.
I walked around Matthias Church, Fisherman’s Bastion and the Maria Magdalena Tower. As I had mentioned it in a previous post, I prefer to visit the Castle District in the early hours, before the tourist groups show up. It feels like a very different place when it’s quiet, peaceful, and only a few people (who live there) walk on the streets.

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I checked the bus schedules last night. I put my camera gear together and gathered my clothes as well. I wanted to leave early for the city. (I stay in a suburb of Budapest, where I grew up. I need to travel 45-60 minutes to reach downtown Budapest.)
At 3 am it started raining, and my plans fell through. I am very spoiled by the weather where I live, in Southern California. It barely rains there (not good for the nature, of course), and I can plan photo walks for basically any time. But not in Hungary.
Mid-morning the rain finally stopped, but it stayed cloudy and with a chance of further rain. Instead of going to downtown I stayed and photographed my dad’s flowers. This time I am posting my edited photos only – my photo artistry includes post processing.
All of the below images were taken with the Burnside 35, at F2.8 or F4. Post processing was done in Lightroom, Nik Efex and On1 Effects.
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