Lensbaby

Little Corona del Mar (Traveling Burnside Project)

Published: Sat, Jun 16, 2018
Written by GizellaN
No comments
Categories: Blog, Burnside 35, Landscape, Lensbaby, Lensbaby Traveling Burnside Project, Photography, USA
Tags: Burnside 35, landscape, Lensbaby, Little Corona del Mar, Photography
The Lensbaby Burnside lens arrived yesterday. This morning it was low-tide, so I took the Burnside and the Velvet 56 to Little Corona del Mar (Newport Beach, CA), to one of my favorite low-tide places in Southern California.
I tested both lenses facing the same subject at all settings; with the burnside it meant using apertures F16 to F2.8, and with each aperture I used all 4 vignette settings. On the Velvet it was just the various apertures I tried.
My observations: my frame contained some cloudy skies, and with F16, F11, F8 and F5.6 the maximum vignette added too much darkness with the Burnside. I liked the maximum vignette with wider apertures, because what was darkened was also blurry (last two images).
F16
F11
F8
F5.6
F4
F2.8

Read More

The Lensbaby Traveling Burnside Project

Published: Wed, Jun 13, 2018
Written by GizellaN
No comments
Categories: Architecture, Blog, Burnside 35, Hungary, Lensbaby, Lensbaby Traveling Burnside Project, Photography
Tags: architecture, Budapest, Burnsdie 35, Hungary, Lensbaby, Parliament
A few weeks ago I got a chance to apply to participate in a project called the Traveling Burnside, and I am one of the chosen participants. Due to my summer traveling schedule I was given a special opportunity to keep the new Lensbaby lens for a longer period of time instead of just a couple of weeks. I am extremely happy about this opportunity: having this lens (and other Lensbaby lenses) with me in Hungary in the  summer will liven up my trip.
I have been taking photos in Hungary during my summer trips for over a decade, close to two. I’ve visited the same locations over and over with the hopes of capturing them from new points of view. Using the Lensbaby lenses this coming summer will definitely give me a new way of portraying my lovely birth town.Here are a few examples of how I have seen the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest in the past 8 years or so:

Read More

Greeting Spring with Lensbaby Velvet 56

Published: Sat, Mar 31, 2018
Written by GizellaN
No comments
Categories: Blog, Flower Photography, Lensbaby, Velvet 56
Tags: flower, Lensbaby, Photography, Velvet 56
During my daughter’s Spring Break we visited my in-laws in Colorado. I was very excited about taking pictures of spring flowers; it used to be my long awaited activity after the long winter when we still lived there.
I got a bit disappointed, because there were barely any flowers blooming. What do you do when yo really want to take pictures of spring flowers but they are not in bloom yet? You buy two potted tulips at the store and gift them to you mother-in-law and her neighbor. But first, you take a few pictures of them. 🙂
The following images were all created with a Velvet 56 lens, and post-processed in Photoshop using Topaz and On1 plugins. Enjoy!
Read More

Getting Up Close and Personal – with Flowers

Published: Sat, Mar 17, 2018
Written by GizellaN
No comments
Categories: Blog, Flower Photography, Lensbaby, Velvet 56
Tags: flower, Lensbaby, macro, Photography, Velvet 56
Flowers are amazing, beautiful, and I adore them. I also love to get close to them with my camera and create images that show how I feel about them.
I have a new “toy” that allows me to do this more than anything else: a Lensbaby Velvet 56 lens. This lens has become my favorite after using it just for a few hours. I’ve always wanted to create dreamy, painterly looking floral images, and this lens helps me do that.
Since it has macro abilities, you can get as close as 5cm to your subject. And at that distance you’ll find all kinds of miracles. You can, for example separate one tiny, budding Geranium bloom from all the others and see it like this:

Read More

Practicing with the Lensbaby Sweet 50

Published: Sat, Feb 10, 2018
Written by GizellaN
No comments
Categories: Blog, Flower Photography, Lensbaby, Photography, Sweet 50 or 35
Tags: flower, Lensbaby, Photography, Sweet 50
I’m ready to play! After years and years of chasing tack sharp images, I’m looking forward to trying something else. I am on an adventure to find out what magical things I can create with the Lensbaby lenses.
I first heard about these lenses six-eight years ago from my father-in-law, but at that time I didn’t look into them. Then last Fall I watched two of Kathleen Clemons’ CreativeLive.com classes about flower photography*, and she also mentioned how much she loved these lenses. So here I am, owning and learning my first system – the Composer Pro II with the Sweet 50 optic.

Read More