Lensbaby for iPhone-Kickstarter Campaign

 by: Kristina Rust Photography

I have a Lensbaby Composer Pro and love it (I wrote about it a year ago here).  It is such a fun lens and really allows me to push my creative boundaries.  So when I heard that Lensbaby started a Kickstarter Campaign for an iPhone version, I had to check it out (and share the info with you!).

Lensbaby launched a Kickstarter Campaign this week in response to the many request they have received over the years to develop a version of the lens for mobile phones.  They know how much we all love using our mobile phones to capture our everyday lives. 

Kickstarter backers can purchase this lens for $50 (which is $20 less than what it will retail once it goes to market). And like all their products it will come with a 30 day money back guarantee.

So if you are a fan of Lensbaby or have been wanting to "see in a new way", do check out their Kickstarter Campaign.

In addition to writing about photography tips and tricks here at Moms Who Click, you can also find me musing about my latest photography projects and client work on my website Kristina Rust Photography, Facebook Page and Google+.

Lensbaby Spark Review: From our Lensbaby Spark winner, Cheryl Crotty

At Moms Who Click we are definitely having some fun with Lensbaby (@SeeInANewWay).  A few months ago we had a Lensbaby Spark giveaway on our blog.  Our winner, Cheryl Crotty, got her 'Spark' just before heading off on vacation.  She provided me with some of her Lensbaby images and a quick review of the lens.

I really liked it but it does take a bit of practice.   It's different and adds some fun photos to my files.  I loved the lightness of it for travel and also it was really easy to handle once I figured out how to move it.  It is a really fun lens to have in your bag.  When going on a shoot I surely would recommend it.   I will continue to practice with it and hopefully will have that "Ah ha" moment when it all comes together like magic.

Check out her images below, and to find out more about the Lensbaby Spark for only $80 click here.

Guest Post by Jessica Maleski--5 Quick Tips For Using Your Lensbaby

We are super excited to have Jessica Maleski back to give us some tips on using a Lensbaby. If you missed her early post on why she loves this creative lens, be sure to click here.  Jessica's tips below are perfect for those of you starting out with this very fun lens and have helped me tremendously! Thank you Jessica for sharing you know-how with us and for continuing to inspire us all!

So, after all the talk around here about Lensbabies have you run out and bought one? Kristina did and took some amazing shots of her lovely daughter (http://www.momswhoclick.com/2013/04/lensbaby-love-wordless-wednesday.html)!

If you have played around with one than you know they can be a little tricky. Since the Lensbaby contains no electronic parts, it can’t talk to your camera. You are in manual territory on focus, and with some cameras, metering and exposure as well.  If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the Lensbaby learning curve, here are 5 quick tips to help you get off to a good start with this fun little lens.

FOCUS

1. You must clearly see what you are trying to focus on.

If the camera’s diopter is adjusted for your eyes, then what you see in the viewfinder will more  accurately reflect what the camera sees. On most cameras the diopter is the little wheel next to the viewfinder. To adjust it, look through your viewfinder at a blank white wall and slowly turn the diopter adjustment dial until the lines in the viewfinder are at their darkest.

2. Make the in-focus area larger.

It’s best to start out using a medium aperture of f5.6 and up. The smaller the aperture the greater the area that remains in focus. A large “sweet spot”  is easier to keep in focus and even see as you bend the lens around.

3. Keep the focus in the center.

In the beginning, resist the urge to bend the lens or you’ll be left wondering where the “sweet spot” went. As you practice with your Lensbaby, slowly bend the lens outward more and more. You’ll soon develop a feel for where to look in the viewfinder based on how you’ve bent the lens.

4. Use the Live View screen on your camera.

If you have mounted your camera on a tripod, then use the live view screen to get the best possible focus. Not only can you see better since the screen is larger than the viewfinder, but you can always zoom in. By zooming in you can locate the sweet spot with great accuracy and make it as sharp as possible. And the double glass optic as well as the Sweet 35 and Edge 80 are very sharp lenses.

EXPOSURE

5. Learn to love the histogram and the clipped highlights warning screens!

Check your guesstimate for exposure using these two screens. They will help you adjust shutter speed and ISO as necessary in order to get the best possible exposure. Look for a nice bell shaped histogram with few, if any, points at the very ends of the graph. Also, make sure there are no flashing warnings for clipped highlights.

Above all, get out there with your Lensbaby and practice! I highly recommend leaving the lens on your camera for a week or two and practice taking random shots throughout the day. You will begin to develop a feel for what the exposure should be based on various conditions and you will grow to love manual focus. The Lensbaby’s manual selective focus gives you so much more creative control over your subject matter. And for some of us, that’s what photography is all about!

-- Jessica Maleski is a photographer in the Washington D.C. area. She blogs at Living in a Still Life even though, with seven children her life is anything but still. She is in the final quarter of a collaborative 365 project with a long-time flickr friend at Call and Response. Sometimes she posts things on flickr, sometimes on g+ and often on instagram -- and is desperately trying to figure out a logical way to do all that!

Lensbaby Love--Wordless Wednesday

by Kristina

If you missed our post yesterday from Jessica Maleski on the Lensbaby, you should definitely go and check it out.  She is the reason why I finally decided to take the Lensbaby leap.  Mine arrived late Monday afternoon and I was so excited to give it a try.

While I'm still getting the hang of it, I'm finding it to be much easier to use than the Lensbaby Spark or Lensbaby Composer Pro Double Optic (I had the chance to test out both of those before)....just my personal opinion...I'm sure with practice they would be great too.

I can't wait to shoot more creative images with this lens.  I love the way the bokeh creates such a dreamy, artistic look.  So fun!

Guest Post--Jessica Maleski on Why She Loves Her Lensbaby

We are so very excited to have a guest post today from the wonderful Jessica Maleski. I "met'' Jessica through Kim Klassen's online courses...yep, she is a fellow "groupie."

Jessica is an amazing photographer who loves her Lensbaby collection almost as much as her seven real babies. Living in a Still Life is her personal blog full of more musings about photography and art and how to fit it all in between carpool and after-school activities. You can also find her on Twitter , G+ and Instagram. And on top of all this, she is also in the midst of a collaborative 365 photo project that you can follow along with at Call & Response. She is one busy mama!

Thank you Jessica for sharing your gorgeous work with us and we look forward to hearing more from you. 

P.S. After seeing your images and reading your post below, I ordered the Lensbaby Sweet 35 (thanks for the creative nudge).

You may have seen the Lensbaby Spark contest on Mom’s who Click last month and wondered why anybody would want a lens that’s designed to be blurry. Well, the short answer is because, as Texas photographer Keith Carter puts it, “sharpness is overrated.”

The long answer admits that while sharpness has its place, so does blur. The idea behind the Lensbaby is not to just document reality but rather to evoke an emotion -- to manipulate the focus within the scene in order to direct the viewer to what you think is important.  

With a standard lens you may stand in front of your subject and ask, “what do I see?”; with a Lensbaby you stand in front of your subject and ask, “what do I feel?” This is what the Lensbaby slogan, “see in a new way” means to me.

But that’s not to say that there are limits on subjects. Any subject looks good and is appropriate for any of the Lensbaby optics.  It’s all a matter of what mood you are trying to evoke. And there is certainly no limit to moods: nostalgic, romantic, forbidding, wishful, dark, mysterious.

But can’t you just get the same look through post-processing? Can’t you fake it in Photoshop? Maybe. Well, yes, to some degree. You can get the tilt-shift type look and you can also go back in and add layers of blur through masking. And we all know there are 101 different actions to add flare to photos. But the mechanics of the lens create something that Photoshop really can’t.

The Lensbaby works by bending the lens around the focal plane. That’s what makes the sweet spot of focus move around the frame. As the focal plane bends it causes a bit of distortion in the image especially around the edges of the frame. That distortion creates a sense of motion and a smearing of color that is difficult to accomplish in post-processing.

But that doesn’t mean post-processing can’t be used to enhance the final product. Textures and other photographic processes can all be used on Lensbaby images to good effect.

So, why do you want a Lensbaby? Because blur is what moves a photograph from a documentation of reality to an expression of an idea. The Lensbaby is a tool to help you create art.

@Lensbaby Spark Giveaway: Moms Who Click Review

We have a wonderful Lensbaby Spark (value, $80.00) to giveaway to ONE LUCKY WINNER.  See below for more details.

I was lucky to have the chance to shadow Laura Tillinghast on a recent Lensbaby photo shoot "Product Spotlight" a couple of weeks ago.  Laura tested the Lensbaby Composer Pro with Sweet Optic 35.   Laura is a professional photographer and part of the Pro Team at Zenfolio.  And Zenfolio just happens to be where my blogging partner Kristina and I both separately host our own studio websites.  It is through Zenfolio that I met Laura who teaches a variety of photography classes (Click see the list here).  

I was fortunate to receive a Lensbaby Spark to test out for Moms Who Click.  I have heard a lot about Lensbaby products from other photographers I follow including Alex Beadon.  Now that I've played with one I have to say,  I am totally hooked.

It is SO much fun and simple.  In this case just install the lens as you normally would to your DSLR.  Lensbaby Spark is a 50mm lens with a fixed aperture of f/5.6.  

Once your lens is in place you will need to set your camera to full manual mode.  While the Spark has a fixed focal length of 50mm, because of the flexible nature of the lens you can bend, extend or contract it until you find the sweet spot you're hoping to achieve.

Straight out of the camera results are amazing.  But you can further enhance, define, refine and highlight once you get the image into your favorite editing software.

To the right are a few examples I put together to show the same set up (except I did move the object on the right to a different plane in the top and bottom images).  

By just bending the lens to the left, center or right I was able to get a sharper focus wherever you see the red circle. Below are a few more examples using the Spark.  I deliberately picked images that had text in them to highlight the focus.

[The quote on the mug is based on the hilarious BBC Show, The IT Crowd.]

From the book, "The Four-Hour Chef"

For more information on how to use the Lensbaby Spark see the video below.




GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

1. Moms Who Click is pleased to giveaway ONE Lensbaby Spark to one of our readers
2. Please leave a comment below telling us what you will be using your Lensbaby Spark to photograph PLUS an email address for us to contact in case you are the winner.  No email means we cannot contact you and will pick another winner.  
3. For a second entry please LIKE our Facebook Page at http://www.facebook.com/MomsWhoClick if you haven't already
4. For a third entry please LIKE the Lensbaby Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/seeinanewway if you haven't already
5. We will notify the winner the week of February 18th.  We will ask for your model DSLR camera (Nikon F or Canon EF Mounts only)
6. We will hold the drawing one week from today, on Monday February 18th President's Day!  Good luck!

CLICK HERE TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENT

And by the way, to learn more about Zenfolio and to download a free eBook click here "Creating a Photography Website That Works For You"