Another for kali's challenge to dust off my least used bit of kit and use it for three days. Our cattle are predominantly Black Angus, which are, in my opinion, boring to photograph. I did like how the lensbaby blur softened their uniformity and created some soft interest in the ground. After using this particular Composer Pro and lens I do think it's a good thing I also got the other Composer Pro in my eBay bidding, as this one is really quite wonky and struggles finding it's focus position. Makes some fun softness and bokeh though.
Black Angus are certainly tough animals to photograph with the black absorbing all the light.
The Lensbaby has really added interest here though!
Well done!
I really like the DoF to put all the focus on the one girl.
@30pics4jackiesdiamond The lenses can be a bit challenging with a crop sensor camera, but once you learn you can't tilt them too much, they are fun to use. I think the problem I am having is with the Composer Pro, which is the part that holds the different lenses. I broke my original Composer by dropping it. It was a short fall but the impact broke the pins that hold in the lens. Lensbaby had stopped making the Composer Pro, and the newer one was more costly than I wanted for a replacement so I went to eBay where I found two up for bid. I won one auction, lost the other, and then the other buyer didn't honor the sale, and I picked up the second one. Good thing as one works great and is holding my Edge 80. This one I'm struggling with came with the Sweet 50 lens, and it doesn't work quite right. It's loose and the lens doesn't seat very well.
I see Lensbaby now has refurbished Composer Pros (that's one of the seats available that hold the various lenses). In retrospect maybe I should have gone that way, but I don't use it much as my family isn't a fan of the blur. Bottom line ... there is a bit of a learning curve, but if you remember not to tilt too much if you are using a crop sensor camera, they aren't hard to use.
@30pics4jackiesdiamond If you are looking for interesting lens effects, have you seen the Helios 44-2 lens? It would be a manual lens and you would need an adapter, but I see other Pentax photographers use this lens. They are pretty inexpensive on ebay and have great swirly bokeh.
@aecasey for your challenge how do you feel about a challenge I have given that seemed to be fun - Go for a walk and hold your camera at either waist height or on the top of your head, walk and take a photo every few metres, 5 photos seems a good number - combine the results into a collage
The Lensbaby has really added interest here though!
Well done!
I really like the DoF to put all the focus on the one girl.
I see Lensbaby now has refurbished Composer Pros (that's one of the seats available that hold the various lenses). In retrospect maybe I should have gone that way, but I don't use it much as my family isn't a fan of the blur. Bottom line ... there is a bit of a learning curve, but if you remember not to tilt too much if you are using a crop sensor camera, they aren't hard to use.