posted by Charles Mazel
The Lensbaby line of special effects lenses was the subject of our March 27 2018 Technical Series meeting. Emily Hojnowski, head educator at Hunt's Photo, brought knowledge, enthusiasm, and a collection of lenses and props! She opened the meeting with a slide show overview of the Lensbaby line. They are all prime, fully manual lenses, and each one has its own characteristics of blur, 'twist', 'glow', tilt shift, and more.
Many of the BCA members brought their camera bodies, and Emily had a good selection of lenses with mounts for different camera types (Nikon, Fuji, Canon, etc.). We chose lenses and then went over to the prop tables to experiment. Emily circulated to advise, teach, and troubleshoot.
Whether or not you think you would want to add these effects to your tool kit, it was a great learning experience and a good time was had by all. I personally tried a Composer Pro II (tilt shift) with the Sweet 50 optic and found that I liked the effect I got shooting portraits. First, a shot of Emily at work.
Now a small gallery of portraits that I shot with the Sweet 50, and a shot of flowers by Bob Bass with the Velvet 56.
