Lensbaby Photowalk, and Some Brief Thoughts About the Lensbaby

This past weekend I went on a Lensbaby photowalk that I found through Meetup (seriously! great site, highly recommended, especially if you're in an urban area). I already blogged a couple of photos from it, here and here.

Many people signed up to go to the photowalk, but only 4 of us actually showed up. In a lot of ways, this was awesome. It meant we could stay together, but that our group size wasn't too unwieldy to be flexible, and we didn't slow each other down too much.

We met up at the Embarcadero in SF, and 3 of the 4 of us had Lensbabies, which was the stated purpose of the photowalk. (Didn't really matter though. Photowalks are awesome.) I've written about the Lensbaby before. It's an interesting lens, kind of neither fish nor fowl. Basically it's a 50mm lens that has a curved plane of focus, and also functions like a tilt-shift lens. Kind of. What all that means is that only one spot in the image is in focus. Also there are aperture rings you have to manually insert into the lens to stop down or open up. I shot outside at f/8, because I prefer a little less blur on my Lensbaby shots. It's nice to have something that's really in focus, as the images can be a little hard on the eyes otherwise.

It was overcast and so the light was really soft, even though it was the middle of the day. That was great, as the middle of the day is usually not my favorite time to shoot.

A view of the Bay Bridge

The sun came out a bit, and then we had some blue skies.

San Francisco skyline, Lensbaby style.

After a while I loaned my Lensbaby to another Canon shooter on the walk. This gives you some idea of what the lens looks like - it's pretty small. Which is another nice thing about it.

Not a Lensbaby shot. 50mm f/2.5

It's nice being in a group of photographers, even if we do look dorky. There's permission to take a picture of something just because it might look cool.

Also not Lensbaby. 50mm f/1.8 

So, would I recommend the Lensbaby Composer? (That's the name of the model I have.) I don't know. I really like mine when I remember to use it, but it's manual focus only, and changing the aperture is a bit of a pain, although it does feel nicely old school. But it's a bit expensive for a lens I only pull out every few months. And there are fewer photos I've taken with it that I absolutely LOVE.

But I did see that they have a new 35mm optic you can switch into it (as opposed to the 50mm length of the regular Lensbaby optics). In fact, there are quite a few optics you can switch in and out (once you've bought them). Pinhole/zone plate. Plastic (for the Holga look). Fisheye (which I have, and also almost never use). Soft focus even. For the most part, I think the double glass which it comes with is the most versatile. But your mileage may vary.

You should check out the Lensbaby Gallery though. Lots of amazing and inspirational photos there.