Photo: Bryon Paul McCartneyMany of our students have heard me talk about the Lensbaby and my appreciation for this creative lens. For those of you new to the Lensbaby, I suggest you check out their website. There are now three types of Lensbaby lenses and I am not ashamed to say that I own all three.

The Lensbaby concept is simple and mimics the workings of a traditional view camera or tilt-shift lens, allowing you to freely adjust the focus ‘sweet spot’ of the lens for creative, selective focus effect.

The ‘Muse’ is the most basic Lensbaby. It requires that you hold your camera and adjust the flexible lens at the same time. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you master the technique, it is quite easy to use.

The ‘Control Freak’ works the same way as the Muse, except you have the added advantage of being able to lock the lens in a fixed position. This is great for shots where you want to repeat the same effect while making adjustments to lighting or you need to wait for a perfect moment.

Photo: Bryon Paul McCartneyThe ‘Composer’ is the most recent Lensbaby and it uses a ball and socket design to allow you to swivel the lens into different positions to experience different selective focus effects. You can also lock the Composer into specific positions. The latest versions of the Lensbaby line-up also include a new ‘optic-swap’ system, which allows you to use up to four different optics with your Lensbaby, giving you the choice of double glass, single glass, pinhole/zone and plastic optics. Changing the optic you use can have dramatic effects on how your final images will look. My personal preference is for the plastic optic which produces a milky almost dream-like effect.

If you are looking for a fun way to give you images some kick, you should definitely check out a Lensbaby. We will offer a class on how to use the Lensbaby on 19 November. For class details, click here.