Lensbabies

[Earl53]

http://www.lensbabies.com/index.php?r=betterphoto_20070116&DCMP=OTC-SNAP

Anyone seen this or have one? Check out the gallery on the 3G.

Paul

[mags]

ooooo i want one :whistle3:

That looks like great fun.

Mags

[lostmysnorkel]

Have read about them before - but forget where!

People seem to either love them or hate them, althoug hfrom what I gather it depends on whether you are:

a) Trying to create the effects in-camera at time of shooting
b) Prefer to add oyur artistic effects later on in Photoshop or similar.

To be fair, you can recreate the same, or at least very similar, in photoshop quite easily, so it would depend on whether you are in the 'a' or 'b' school of thought

[tonymidd]

Have read about them before - but forget where!

People seem to either love them or hate them, althoug hfrom what I gather it depends on whether you are:

a) Trying to create the effects in-camera at time of shooting
b) Prefer to add oyur artistic effects later on in Photoshop or similar.

To be fair, you can recreate the same, or at least very similar, in photoshop quite easily, so it would depend on whether you are in the 'a' or 'b' school of thought

I'm in the 'b' school, they seem expensive, especially the latest version, for a gimick you'll probably tire of quite quickly and from the results I've seen at Focus and the like the quality leaves much to be desired.

[FDPiech]

I've got one of the v2 models and I have a buddy that has one of the v3's.

Lens babies are GREAT fun.

You can see a few of her shots here:
http://www.silverlakephoto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4691&highlight=lensbaby

[lostmysnorkel]

Lens babies are GREAT fun.



Yeah, they look like fun, but for serious work how would they stand up? Think I'm in Tony's boat on these......

....but having said that, if you can produce 'Fine Art Photography' with a cheap, plastic, toy camera then what the hell, Thelma?

[tonymidd]

Yeah, they look like fun, but for serious work how would they stand up? Think I'm in Tony's boat on these......

....but having said that, if you can produce 'Fine Art Photography' with a cheap, plastic, toy camera then what the hell, Thelma?

Ah! that depends if you class out of focus, soft, fuzzy, high contrast images as fine art. Holga's and pin hole cameras strike me as the emperors clothes, beauty is definitely not in the eye of this beholder.
I get the distinct impression that a lot of this sort of work is promoted by togs and curators who can't do the job properly. One does have to wonder at the people who pay good money for what if produced in the average photography course would end up in the waste bin.
Rant over!!!!!

[FDPiech]

Well... my 2p... I'm an "A" type shooter who's more then capable (as you all know) of doing "B" type effects.

The Lensbaby "look" is much harder to create than it looks at first glace. Yes.. you may be able to do somewhat similar things in PS, but there is an an inherent quality to a real lens baby shot that is kind of hard to explain unless you've printed one off large. It's not just blur... it's not just out of focus... it's not just distortion... It's one of those "intangible" things. It's an inherent quality not dissimilar to a Lomo or a Holga shot. It's one of those things that try as you may... is nearly impossible to recreate and really fool someone.

Look at this for example I shot this down on the Florida Gulf coast last summer... just mucking around with the baby.

Bear in mind this was shot at 2.0 wide open to get the max of the "lensbaby" look...

17784

I don't know... It's hard to explain. I'm not trying to sell you one. Heck... I could care less. But if you're one of those "creative" types who wants to try something really different to flex that creative muscle you've got... then this might just be another wrench for your tool box.

If it does nothing else for you creativly, it will teach you to look at things just that little bit differently.

Those of us who do not push ourselves outside the box we feel is comfortable are destined to meritocracy.

[FDPiech]

Here is another one...

Actor Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber) on stage last Aug at the venue I shoot for...

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This image actually made it to the front page of the Entertainment section of the Memphis paper.