Canon 60D, Lensbaby Composer, Double-Glass Optic, Heart-shaped aperture, 1/80 sec at ISO 250

Yesterday afternoon I traveled out to Park City with my friend Dave (a.k.a. dav.d). We walked around, took a few photos and talked with a few other photographers too (I may have even convinced someone to buy the 60D, lol). I didn’t make too many photos, but this one is my favorite … Dave and his mohawk! I totally love my Lensbaby and need to use it more often.

In other random news I have some new fun gear coming my way soon that I’m super excited about. It’s basically some equipment I’ve wanted for a while and a super good offer fell into my lap that I just couldn’t refuse … it’s used, but still super rad. I’ll post more on that when I have it in-hands. :)

Canon 60D, Lensbaby Composer, Double-Glass Optic with heart-shaped aperture, 0.4 seconds, ISO 100

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend and that your week is filled with family, food and fun! My posts will be sparse this week as I catch up on editing and other random chores around the house … but the first week of January I’ll be back with the book-giveaway drawing (check out the post and enter here!), video tutorials and some more behind-the-scenes of my photo-shoots.

Have a great week everyone!

Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer lens, Double-Glass optic, 1/160 sec at ƒ/5.6, ISO 100

This photo was taken at the iStock event a few weeks ago here in Salt Lake City. It has very little editing done to it, although I do admit to a little bit of tooth lengthening to make it look like she has fangs. :) We had an amazing makeup artist that day, Chris Hanson, who also did the makeup for the models in a few of last week’s blog posts (Monkey and Mime).

I used a Lensbaby for this shot, along with many other images throughout the day, and was able to get really amazing focus on a lot of them. Anyone who says that you can’t get a sharp image with a Lensbaby hasn’t used one long enough to get it right. I’ve been trying to use my Lensbaby Composer as much as possible and I’m learning it’s one of those pieces of equipment that really takes practice to get the hang of it.

So if you have a Lensbaby and are frustrated—don’t give up! It is possible to get great focus with it. My one tip would be to compose, focus, take the shot … then re-focus and do it again and again with the same setup. Even if I think I nailed focus I usually refocus and take the same shot a few more times just to make sure (especially if I like the composition). I still miss focus, but the more I use the lens the fewer “bad” shots I end up taking. I really enjoy using my Lensbaby and find that it changes the way I see my images and compose the shots … doing it in the editing process just wouldn’t create the same experience for me.

Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer, Double-Glass Optic, 1/125 sec at ƒ/5.6, ISO 100

This is a photo from this weekend’s iStock photo event organized by Todd and Renee Keith (http://www.bellaora.com). I had a fantastic time and got some really amazing images from the event and will be posting more images from it throughout the week.

One thing I did during the event was I challeneged myself as much as possible. On the first day of the event (Friday) at the SLC Library I only shot with my 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens. The next day I did all but one set with my Lensbaby Composer, and yesterday I used my 70-200mm ƒ/4L IS lens for all but one location (one room was just too small to use that focal length).

Of all of the lenses I used the Lensbaby-day was the most challenging, since it’s tough to get perfect focus on every shot but one thing about that lens is that when it is focused it’s CRAZY sharp. It was also dark in the room and we were using studio lights for nearly every shot, so that of course made it even more difficult, but I really like the results I got and can’t wait to get them all edited. :)

Click on the image to view full-size
Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer, Double Glass Optic
LEFT: 1/400 sec at ƒ/4, ISO 100
RIGHT: 1/160 sec w/ Star aperture, ISO 100

Everyone knows that the Lensbaby can create beautiful blur, but did you also know that they can be really sharp, too? I will admit that takes some practice to get tack-sharp in-focus shots every time, but I thought it would be good to show you guys that yes … it can be done.

I try to use my Lensbaby often, and I’m getting to the point where I can focus pretty quickly and accurately … well, I at least get it close. :) Whenever I achieve the level of sharpness like the images above it reminds me of the potential of that little lens. I plan on integrating my Lensbaby into my photo-shoots much more frequently in the near future, especially with my stock and food images.

The images above are a cropped-in area of the full-res file when viewed at 100% to show the level of sharpness that can be achieved with the Lensbaby Composer & Double Glass optic. They are both only very lightly edited using Adobe Lightroom, and no sharpening was added to either images.

Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer, Double-Glass Optic, 1/400 sec at ƒ/4, ISO 100

Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer, Double-Glass Optic, 1/60 sec at ƒ/8, ISO 100

While I was in Arches National Park earlier this week I took a lot of photos—that was the entire purpose of my trip, after all. For the two full days I was there I was in the park by 4 am to photograph stars & the sunrise, and then out again by 6:30 pm to catch the sunset. It was the first time I’ve ever really done anything like this solo, and it definitely won’t be the last.

I brought a pretty good assortment of camera gear along with me … basically my full camera bag. The only time it was a little cumbersome was on the hike up to Delicate Arch, but even that wasn’t too bad. One of the lenses I brought was my Lensbaby Composer  (a no-brainer, really, if you know me well enough). The shot above was a quick grab-shot of the other photographers and tourists at Delicate Arch (the arch is to the right of the frame). I realized that I had seen a lot of photos of the arch itself before I made the journey on my own, and I didn’t know what to expect once I got there and this is a pretty good view of what it looks like when you are sitting up high to take photos. (I also have a panorama I’m working on … I’ll post it here when it’s ready.)

This is a good example of looking all around you and not ignoring some of the less obvious sights when you are out taking photos. It can be easy to be bewitched by all the beautiful landmarks and keep your camera pointed only in one direction when in a place like Arches National Park , but don’t forget to pause and look everywhere else, too. I was only there a few days and got a bunch of the “cliché” photos, but tried to keep my eyes peeled for other opportunities.

Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer, Star Bokeh, 1/125th sec at ISO 100

The Photowalking Utah “Studio Lighting Photowalk” is tomorrow morning, and a small group of us set up some of the stations this evening in preparation for the big event. A friend of mine, Sawyer, did some quick modeling for me so I could test out the lights and exposure with some of the different Lensbaby bokeh shapes (which are part of the Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit). This star shaped one worked perfectly with the setup, along with a heart, flower, snowflake and normal (f/4) shapes.

I’m really excited to see all the other photographers get to experience the nine studio lighting setups that will be available. It should be a LOT of fun. :)

Canon 7D, Lensbaby Composer, Heart Bokeh, 1/160th sec at ISO 100

This weekend is the third annual “Studio Lighting Photowalk” in Draper, Utah and I’m doing a “Lensbaby Portrait” setup. Rich and I did some test shots in his studio last night to make sure we had everything set up correctly … and it worked like a charm! (Here’s a link to the behind-the-scenes shot of the setup.) If you will be at the event and have a Canon or Nikon then you will be able to use a Lensbaby (I will provide them at the shoot) to make your own images like the one above.

I’m really excited to attend (and work) this event since it’s my first one … we should have a LOT of people and some really cool light setups (*cough* trampoline *cough*) so if you are in the area be sure to stop by. And if you’re free tonight don’t miss out on the portrait clinic at the downtown SLC Library! :)

All the details for these and future events can be found at the Photowalking Utah website.

Nikon D200, Lensbaby Composer, Double Glass Optic, 1/100th sec at f/4, ISO 100
Photographed on September 29, 2009

This is it … my favorite photo from 2009. Happy New Year!!!

View more of Nicole’s “Photos of the Year”:

- Photoshop Category
- Point & Shoot Category
- iPhone Category
- Portrait Category
- Action Category
- Stock Category
- Lensbaby Category