Last month I had an opportunity to participate in a four-hour workshop with Kathleen Clemons and Lensbaby at Swan Island Dahlia Farm in Oregon. Lensbaby filmed the workshop for a Lensbaby University course that will be aired later this fall. To make it even more interesting, we were challenged to use five Lensbaby lenses to capture images: a Velvet 56 or 85, the Sweet 50, Sol45, the Twist 60, and Burnside 35. Here are a few of my images from that workshop, which was terrific!
Velvet 85 - This is my go to lens when I think about taking images of flowers, so this was a familiar lens to start the workshop.
Composer Pro II Sweet 50 - Although I have many of the “sweets,” I haven’t used the Sweet 50 for a long time. Kathleen was determined to have me fall in love with this lens and she was successful!
Sol45 - I use this lens primarily for landscape shots, but with the addition of a +4 diopter filter, I was able to get close up to the flowers. I love the blur along the edges and in the background.
Twist 60 - I don’t often think of using the Twist for flowers, but it was fun to capture the background swirl with a focus on the main flower.
Burnside 35 - This is a very versatile lens. I use it on my walks to capture landscapes and other subjects, but because you can get up close and personal (6 inches) it is an excellent lens to use with flowers. I added a +2 diopter filter and that allowed me to get even closer.
Although it was only four hours, I learned so much from Kathleen’s coaching and from experimenting with the five lenses. I fell in love again with all of my other lenses, so that was a gift. Thanks Lensbaby and Kathleen for a great experience.
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