There are seasons in my photographic life that I "tend to stay in motion" following the same direction in my creative path. I suppose this is what is referred to as being stuck in a rut. And, according to the laws of physics, I stay in that rut until something comes along and bumps me in another direction. Just such a thing came along in my path a little while ago.
A product called a Lensbaby came on the market that brought the tilt-shift lens to the public at a more affordable price. My local camera shop had one in their rental fleet. I paid their $10.00 fee and changed my direction of travel.
My kids are sick and tired of being my stand-ins whenever I want to try something new in the studio. This time I called my good friend Todd who willingly came and offered himself as a sacrifice to my creative muses.
I posed Todd against a dark backdrop with a single softbox at the 45/45 position creating a Rembrandt lighting effect. I had Todd square his shoulders to the softbox and his face to the camera. With my subject in position, I then went to work on the lens.
This thing was NOT easy to use! It took me 15-20 shots to get the focus right. There's no aperture, no auto focus, nothing to let you know what you're working with! I felt like I was back working with my first non-metered, non-auto focus camera that I was learning on when I was fifteen. Ultimately I worked out the kinks and found out just how cool this little $250.00 piece if magic really was.
After my studio time I was eager to take this lens out into the field. At midnight on a Saturday I found myself standing in 35 degree cold and fog in front of the State Capitol building in downtown Salt Lake City. Below are the results of my excursions both in the studio and the field.
Todd is a great model to work with as he is both patient and easy to direct. The effect of the Lensbaby is great for dramatic portraits. In this image the only area of focus is Todd's left eye.
This next shot was NOT done with a Lensbaby, but rather my 18-70 mm lens at f16 for 15 seconds at 100 ISO. This building was the scene for the rest of the shots that follow it... all done with the Lensbaby.
