Every photographer has a few tricks up their sleeves, (or in their camera bags) to add a little sugar to their usual images. I had a chance toDuring a vacation with friends at the lake house earlier this year, I decided to toss my Lensbaby Composer in my bag so I could get a little practice in. After all, trying to master a manual focus Lensbaby can take a bit of getting used to, and no one wants to feel pressured during an actual client job to get it right. The Composer has an outer focusing ring for manual focus, and the front half of the lens tilts and swivels so you can find that sweet spot of focus. The Composer has magnetic aperture rings you can drop inside the lens for your desired depth of field, and the Composer Pro Sweet 35 has interchangeable optics, where setting your desired f-stop is done by twisting the outer ring of the lens. Both lenses give you selective focus and a unique tilt shift effect. Chasing my friend’s active 3 year old around the house gave me all the practice I needed.
After snagging this shot of my friend’s sweet girl on the patio, the Lensbaby Composer went on more and more shoots. Eventually, as I grew more comfortable with the tilt and manual focus, that fun little lens earned a permanent spot in my wedding bag, and I get more and more excited every time I have the chance to bust it out.
South Florida wedding season is a solid 8-10 months. And in that time, it’s not unusual to fall into the same routine of “must-have” shots for each wedding. While my style is moving towards a more documentary direction, I still have to get a beautiful portrait of the bride and groom, and clean detail shots. As a second shooter, or when shooting weddings with another photographer, I generally have more time for a little “play” and I’ll reach for the Composer. As the primary photographer grabbed portraits of the bride and her bridesmaids, I stepped to the side for a dreamy detail shot of their bouquets. Shooting at 2.8 can be a little tricky, so I make sure I shoot a few frames and move the lens just a hair each time. The result is creamy bokeh, smear-y light spots, and an image that’ll make any girl swoon.
Speaking of details, while shooting the bride’s flowers, her niece ran up with a family memento to tie around the bouquet. I used the new Lensbaby Velvet 56 to grab a soft image of her orchids and the drawstring that was added. The Lensbaby Velvet is what I use when I wantthat soft, ethereal look, so that I can give my clients a little more variety when it comes to choosing images for their album. With this shot, I wasn’t so concerned about overall sharpness, and I liked the velvet-y finish to the flowers all around glow.
Watch this coolvideo for more about the Lensbaby Velvet:
Shooting in South Florida means a lot of time is spent shooting on the beach. It can get a little difficult to get out of the typical palm-trees-and-beach pattern during bride and groom portraits, but with the Lensbaby Composer, I can duck down in the tall seagrass, let them have their moment, and capture the groom staring into the eyes of his bride by the ocean. Instead of palm trees and cloning out sunbathers, I can now deliver a soft, romantic image for the couple, where the focus is immediately brought to the groom’s facial expression.
Just because prep and portraits are over, doesn’t mean my Lensbaby is done for the day! I love walking into the reception before guests arrive and seeing candlelight, mirrors, and twinkle all over the room. That usually means I can grab a few frames using my Composer, and really letting the light play in the frame. I’ll work around the room getting the usual clean table details, full table shots, and wide room shots. Once I have my must-haves out of the way, I like to have a little fun. I admit, I get overly excited about “smeary light orbs”, and this wedding reception set up had me giggling like a little girl as I reviewed the images on my LCD. Not that a “boring” photo could be taken with such beautiful light, colors, and details, but the Composer really amps it up for a shot that’s unexpected and dramatic at the same time.
Lensbaby has given me the ability to deliver my usual images, and throw in a handful with just a touch of whimsy, selective focus, and yummy depth of field. Having Lensbaby in my wedding bag gives me the chance to experience the wedding day in a different light, and deliver something a little more dreamy and dramatic to my clients.
