I feel I would be remiss if I didn't express my gratitude to Lensbaby for their generous donation of a 2.0 and a 3G to the Spring/Summer East Coast Gathering in the Shenandoahs a couple weeks ago. The two lenses were awarded by drawing during dinner on Saturday. I was the lucky recipient of the 2.0 (ironically enough the 3G, with a Pentax mount, went to the only Canon user in the group).

So here are some early attempts at learning to use it. It's harder than I thought it would be but fun nonetheless. Some are contrast adjusted (on the dark end anyway), and some have a little bit of cropping for compositional purposes. Don't ask percentages because I don't get that technical (ooooo pretty, right Mrs. Workingdog?).

I know there are a miriad of thing wrong with each of these but again, I just wanted to express my thanks to Lensbaby and all the other sponsors of the event, to BrendanPK for putting it together, to the other participants for making it so much fun, and lastly to Workingdog for pulling my name out of the hat!

So enjoy. Or have a good laugh.







A rather boring shot but I like the tunnel effect you get shooting trees. I have another one that has more trees and it really gives a sense of motion, like you're moving toward them at a high rate of speed. But alas, the part that was SUPPOSED to be in focus in that one, wasn't. Like I said, I'm still learning how to use it.

[bigben91682]

Pretty cool stuff. Some of the better lensbaby shots I've seen. I usually see it applied to people and portraiture, but it fits natural subject very well.

Nice work Mel, have fun.
Gary

[Jimbo]

Interesting shots Mel. Love the first one. Thanks for sharing.. JIMBO

[mel]

Pretty cool stuff. Some of the better lensbaby shots I've seen. I usually see it applied to people and portraiture, but it fits natural subject very well.

Thanks!

It's hard to get the people surrounding me to cooperate for portraits. The trees are just sitting there and they don't run away when they see the camera so they're perfect subjects.

Nice work Mel, have fun.
Gary

Interesting shots Mel. Love the first one. Thanks for sharing.. JIMBO

Thanks Gary and Jimbo and thanks for looking. It was cool winning something. I rarely win anything.

[mike.hiran]

I've had mine for around 5 months now and have yet to use it for more than a test shot... don't know why as it looked promising. Seeing your shots though have raised my determination to use it more... looks good. Thanks!

[mel]

I've had mine for around 5 months now and have yet to use it for more than a test shot... don't know why as it looked promising. Seeing your shots though have raised my determination to use it more... looks good. Thanks!

They are kind of tricky to use but get the thing out and give it a spin or two. You can get some pretty funky effects. One day while sitting in the car waiting for people I put it on my camera and shot the back of the car seat, practicing putting the focused spot in various positions around the frame. The pattern in the cloth of the seat worked well to work on focus and positioning of the "sweet spot."