It's a Lensbaby, Baby

Kia ora tatou:
Somewhere back in the pile of posts in this blog is one about the importance of play, of being willing to step outside the square and just try stuff. Easy to do with digital. There is no cost to speak of. It certainly worked for people like Picasso and Braques.
But sometimes as a photographer you need a bit of a helping hand. It is really easy to get inside the square and become walled up in it, and keep on churning out the same old, same old. Sometimes you need to be willing to have a play at something that is really challenging or just plain silly, to have fun (no, the two can be synonymous).
Enter the Lensbaby.

How to describe it? Well, it is a superb piece of ....um...er...post-coital design.. It flops all over the place; it looks ridiculous attached to the front of a 1-series Canon or high-end Nikon; it requires a certain prehensil-ity of technique to operate...

And it is fun. Essentially it is an infinitely flexible PC ( Perspective Correction) lens. You push it in and out to focus, and tilt/twist/tweak/ it to shift the point of focus. If you want to change apertures, you slip out the ring and pop in the one of your choice, up to f/8. The lens comes with instructions on how to use it, and a guide to calculating exposure,which requires a little experimentation to get the exposure right if you are using film. If you are digital, then it is easy. Shoot a test, read the histogram, then adjust accordingly.
Using a Lensbaby will attract instant ridicule from all your 400/2.8L-toting mates, until curiosity overcomes them, and they get their hands on it. Then they will go nuts, and laugh a lot while they play. You will probably not see it for days.

And be warned: getting it back WILL be difficult. Be prepared to have to prise it from their cold dead fingers.

As for price? Better than you would think. Around $NZ230 for the deluxe f2.0 version. It is well-made, and quite complete.

Many thanks to Mark Cosgrove for the image at the top of this post. Believe it or not, it is a shot of vegetables in his basket.
And yes, his fingers are warm and fully-functional.

Ka kite ano