Blurring the edges

This is Andrea, aka The Sad Alligator, from a group shoot last Halloween. It was one of my first times using a gadget known as the LensBaby II, and I'm not sure if it was beginner's luck or her particular combination of striking beauty, the pink hair, her wardrobe and her tattoos, but they are still among my favorite shots made with this unusual lens.

It's basically a single optic (like a magnifying glass) mounted on a flexible tube about an inch long. By pushing on the ring that holds the optic, one can selectively focus on just a small area of the subject. The area surrounding the point in focus takes on the dreamy/blurred quality visible here, and the effect gets more dramatic the more the lens is angled relative to the camera sensor. In some ways, it's a micro version of a view camera lens but with sort of the opposite objective. View camera users generally work to keep an entire plane in focus (such as the front of a building) and also shift the perspective, but that's another lecture. With LensBaby, generally the goal is to get the effect while keeping only a small part of the image sharp.

Anyway, for what it's worth, this image is unaltered from when it was shot, except for minor exposure/color correction (the lensbaby tends to throw a warm cast on images). Since it is so basic, almost primitive, it takes a certain amount of luck and/or persistence to get the effect and have the desired area in sharp focus. Looks sharp in the viewfinder, even on the camera LCD panel, but actually opening the file is anybody's guess.

I don't use it as much as I did when I first got it, but now and again, I'll pull it out and still I'm often pleased with the results. I'll probably use it a few times during the many shoots I have lined up for July. Stay tuned!