Category: Lensbaby

Day 23 – Jellyfish

Jellyfish

I thought about posting an image before I left home but then I thought maybe I’d stop and find something interesting to photograph. Didn’t happen. Once on the road, I’m on the road. I arrived at my Park and Fly hotel in Portland with no new images to show for the day. And though the landscaping was a little tempting I remembered that I still had my coast pictures on the laptop so why not. This Jellyfish was part of the Bandon Labyrinth I photographed in August using the Sweet 50. I’m going to have to do a better job of documenting which lenses I’m using as one thing about Lensbaby is they don’t record metadata. And, while my memory is still pretty good, keeping 100 days worth of images sorted is a challenge even for me.

Since there wasn’t much color in this image to begin with I opted for a black and white treatment in Silver Efex Pro. But first I did a High Pass filter to emphasize the lines. I thought of using a blue tone to represent the sea but it was just too cold so I went for Sepia for the sand. I also added a border since this one is all about lines.

Day 22 – Flowers

Flowers

Some days it just comes down to checking off the box. Today is one of those days. I am madly trying to get everything lined up so I can leave for France tomorrow so Lensbaby is not high on my list. But here are some flowers I found at the growers market the other day. Shot with the Sweet 50. Just tweaked the exposure a little and added a high pass filter to bring out some detail in the sharp sunflower.

Day 21 – Levi’s

Levis

So my guidelines for this project are that I have to post an image that was captured within the 100 days, not necessarily on the day it is posted. Ideally it should be processed on the day posted. Today was a busy day and I decided to go back to the Jacksonville images to see what came up. I photograph this sign almost every time I go to Jacksonville, sometimes more successfully than others. Sometimes with cars or trucks parked in front of it. Sometimes with the lamp post included, sometimes not.  I buzzed by this image the first time through but then I decided to work on it and see what I could come up with. I added saturation and clarity, pumped up the saturation in the blues and greens to help the image int the circle come out more, cropped and adjusted the perspective. Then I took it into Topaz studio looking for a little more vintage look. This was captured, by the way with the Edge 35. The focus has a slight diagonal going from Copper Riveted to the CO’s. But, as you can see it goes off into blur at the top and bottom which is just what the Edge is supposed to do.

 

Day 20 – Pie

Pie

Grower’s Markets are always a great place to find fun things to photograph and today was no exception. I took the M100 with the Sweet 50 attached and then swapped it out for the Edge 35 and went around again. This one was captured with the sweet 50. Bottom line, I was in my happy place with the Sweet 50 and not so much with the Edge 35. So, decision made, given my ineptness it is not worth carrying around nearly a pound of dead weight and the Edge is staying home. The Sweet 50 and the Trio28 will have to carry the load for the lensbaby project (pun intended). I just hope I don’t turn into one of those camera nerds with two cameras slung around their neck.

Day 18 – The Oak Tree

The-Oak-Tree

It took me all of two weeks to decide I needed to add another Lensbaby to my arsenal. I did not have an edge optic so I decided on the Edge 35 which works much like the Sweet 50 but instead of having a spot of sharp focus it has a line of sharp focus. At 12 oz it is a little more hefty than I had hoped and I’m still on the fence about taking it to France but I do think I could have some fun with it photographing old buildings.

In this case I was going for sharpness on the tree trunk. To add to the ephemeral look I processed it in Topaz studio adding a grungy but colorful textured look. This tree is a few blocks from my house along the Bear Creek Greenway but on private property. I never get tired of photographing it. I’ve been confronted  by the owners of the property once or twice when doing macro of puffballs and acorns but they seem to decide I’m harmless when I tell them how much I love their tree.

Day 17 – Stairs

Stairs

So if this looks a lot like yesterday’s image I count that as a success. My online art group had an assignment this month to create three related images processed in the same way. Since I didn’t get around to shooting something new today I thought I would go back to the Lithia Park images and give it a try. Same black and white conversion in Silver Efex Pro, same Dark Sepia toning, same texture from 2 Lil Owls. And also shot with the Burnside 35. Something about rustic stairs I can never resist. I think the third in the series may also be of stairs.

Day 16 – Bridge

Bridge

Today I decided to take a camera walk in Ashland. I circled across the plaza and in to Lithia Park. I had the Burnside 35 mounted on the Canon EOS R, aka the big girl mirrorless camera. One reason I like this image is that it lets the Burnside strut it’s stuff. You can see how it fades off into blur with just a hint of twist in the bokah. I also like the dappling of sun through the boards on the bridge. For processing I made it a monotone with a sepia finish. Then I added a texture which brings back just a hint of color.

Day 15 – Acorn

Acorn

Oh, dear, is it only day 15. I was about to go fix dinner when I realized I hadn’t posted an image today. So I went back to Wednesdays walk with the Trio28 for this green acorn. Can’t remember where I had it set but my guess would be sweet. In post I just opened the shadows some and sharpened it and added a little vibrance and saturation. Then one texture and done.

Day 14 – Seashell

Seashell

I was feeling like I need to go farther afield this morning but not really into it. So, I decided to work in the studio instead. I started out with some slices of lime and lemon trying to capture the bubbles in a glass of carbonated water. But it just didn’t work out as I had envisioned so in frustration I turned to some sea shells I have sitting on the window sill. I might add that I had extension tubes on the Sweet 50 mounted on the Canon M3 camera. I liked the look of this one but it was a little on the cool side. So I added one texture which both warmed it up and added a frame. Suitable for hanging on a Hotel room wall at the coast I’m thinking.

Day 13 – Blackberries

Blackberries

On the way out the door for my morning walk I grabbed the M100 with the Trio28 lens on it and the new extension tubes for the M mount. I knew that the blackberries were getting ripe here in blackberry country so I had them in mind as a subject. I liked the mix of color from shooting ripe and unripe ones together. It took a lot of practicing to get the focus just right and arguably this one is not perfect as the ripe berry is not the sharpest thing in the frame, but it was my favorite of all the ones I took (between sampling the props, of course). At home on the computer I just brightened it up a little and added a couple of textures.