Adventures with the Lensbaby Velvet 56
Most lens manufacturers work hard to make sharper and sharper lenses. There is one company that has chosen to go in the exact opposite direction. Lensbaby started making strange lenses years ago that actually would make the majority of the image out-of-focus with only a pinpoint of sharpness. They gained a following especially among wedding and portrait photographers. Many other photographers who were looking for something different also added one in their kit.
I had the original Lensbaby which looked like an accordion with a lens attached. To focus you would squeeze the accordion part and angle the lens to move the point of focus around. It was a challenging lens to use and I was rarely happy with the results. This little lens ended up being relegated to the bottom of my camera bag and eventually ended up in a drawer somewhere.
Lensbaby is an innovative company and continually improves their lenses. I followed this growth, but wasn’t tempted to buy another one until their latest innovation, The Lensbaby Velvet 56. This lens seeks to recapture the days when photographers would buy cheap, off-brand lenses to create surreal effects on film.
Today, with precision computer controlled manufacturing, even the off-brand lenses are pretty sharp. The folks at Lensbaby decided there was a need to be filled and filled it with the Lensbaby Velvet 56. The lens has an uncanny ability to make things look soft and velvety (hence the name Velvet), but still have a large degree of sharpness.
When I saw the first photographs being created by this lens, I was mesmerized and bought one right away. What a refreshing and fun lens to use. I found myself photographing things like flowers which is something I tend to shy away from.
Floral Abstract 1 by Richard Lewis 2015
Flower Buds 2 by Richard Lewis 2015
Tiger Lilly 3 by Richard Lewis 2015
Front Porch by Richard Lewis 2015
Smithville Garden by Richard Lewis 2015
Lovers’ Garden by Richard Lewis 2015
By the Beach by Richard Lewis 2015
Curious Cat by Richard Lewis 2015
The Lensbaby Velvet 56 is a great little lens that will offer opportunities for photographers to create.
Enjoy
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing your experience.
My pleasure to share it. I’m glad you enjoyed this post. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Toooo funny about the first lens baby… as mine met the same fate. Don’t be shy embrace your inner baby and shoot away. I like the variety of subjects you have chosen to display. Your posts are like some strange trance… look into and through my lens and you too can create. Thanks for the push to the soft creative side of photography 🙂
Mike, I’m always happy to once in a while inspire one of the people who inspires me. I would say ditto to your photography and thanks for sharing it.
Amen to it all, Rich. I’m enjoying mine although it had to go home briefly for a warranty issue. One thing: get used to shooting manual exposures (who has a light meter anymore). It took me a while to get on track and, in fact, some of my mistakes are lovely high key. Saving up for a blog post later.
Thanks Ralph.Your Lensbaby Velvet images were some of the first I saw and they really caught my attention. I have found that setting the camera to Aperture Priority will get you in the neighborhood for the correct exposure, at least with Canon cameras. It seems like that shouldn’t work but the meter on the camera must measure the light even when there is no aperture data coming from the lens.
Rather interesting read. My first reaction as viewer of the images is natural instinct kicks in a nooooooooo way pops into head. I mean really, but then my creative side gives logic a very swift kick to the gorbels and hey presto, it’s rather eclectic. In fact pleasing on the eye indeed. Notably the Adirondack chair on porch (probably personal bias as I love the design of these chairs, I’m still going to build one with my penchant for making very bad furniture…but hey Frankenstein didn’t turn out too bad and they made a movie about him) and the kid on the beach. Retinal joy. Your Seffrikan mate, Rudes
Rudi, Your comments are as creative as your photography. Thanks for taking the time to write this one. Hey, my Seffrikan mate, if you ever do build that Adirondack chair, send a photo of it. I’m fond of the design my self which is why I was attracted to the one I photographed.
It works particularly well with the flowers. And I love the last cat photo. Very nice.
Thanks for the compliment. It’s kinda nice that you like the cat. I don’t normally photograph cats but this little guy just loved staring at the lens.
Great title and post. I admire that you are always trying something different.
Thanks. I don’t know if it’s a touch of ADD but yes, it’s hard to not “fidget” with this stuff. I remember a conversation we had had about our lack of inspiration with the original Lensbaby. This one is different and it will have a place in my bag. I may not use it a lot, but it will come in handy.