Project365 149: Lilacs, Dandelions and Mystery

Today wraps up my Lensbaby theme. I've had fun trying to learn how to use a new tool. My learning for the day is to not tilt the lens too far to the extreme; that might be what you do if you want the focus right in the corner, but often you want it closer to one of the one-third nodal points.

Although I have ended with three flower images, I have also made a point of trying some other subjects too.

Our Lilac tree this year does not have as many blossoms this year as it often does. Fortunately there are still some of these deep hued blossoms that both my wife and I love.


Lilac
1/250 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/2.8

These three amigos were found in my local park - I don't have three dandelions (this close) in my own yard! Despite their reputation as a nuisance weed, they can be quite beautiful.


Dandy Dandelion
1/2000 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/2.8

I don't know what these are called, but we have several of themin our hanging baskets this year. Gorgeous.


Mystery
1/60 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/2.8 

Project365 148: Green

Unlike all other lensbaby shots this week, this was shot without any aperture ring, which mean f/2.8 rather than the f/4 of all the others. (The result is the ability to have more background blur.


Green
1/250 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Richmond Hill,Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/2.8

Project365 147: Starlight

This is part of John McEwen's sculpture, "Searchlight Starlight Spotlight". One of the aspects of Lensbaby usage that I am trying to understand and control is the highlight areas in the out of focus regions. In this first image I am referring to the bright oblongs in the lower left. In some images they show up in places I didn't see with my own eye, but I think they can be used to give direction.

Starlight
1/800 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Air Canada Centre,Toronto,Ontario


In this image of a Ford Fiesta, I didn't originally see the oblong highlights on the left, but I think they direct the viewer to the right side. I discarded this image, but I saved it because it is a good illustration of that effect.


Ford Fiesta
1/4 ISO 800 @ Canon EOS 40D
Air Canada Centre,Toronto,Ontario

Project365 146: Back Bacon

As I wondered around Metro Hall at lunch time I saw this long line of people waiting to get their Back Bacon on a bun. I had few interesting images for today's pick but this one won out because it reminded me of my childhood at Markham Fair.

My Dad and I often went to Markham Fair. Although others would go as well, I can remember that dad and I always stopped at the Lion's food tent and got a Back Bacon on a Bun. Obviously these people like it too!


Back Bacon
1/800 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Metro Hall,Toronto,Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/4

Project365 145: Reclad

First Canadian Place is the tallest office tower in Toronto at 72 floors. In 2007 one of the marble slab exterior panels fell from the 60th floor. They have now started to replace all of these slabs with a new glass and ceramic panels. It should be complete by the end of 2011.

The blur effect of the lensbaby hides the details of the structure and makes the constrasts of the new upper section and the older lower section very apparent. The black structure midway is the construction rig.


Reclad
1/6400 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
First Canadian Place,Toronto,Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/4

Project365 144: Tulip Wave

One of the things that I am coming to realize is the perfection doesn't necessarily mean the image has critical sharpness anywhere. In this image there is more blur to the left than in the upper right third, but even that is not tack sharp; there is just a hint of sharpness. It is going to take some time to get my head around that idea when actually composing a shot.

The process I am trying is to first compose the shot with the lens set straight and the focus. Then tilt the lens to the desired amount and tweak the focus. I find it helpful to go into live view at 5x magnification so I can do the tweak. I steer the magnification window to match where I steered the sweet spot. I have been doing this hand held but it might be easier to do on a tripod.
 

Tulip Wave
1/250 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Wellington and York,Toronto,Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/4

Project365 143: "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?"

"How do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Practice. Practice." - Arthur Rubinstein 

One of the main reasons for me doing project 365 was to force me into to trying some things that are new or difficult. The infrared I did the last two days was one such example, and although there is a lot to learn there, I felt I got decent results pretty quickly.

There is another piece of kit sitting in my bag that I also received as a gift a while back that I have not had such success with; a Lensbaby Composer. I have seen work from other people that I thought was good, but I haven't been able to make it work for me. What I need is to spend some concentrated time to learn how.

The point of the Lensbaby is to get one portion in focus, but others portions wildly out of focus. It is going to take some practice.


"How do I get to Carnegie Hall?"
1/80 ISO 400 @ Canon EOS 40D
Richmond Hill,Ontario
Lensbaby Composer f/4