LENSBABY/EQUIPMENT RESEARCH

Lensbaby make a range of lenses which combine with a bellows or ball and socket mechanism, to allow special effects  photogaphy similar to that of a view camera.  At 50mm they are a normal focal length lens, in the 35mm format.  The front standard can be manipulated to move the area of focus anywhere in the frame, keeping the important part of the subject in focus, whilst blurring the rest of the image, even if it is level with the area of focus.

Aperture is controlled by a series of interchangeable discs, with normal focus of about two feet, closer focus is achieved by pushing the front lens out and infinity by pushing it in towards the base of the lens.

The resulting images have some chromatic and spherical aberration, around the central 'sweet spot' in focus.  There is usually also oval bokeh around the focus point, bokeh is used to describe the aesthetic quality of blur in out of focus areas of an image and how the lens shows out of focus points of light.

Bokeh comes from the Japanese word for blur or haze.

An approximation of this effect can be produced by using gaussian blur in editing software, usually used in graphics to soften images and reduce detail or smooth noise referred to as gaussian smoothing.

Some compact and cell-phones also now have 'image destabalisation'  where the sensor and lens are both moved to maintain focus on one focal plane whilst blurring nearby ones.

I would like to experiment with this effect in my architectural portfolio, picking out detail and blurring surrounding area.  I could achieve this effect to some extent by using a wide aperture, however, this is not possible when picking out detail on a flat wall for example, or using a smaller aperture to pick up detail at a distance. 

Silver Drinking Vessel from Pompei

Naples Archaeological Museum

Here I have used a large aperture to pick out detail in the cup, whilst creating a blur to disguise the surrounding cabinet and distractions in the background.



Grape harvest scene on the 'Blue Vase' - Pompei

Naples Archaeological Museum

The same technique has been used here, but I also had four overhead tungsten lights to avoid, unfortunately I was unable to change the white balance on my camera to compensate for their yellow cast, hoping I could deal with this later in photoshop.

Bronze Horse Statue - Pompei

Naples Archaeological Museum

Detail on the main and head of this stature was phenominal and I wanted to focus on this in particular, I think the angle of the shot adds to the feeling of movement in the prancing horse.

Water spouts - Pompei

Naples Archaeological Museum

There was a whole series of these animal heads cast in bronze, I wanted to get a number of them in the shot but to add interest decided to concentrate on one showing the others out of focus.

Runners from the Villa of the Papyri, Pompei

Naples Archaeological Museum

These bronzes are lifesize and were recovered from Pompei during excavations in the 18th century.  Found amongst almost 100 other bronzes and sculptures, they were thought to adorn a gymnasium and were cast in the late 4th and early 3rd century BC.

I wanted to get a shot which emphasised movement in these sculptures and capture detail in the faces.  It was difficult since there were constantly people moving through and around.  With a lensbaby I could have thrown more of the surrounding distractions out of focus, concentrating the viewers eye on the  magnificent figures.

Panel from a buriel casket

Naples Archaeological Museum

Here the carving in marble was so detailed I decided to keep as much as possible in focus, it was so beautiful I found it difficult to decide where to focus the lens.