Flower photography: Exploring Lensbaby’s creative effects
First impressions of the original Lensbaby Composer and close-up lenses
A Flowering Dogwood bloom photographed with a Lensbaby Composer and close up lens.
If you enjoy creative, interpretive flower photography and have yet to explore the Lensbaby series of lenses, you owe it to yourself to get your hands on one or more of these specialized lenses.
These “babies” are made for flower photography.
Of course, the Lensbabies lens’s unique characteristics can bring new life to portraiture, landscapes, still lifes and street images, but they truly shine in the garden where the goal is to capture delicate, romanticized images where overall sharp focus is not the end game.
It didn’t take much for the Lensbaby Composer to win my heart when it comes to creative flower photography
The enjoyment from the first time I tried out the lens opened a new world of creative flower photography for me. In the past, I have used selective focus (check out an earlier post) to create soft, delicate images of flowers in the garden.
The Lensbaby Composer allows me to take this creative approach to a whole new level.
Rocky Mtn. Columbine photographed with Lensbaby Composer and close-up lens at f2.8.
These babies are made for creative flower photography
It takes some practise to get confident with the lens and learn how to use it effectively. The key is to experiment and don’t be afraid to fail at first. Keep experimenting and exploring the lenses to find their sweet spots at various apertures.
These are not typical photographic lenses. In fact, the Composer double glass 50mm lens is probably one of the most unique lenses you’ll ever use.
My copy was actually made for a Canon full-frame camera, but a simple inexpensive adapter makes it perfectly useable on any micro 4/3 mirrorless camera. (Lensbaby lenses are available is most photographic camera mounts)
The well-built, 50mm lens, first introduced back in 2008, becomes a sweet 100mm equivalent on a micro 4/3 camera and the two close-up filters (4X and 10X) turns the camera into a magnificently creative 100mm macro or close-up lens.
There are also supplementary wide angle and telephoto attachments that offer more possibilities when used with the macro filters.
A word of caution – everything is manual on this lens from focusing to adjusting the f-stop.
Speaking of f-stops. On the original composer, different magnetic metal discs (see image below) are actually dropped into the front of the double glass lens to give you your chosen f-stops.
While the system works brilliantly, it can be a little clunky changing f-stops in the field. More modern versions of the lenses include the ability to choose the f-stop on the front of some of the add-on lenses.
But wait. The good folks at Lensbaby filled me in on some details that make the original Composer even better.
Let me explain: The Lensbaby optic swap system (in this case the Composer and the Double Glass) is a multi-element system. In order to be able to use the lens and take a photo you need two elements: the optic swap body, which acts like the lens barrel (in the case the Composer) and the optic or Double Glass element. So, it is actually not the Composer that dictates how you change the aperture but the optic. I am told by Lensbaby that my double Glass element can be swapped out for other optics, both current and discounted including (for example) The Double Glass ll which has built in aperture blades.
That makes the system even better, but I don’t mind dropping in the f-stop discs. It’s a minor inconvenience that can even add to the fun of this unique system.
In fact, since the creation of the original Composer back in 2008, Lensbaby has released a number of outstanding lens designs that enable photographers to create different creative effects from the Composer Pro with its multiple drop-in lenses (Amazon.com link to Lensbaby lenses), to its impressive Velvet line of more traditional “soft focus” lenses. This American company, based in Portland, Oregon, has continued to push the creative boundaries in photographic lenses and has developed a cult-like following among dedicated flower, portrait and creatively minded photographers.
For a closer look at Lensbaby offerings, including lenses and special effects filters, check out their website here.
The secret to the Lensbaby Composer and more recent Composer Pro lenses success is their ability to rotate on a ball socket creating its selective-focus effects.
By moving the lens around the ball joint, the main focus or “sweet spot” of the image changes position in the scene. Depending on the size of the aperture, the sweet spot is large (f8 to f16) or small (f2.8-f4).
By keeping the lens pointed straight ahead, the middle of the image is sharp while the outer edges are progressively soft depending on the aperture disc used.
In other words, if the lens is held straight, the middle is sharp. If the lens is tilted, that focus point shifts in the frame according to the amount of lens tilt. It takes very little movement along the ball and socket to create different focus effects, so it’s best to take it slow at first to get a feel for what works best.
It all sounds complicated, but in reality it’s not complicated at all.
And, once you begin to get the hang of it, your creativity and fun factor can take off.
After just a few uses here are some of my results.
Bee on cherry blossoms photographed with the Lensbaby composer and double glass 50mm.
A native bee checks out a cherry blossom in early spring. In this image, I used the Lensbaby Composer and 4x close-up lens with a slight tilt toward the been to ensure it was sharp while the remaining parts of the image were left to go into a dreamy, out-of-focus effect. Notice how the bee is very sharp, showing the capability of the lens at higher apertures. This image was shot at f5.6 or f8, hand held on a Lumix GF1.
Here is an example of how the middle of the Lensbaby remains sharp if the lens is straight and a small aperture is used.
Another image of cherry blossoms taken the same day most likely with the same settings. By setting the lens straight ahead without any tilt, it is possible to get a very sharp image in the centre of the image, with sharpness falling off in the corners. higher F-stops increases sharpness and reduces the amount of blur in the corner of the lens. It’s important to note that even subjects on the same focal plane will be blurred the closer they are to the corners of the frame or simply away from the area of focus.
This Canada Anemone was shot with the Lensbaby Composer at f2.8.
In this image of a Canada Anemone in bloom in our garden, a very large aperture (F2.8) combined with the X10 close-up filter created a very dreamy image where very little is in sharp focus. That’s okay because the qualities of the lens creates the delicate, soft-focus image I was trying to achieve.
Bleeding Hearts shot on Lensbaby Composer.
Similar to the image above, these Bleeding Hearts in our garden were photographed to create a dreamy, delicate image. The 10x close-up filter and f2.8 setting, created the delicate image I was trying to achieve.
This image of bleeding hearts was taken with the same settings from a different perspective. By placing a flower in front and behind the main subject, I was able to experiment with using a little selective focus in combination with the Lensbaby’s already creative approach.
Bleeding hearts photographed with Lensbaby Composer 50mm double glass lens.
This final image of Bleeding Hearts shows a cluster of the flowers taken without any close-up filters. Notice how the main flower in the centre of the frame is sharp while flowers on each side progressively become less sharp as they move to the edges of the image. This softness is evident even though the blooms are more or less on the same focal plane.
The following are a few more of my favourite images taken this spring with the Lensbaby Composer 50mm double glass lens.
A flowering Dogwood blooms in our garden photographed with the Lensbaby Composer and close-up filter.
A Canada Anemone focusing on the yellow stamens while the remaining parts of the image create a dreamy look to the image.
Yellow Columbine shot with lensbaby and 4X close-up filter.
Blue Columbine photographed with Lensbaby and 4X close-up filter.
An extreme close-up image of a Blue Columbine shot with the 10x close up filter at f2.8.
This image of an allium growing in the fern garden shows how the Lensbaby Composer with double glass element is capable of delivering extremely sharp images. This was photographed at F8 with the lens set straight ahead.
Not every flower image has to be a closeup. Here, dogwood flowers form the backdrop in a tranquil scene with ferns and a bird bath.
Author Profile: Vic MacBournie is a former journalist and author/owner of the award-winning website and newsletter Ferns & Feathers. He writes about his woodland wildlife garden that he has created over the past 25 years and enjoys sharing his garden photography with readers.