July Challenge – Soft Focus

At the start of 2021 I decided it was time to have a go at another 365 project. The aim was to use some of my older Lensbaby optics rather than having them just sat in the cupboard. I decided I’d use a different lens or optic each month. The time has flown by and I can’t believe I’ve now completed seven months. For July I was playing with the Soft Focus optic.

The shots are a random collection based on what catches my attention when I’m out with with my dog and the camera. Hopefully you will find something which appeals to you.

Seonaid Teal August 1, 2021 No Comments

365 Project Photography

Soft Focus optic

Fisheye February

My photography challenge for February was to take a photo every day using the Fisheye optic or Circular Fisheye lens. I was amazed at how close I could get to my subject so they are great for macro photography and the fisheye effect adds another dimension when used to full effect All twenty eight photos are below.

Seonaid Teal February 28, 2021 No Comments

365 Project Callow End Flowers Lensbaby Malvern Common Old Hills Photography

Daffodil Fisheye Snowdrops Spring Spring flowers Trees

Sweet January

My January challenge was to take a photo every day using one of my Lensbaby Sweet optics. The shots are all below. Previously I have struggled with the Sweet 80 but during January, I seemed to use it the most.

I did cheat one day and use the Lensbaby Circular Fisheye lens.

Seonaid Teal January 31, 2021 No Comments

365 Project Callow End Lensbaby Malvern Common Malvern Hills Old Hills Photography

Sweet 35 Sweet 50 Sweet 80

And the Zone Plate Versions

Yesterday when I was playing with the Pin hole optic, I switch to the zone plate and take a photo in the same position. Here are the zone plate versions, plus a few extra which didn’t work with the pin hole optic.

Seonaid Teal April 27, 2020 No Comments

Callow End Lensbaby Old Hills Photography

Zone plate/pin hole

World Pin Hole Camera Day 2020

I found out by accident that today is World Pin Hole Camera Day. As it was a lovely bright morning I took my Lensbaby Pin Hole/ Zone Plate optic when walking the dogs. It’s an optic I rarely use because the aperture is so small and it needs really bright light, or a tripod.

Seonaid Teal April 26, 2020 No Comments

Callow End Lensbaby Old Hills Photography

Zone plate/pin hole

Frost and Light Leaks

It was a cold frosty morning today and before scraping the frost from the car, I remembered to take some photos of the fantastic patterns. I used my little Sony RX100 in manual mode and I am really pleased with the results.

I combined the best shots with some light leak pre-sets in Lightroom to create the images below.

Seonaid Teal April 3, 2019 No Comments

Photography Post processing

Frost Light leaks

Bokeh and Blur

Last week I took a few shots with my Lensbaby Sweet 35. I’d put on on my camera to take a shot for my Project 52 and that’s what was still on my camera when we went out. With such a great range of creative lenses I hadn’t used this one for a while. It was one of the first Lensbabies I bought and I love the bokeh and blur it creates. So today I wanted to have a play.

It was a beautiful sunny summer morning on the common. We weren’t out early but as the sun is rising later I still got some great light. When I’m out with the dogs its not possible to take as much time as I sometimes want or need to frame my shots. Not having used this lens for a while I was out of practice so I played with taking some out of focus shots. I like the effect, particularly in the woods where the bokeh was strong.

What do you think?

Seonaid Teal August 11, 2018 1 Comment

Lensbaby Malvern Common Photography

Blur Bokeh Sweet 35

The Beginning

I signed up for the Definitely Dreaming 52 project. The prompt for the first week was “Beginning”. I thought that would be quite easy as the first thing that came to mind was sunrise (the beginning of the day) and I see lots of amazing sunrises. It turned out it wasn’t that simple as the weather was wet and grey, doesn’t really go with the beautiful red sunrises I had in mind. My second thought was a flower bud, but it’s too early in the year for those.

I was a bit stumped. I came up with the idea about new year’s resolutions and goals and put together a still life based on this. On Saturday I felt like I was running out of time so put my idea together and got the camera out. I settled on using my Lensbaby Sweet 80 and got to work. Having played with different apertures I settled on the shot below, turned it black and white, added some texture effects and posted it.


: Beginning new challenges

Sunday morning was a bright, very cold, sunny morning. I took the dogs out on the Malvern Hills. On the way home I thought I’d check out a spot I’ve seen snowdrops growing before. When we got there I was surprised to see some in bloom. Out came the camera and the Velvet 85 lens. I got several good shots but I wasn’t happy that they showed the structure of the petals so turned them black and white. The best one is shown below.

This could have been my 52 projec5 first photo. It’s a subject I’m more comfortable with but it was better for me to extend beyond my comfort zone and try something different. I submitted the Snowdrops shot to the #WexMondays competition.

I had fun playing with both shots, I guess that’s what matters.

Next week’s subject is “Healthy”

seonaidtealphotography January 8, 2018 No Comments

Photography

Definitely Dreaming Flowers Lensbaby Malvern Hills Snowdrops Velvet 85

Sunrise over the Severn Plain

It’s the time of year when it’s easy to capture great sunrises.

This morning when I was on the common with the dogs the colours as the day was breaking were intense. They weakened considerably by the time the sun was rising.

I am so glad I didn’t miss it.

: Before the sun came up

seonaidtealphotography December 19, 2017 No Comments

Photography

Lensbaby Malvern Common Sunrise Sweet 80

Through a crystal ball

It was a beautiful sunrise on Saturday morning, the sky was a beautiful array of colour. I’ve taken lots of sunset shots from the attic window, looking across the Severn Plain to Bredon Hill and the Cotswolds. It’s always different.

Today I got my crystal ball out and tried something different. I set the crustal ball on the windowsill and shot through it, using my Lensbaby velvet 56. I played with the aperture to get the view through the crystal ball in focus while the surrounding area was blurred. The best shot is shown below.

Sunrise