Recent Photographs

Some photography happened this last weekend. First off, on Saturday, I found myself sat waiting in a car park in Grantham and I had my PowerShot G9 with me so more shots for my Life in a Car Park series happened:

Life in a Car Park #3
On Sunday the weather was really nice so some time was spent in the grounds of Belton House:

Belton House - 2009-04-19
While I Belton I also ran off a roll of Ilford HP5+ 400 in my Holga 120GN. Hopefully I'll get that processed in the next couple or so weeks.

When we got back home I noticed that the blossom on the pear tree in our garden had gone crazy. That was crying out for a shot with my Lensbaby Muse:

Lensbaby Blossom
Finally, later in the afternoon, I decided to take a walk up to Horbling. Partly because I'd not taken any photographs there, but also because I wanted to go find some more shots for the Evidence theme that I'm also toying with at the moment.

Horbling

Another Walk With my Lensbaby

Last Sunday was a nice spring day so I took a walk up to the village of Birthorpe and back. I took along my Powershot G9 and my EOS 400D with the Lensbaby Muse attached.

The results can be seen here: Birthorpe and Back Again.

More Lensbaby Muse Shots

Yesterday afternoon I wandered down the the local park with the Lensbaby Muse back on the EOS 400D. The result is Billingborough Park - 2009-03-01.

Lensbaby Muse Case

I've been getting on pretty well with my Lensbaby Muse, so well that I've actually made a point of taking it off the 400D for now to stop me shooting everything with it (really, I'm not kidding).

Having done this, I got to thinking: generally, when I go out to shoot, I tend to pick a lens and stick with it for the day. On the whole this works well and the fact that I do this is reflected in the fact that I don't actually have any lens cases for any of my lenses. The Lensbaby sort of throws this idea out though. It's the sort of lens that doesn't work for every shot but it's also the sort of lens you want to hand for those shots you see that cry out for the Lensbaby treatment.

So I decided to get a case for it. Turns out the Muse has a case available for it and so I ordered one last week and it turned up last Saturday. I'm very impressed with it too. I was expecting something "squishy" but it's actually very rigid. It feels like you could drive over it and it would survive (I'm not suggesting you could, I'm just saying it feels like it — if you want to try that then all the usual disclaimers apply ;-)). Even better, it's not much bigger than the lens itself and, because of this, it means the whole thing easily fits into a (large) coat pocket — very handy!

And, as a bonus, it's a perfect snug fit for the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II.

Sleaford - 2009-01-24

Today I took a short walk around Sleaford, taking my EOS 400D and Lomo Lubitel 166B with me.

It will, obviously, be a while before I have scans of the shots I took with the 166B (there's still some frames to be used on the film), but I have uploaded the photos I took with the 400D:

Sleaford - 2009-01-24

You'll note that they're all shot with the Lensbaby Muse. I've actually made a point of taking it off the camera now and putting it away for a while — it was starting to get a little too addictive. ;-)

A weekend with the new Lensbaby

As I'd hoped, I managed to get out with the Lensbaby this last weekend, and even managed it a couple of times. First off, on Saturday, I managed a quick walk around Billingborough which resulted in this set of photographs: Winter Walk - 2009-01-17.

Then, on Sunday, I took a walk out to Birthorpe and back, the result being this set of photographs: Birthorpe and Back.

So far, I'm still having fun with it and I'm very happy with the purchase. There's little doubt that it can be frustrating at times. Often shooting with it can be a bit hit-and-miss. But there's no question that it's a lot of fun and a very different approach to doing things. It also slows you down, which is no bad thing.

Lensbaby Muse Test

Today I managed to get the Lensbaby Muse onto my EOS 400D and take a few test shots to try it out and try and get used to it.

It took a little bit of getting used to at first, and I was sort of surprised at how it puts a fair bit of strain on your fingers when you're trying to get, then hold, the focus (I'm sure I won't notice this once I really get into using it). But, overall, I had loads of fun with it and can't wait to play with it some more.

So, anyway, here's my Lensbaby Muse Test. All the shots were taken with the double glass optic and the f/4.0 aperture disk.

New Toy: Lensbaby Muse

I've been on and off the idea for some time now but, last week, using some Christmas money that turned up after Christmas, I decided to treat myself to a Lensbaby Muse. After a bit of looking around I decided to order from Bristol Cameras (I'm happy to report that the whole process of ordering to delivery was fast and without any fuss or bother — I'd use them again).

So, here it is, in its little box:

All being well, this weekend, I might even get the chance to get it out of the box and give it a try (that's one of the annoying things about winter in the UK, by the time I get home from work it's dark and I think this sort of lens is best first tested in daylight, less to worry about then).

Update: I managed to do a quick test the following day.

The one I got is the Canon fit (this will be used on my EOS 400D, obviously) with the double glass optic (see the optic comparison gallery for examples of the different optics and the effects they give).