Lensbaby Wedding Photos

Tim Kamppinen

At my last wedding, I broke out the Lensbaby and actually used it quite a bit. I was quite pleased with the results. Contrary to what some people think, they are very sharp in the "sweet spot" IF you have the double glass optic (which is their "standard" glass... the others have varying degrees of softness) and even more importantly IF you nail the focus. Now, that's often easier said than done... but when you get it right I really love the effect.

However, on some of these I didn't nail the focus, but I still loved the shot... I've heard some people talk about how photographers have a sharpness fetish that is really unrelated to the quality of a photo. I still love razor sharp images, don't get me wrong, but I do tend to agree that a photo can be soft or even out of focus and still be good or even great. Of course maybe I'd be of a different opinion if my Lensbaby had AF... ; )

Anyway, here are some of the shots, let me know what you think (all you lensbaby haters are welcome to voice your displeasure as well).





















Well, that's a lot of shots, more than I set out to post... I actually shot with the Lensbaby for quite a large chunk of the reception.

Do YOU have any wedding photos taken with a Lensbaby? Post them here! I'd love to see who else is getting their blur on...

pwp

I like them, Tim! Just curious....is this the same venue we discussed previously? If it is, the light looks much better than I remember it ever being! I love the style of these shots, and I am sure the couple will appreciate the creativity in addition to the regular ol' stuff.

Tim Kamppinen

pwp wrote:

I like them, Tim! Just curious....is this the same venue we discussed previously? If it is, the light looks much better than I remember it ever being! I love the style of these shots, and I am sure the couple will appreciate the creativity in addition to the regular ol' stuff.

Thanks! About the venue... a VFW hall, but it's in Bessemer, not Hancock. It had a white drop ceiling so I used bounce flash a lot.

urbanaries

they're all great, but the LB effect really elevates the first shot, and the second to last. great work. i've always wanted one!

ETA: somehow I missed the third one at first glance, the BW of the bride that is ethereal and soft. WOW. totally agree with you on the "sharpness fetish"...it is neither a requirement or guarantee of a compelling photograph.

craig_d

Very nice work. #6 is particularly expressive. The Lensbaby doesn't seem right for #8 (the groom, I guess, dancing with the older woman -- his or the bride's mother?), but for the other shots, the radial blur effect is terrific. It either emphasizes the dreamy high of being in love, or (for the musician shots) gives a very strong dramatic focus.

JulieLawsonPhotography

I've heard about lens babies but never really knew what it was all about....you've sold me...really really love these shots.

KA0TVO

Really like these. I have two Lb"s the original, which I really like and the 2.0
Great images. :ivar

chrisdg

Tim - this is the most effective use of the lensbabies I've seen to date. Previously, I was not really enchanted by them. These images work.

tenoverthenose

Tim-

I LOVE that third shot. Perfect example of how the Lensbaby does something to the photo that no other lens could have pulled off. You're right about our fixation on sharpness -- there are more important things in a photo. I pulled mine out on last Saturday's wedding and had some fun. I had never tested it's flare resistance/enhancement...

Tim Kamppinen

Cool shot! Yeah, they have some crazy flare. I also just found out about that not too long ago. I've had mine since last spring, but somehow I never managed to shoot into a light source until recently, I guess. Looks cool if you can make it part of the shot, as you did there.

heatherfeather

Tim... all I can say is FUN! Lovin' what you got with these! (Gotta try this one of these days!)

time2smile

After looking at these, all I can say its on my wishlist now...

Shima

Very cool, I've never played with one, but I can see how it adds some excitement into the shot!

Crystal-Pixel

Wow these shots are great! Gonna have to put the Lensbaby on my "To Buy" (after I convince my husband) list.

Blurmore

I use it, but not too much. I have the old kind, the hose kind, maybe if I had the composer I'd use it more. I think I like it the most for the cheapo plasticy lens which is very Lomo, rather than the "tilt/shift" selective focus on the cheap aspect. They benefit greatly from overprocessing.

Gary Peterson Photography

Curious..

Tim Kamppinen wrote:

At my last wedding, I broke out the Lensbaby and actually used it quite a bit. I was quite pleased with the results. Contrary to what some people think, they are very sharp in the "sweet spot" IF you have the double glass optic (which is their "standard" glass... the others have varying degrees of softness) and even more importantly IF you nail the focus. Now, that's often easier said than done... but when you get it right I really love the effect.

However, on some of these I didn't nail the focus, but I still loved the shot... I've heard some people talk about how photographers have a sharpness fetish that is really unrelated to the quality of a photo. I still love razor sharp images, don't get me wrong, but I do tend to agree that a photo can be soft or even out of focus and still be good or even great. Of course maybe I'd be of a different opinion if my Lensbaby had AF... ; )

Anyway, here are some of the shots, let me know what you think (all you lensbaby haters are welcome to voice your displeasure as well).





















Well, that's a lot of shots, more than I set out to post... I actually shot with the Lensbaby for quite a large chunk of the reception.

Do YOU have any wedding photos taken with a Lensbaby? Post them here! I'd love to see who else is getting their blur on...

I really enjoyed these images and think they made a great add to the coverage of the day. I am curious though, when you consulted with the bride and groom, were images like these part of your portfolio and shown to them? What were their thoughts on them? The reason I ask, is that as much as I value other photographers insights, I am always much more interested in what the cutomers say....and buy!

Tim Kamppinen

Actually, this was only my second wedding, and I didn't use the lensbaby at all in my first one, so they hadn't seen any lensbaby shots as far as I know, at least not from a wedding. I have some other lensbaby stuff on my website but it's not something we ever discussed. I actually just pulled it out of my bag on a whim, but I liked what I was getting so I rolled with it. After taking the 4th photo in my post (sorry they're not numbered, I'm usually good with that) I showed the bride and she seemed to really like it, so I took that as a thumbs up to keep using it.

However, I did make sure to get plenty of shots with normal lenses to cover my bases, and covered the fast happening things like the bouquet toss with a normal lens. You may have noticed that a lot of the lensbaby shots are of dancing, the reason being that my keeper rate as far as focus is pretty low, and 3-4 minutes of dancing during a song gives me plenty of time to get a few good shots that are sharp.

I'm going to be making a sample album to show future clients that will double as a portfolio, and I'm going to throw some lensbaby shots in there so I can ask them if they like it or not. If they totally hate it, well, I guess I won't shoot with it... well, maybe just for a few minutes when I get bored at the reception...

Gary Peterson Photography

They are going to dig them

Tim Kamppinen wrote:

Actually, this was only my second wedding, and I didn't use the lensbaby at all in my first one, so they hadn't seen any lensbaby shots as far as I know, at least not from a wedding. I have some other lensbaby stuff on my website but it's not something we ever discussed. I actually just pulled it out of my bag on a whim, but I liked what I was getting so I rolled with it. After taking the 4th photo in my post (sorry they're not numbered, I'm usually good with that) I showed the bride and she seemed to really like it, so I took that as a thumbs up to keep using it.

However, I did make sure to get plenty of shots with normal lenses to cover my bases, and covered the fast happening things like the bouquet toss with a normal lens. You may have noticed that a lot of the lensbaby shots are of dancing, the reason being that my keeper rate as far as focus is pretty low, and 3-4 minutes of dancing during a song gives me plenty of time to get a few good shots that are sharp.

I'm going to be making a sample album to show future clients that will double as a portfolio, and I'm going to throw some lensbaby shots in there so I can ask them if they like it or not. If they totally hate it, well, I guess I won't shoot with it... well, maybe just for a few minutes when I get bored at the reception...

They will love them, and for sure, print a few of them up to show future clients. The reception seems to be the perfect place for that type of shot, as long as it is long enough to allow you to play around a bit. Well done!

sherijohnson

Thanks for sharing. I am one who appreciates creative stuff, so I think I might like to play with this some day.

Cmau

These are cool! I totally agree with one of the posters above that this is the first time I've seen a Lensbaby used in a way that I actually liked.

I think it'd be a great addition to a kit purely for non-high-priority reception pictures, since they all start to look the same after a while.

shuttersmiles

Hello, I am new here. For me, getting into portraits, I want sharp in focus images on my subject. Which Lens Baby lens would be the best, Composer Pro double glass?

Qarik

hmm..I can't see any images. (i have npoticed this with some other posts as well) can you provide a link?

Tim Kamppinen

Qarik wrote: »

hmm..I can't see any images. (i have npoticed this with some other posts as well) can you provide a link?

That's becasue this thread is five years old and the images are no longer hosted where I linked them from (my smugmug site) because I switched to Zenfolio almost a year ago now.

And to the person who resurrected this thread... yes, the double glass optic is the sharpest one. When you nail the focus it's as sharp in the sweet spot as any normal lens (sharper than many, actually).

Qarik

Tim Kamppinen wrote: »

That's becasue this thread is five years old and the images are no longer hosted where I linked them from (my smugmug site) because I switched to Zenfolio almost a year ago now.

And to the person who resurrected this thread... yes, the double glass optic is the sharpest one. When you nail the focus it's as sharp in the sweet spot as any normal lens (sharper than many, actually).

lol..that explains it!