{"id":7932,"date":"2015-06-24T13:29:37","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T13:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress\/?p=7932"},"modified":"2015-06-25T09:25:49","modified_gmt":"2015-06-25T09:25:49","slug":"lensbaby-using-the-velvet-56-and-composer-for-wedding-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/lensbaby-using-the-velvet-56-and-composer-for-wedding-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Lensbaby: Using the Velvet 56 and Composer for Wedding Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

ByStephanie Sonju<\/a><\/p>\n

Every photographer has a few tricks up their sleeves, (or in their camera bags) to add a little sugar to their usual images. I had a chance toDuring a vacation with friends at the lake house earlier this year, I decided to toss my Lensbaby Composer<\/a> in my bag so I could get a little practice in. After all, trying to master a manual focus Lensbaby can take a bit of getting used to, and no one wants to feel pressured during an actual client job to get it right. The Composer has an outer focusing ring for manual focus, and the front half of the lens tilts and swivels so you can find that sweet spot of focus. The Composer has magnetic aperture rings you can drop inside the lens for your desired depth of field, and the Composer Pro Sweet 35 has interchangeable optics, where setting your desired f-stop is done by twisting the outer ring of the lens. Both lenses give you selective focus and a unique tilt shift effect. Chasing my friend’s active 3 year old around the house gave me all the practice I needed.<\/p>\n

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After snagging this shot of my friend’s sweet girl on the patio, the Lensbaby Composer went on more and more shoots. Eventually, as I grew more comfortable with the tilt and manual focus, that fun little lens earned a permanent spot in my wedding bag, and I get more and more excited every time I have the chance to bust it out.<\/p>\n

South Florida wedding season is a solid 8-10 months. And in that time, it’s not unusual to fall into the same routine of “must-have” shots for each wedding. While my style is moving towards a more documentary direction, I still have to get a beautiful portrait of the bride and groom, and clean detail shots. As a second shooter, or when shooting weddings with another photographer, I generally have more time for a little “play” and I’ll reach for the Composer. As the primary photographer grabbed portraits of the bride and her bridesmaids, I stepped to the side for a dreamy detail shot of their bouquets. Shooting at 2.8 can be a little tricky, so I make sure I shoot a few frames and move the lens just a hair each time. The result is creamy bokeh, smear-y light spots, and an image that’ll make any girl swoon.<\/p>\n

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Speaking of details, while shooting the bride’s flowers, her niece ran up with a family memento to tie around the bouquet. I used the new Lensbaby Velvet 56<\/a> to grab a soft image of her orchids and the drawstring that was added. The Lensbaby Velvet <\/a>is what I use when I wantthat soft, ethereal look, so that I can give my clients a little more variety when it comes to choosing images for their album. With this shot, I wasn’t so concerned about overall sharpness, and I liked the velvet-y finish to the flowers all around glow.<\/p>\n

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Watch this coolvideo for more about the Lensbaby Velvet:<\/p>\n

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Lensbaby Velvet 56: Product Overview with Marcin Lewandowski<\/div><\/div>
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