The Blur Between Moments

Like most of you, I often seek out my children as subjects for creative inspiration. Naturally I have a healthy dose of smiling faces, but I'm finding that the images that mean the most to me are those captured in between moments. When they've look away or shifted their focus to a place other than my lens.

I shot this image with my LensBaby Composer. What's cool about this lens is its bend-a-ability. So you grab the end of the lens (its "focus collar") and tilt it any way you like to selectively focus on a specific area of your composition. Here you can see I had it tilted towards the left and focused on my girls' eye, generating a bit of blur and distortion on the right side of the image. The lens comes with a collection of aperture disks to control the sweet spot (focus area). I used the default f/4 for this image and this wider view, making the size of the sweet spot smaller and giving me a larger blur area. Had I used a higher f/stop number (smaller aperture opening), less of the image would have been blurred.

Embracing the blur? Check this one I heart from Karen and this series of luscious blue blurs from Kate. Paige took her LensBaby for a walk here. And Tracey gave it a rest on her table here. Oh, and here's a cool one from Sarah-Ji. Show us your LensBaby Composer creations or any other images that celebrate the blur between moments.

Comments

[Toni]

My whole blog is mostly Lensbaby blurs, well since December anyway. Here are a select few of some recent posts:

http://dailyvignette.com/2009/02/08/through-the-mist/
http://dailyvignette.com/2009/02/05/ordinaryyes-ordinary/

These post in the morning (Feb. 9):
http://dailyvignette.com/2009/02/09/a-tree-in-the-mist/

[Shalet]

Well I don't have a lensbaby (yet) so you'll just have to settle for the picture between the moments. This photo I took of my daughter today -- she was upset with her brother and completely ignoring me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peculiarmomma/3265344654/

[Marcie]

I'm still waiting to get my very own lensbaby...but in the meanwhile - I do my own post-processing lens-babying:
http://bravo.unisonplatform.com/~marciesc/index.php?showimage=683

[~ kristina ~]

I don't have a lensbaby, but I love my macro!

Second photo down, my godson decorating his 3rd birthday cake:
http://meadowlarkdays.blogspot.com/2009/02/birthday-visitors.html

[gonzomama]

just took this yesterday.

http://flickr.com/photos/59735955@N00/3265183388/

[Kelly]

my key to a welcome, blurred by tears and memory
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8702729@N02/3261050782/

[Maegan]

I don't have a lensbaby but many of my photos come out a bit out of focus. Sometimes it creates the perfect effect!

http://flickr.com/photos/mbeasoap/3104817394/

Happy Monday, everyone!

[Ashleigh]

I might have to get myself that lens but please tell me...

the difference between the lens baby and my 50mm/1.8?

thanks.

[Claire]

falling in love with the lensbaby idea more and more!

[Papillon Sky]

No lensbaby for me yet, but I do love my Nikon 60 mm f/2.8 macro. Here's a couple of my blur between moments pic:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/papillonsky/3156668767/in/set-72157611975441803/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/papillonsky/3200910692/in/set-72157612627760424/

[Steph Wiese]

Somewhere between paralyzing laughing attacks and wondering how my elegant birthday bash turned goofy, I got blurry pictures of my friend T recalling high school cheerleading days... I love it.

http://stephwiese.squarespace.com/random-photos/glow-behold-29th-birthday-bash/

[meg]

I don't have a lensebaby (yet!!), but once I get one, I know the first shot I'm going to take is a do-over of this...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7565577@N04/3264582692/

[Cindi Barker]

I struggle to focus my 3G lensbaby in any position other than with the lens pointing straight at my subject....but I really like it best when I can bend it one way or another to make all the distortion come from one side. And I can forget about using it for people or pets! Sigh. I don't know how other photographers can focus it so well. This is one of my more recent attempts:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjb_phodographer/3268454938/

[littlepurplecow (Stephanie Roberts)]

Ashleigh, I have a 50mm f/1.4 and wouldn't trade it for the world because of the depth of field I can achieve with it. The LensBaby Composer starts at f/2.8. If you love to shoot wide open, you can achieve similiar bokeh (or background blur) with your 50mm f/1.8. I'm still experimenting with the LensBaby, but liking the ability to bend the lens to a specific area and playing with dramatic distortion (more evident in my wide shot referenced in the post on my personal site).

[Irene]

I love my Lensbaby! I have the 3G. Here's my lensbaby set on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37043062@N00/sets/72157605766527958/

[yellow pooky]

I love this photo, in between moments:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yellowpooky/3080332543/

[sweetsalty kate]

the lens comes with a collection of aperture disks? UM. really? crap. Now I'm going to have to dig through the garbage for that little green box.

[Leslie]

No lensbaby here, just the blur of disco lights and an enthralled little one in the midst of it all...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturemama/3268584254/

Love this post, love this shot!