Lensbaby

I recently got called by an art director whose wedding I shot six years ago. She had a client who wanted 150 realtors photographed for their website and wanted "something different". She works with many photographers but thought of me as the client asked for natural looking images. So we set up a time for us to meet over some of my recent work.

I do not like making portraits so I made the decision to show her only Lensbaby work and tell her if she wanted it shot like that I could work with her, otherwise I was not the photographer for the job.

So I go in and look at the images that she had pulled from stock agencies and whatnot that had the kind of feel she was after. Holga, Diana, Lomo looking shots, every one of them. When I showed her my group of Lensbaby shots she hired me on the spot.

In 4 1/2 days of shooting I photographed (with the help of a makeup artist plus my office manager/Photoshop and iView expert, Shawn) 133 realtors and have done ten or more images since for people who could not make one of those days.

[www.realtytrust.com]

To see agent photos click on "find AGENTS that fit you" on the left and then on one of the office links on the right and follow the names to bio pages with photos.

These images are the choice of the individual agents so some substantially out of focus images made their cut. Fully out of focus can occasionally be an appropriate look;-)

In addition to photographing these 140+ agents I expect to shoot two to three new realtors per month minimum as long as this, their brand-new website, is up. I look forward to every one of them.

I would have turned down the job outright if it were not for the Lensbaby. Portraits are just too much work and, when I shoot them with "normal glass", look too bland to spend so much time making that many portraits of professionals staring into the camera. It was a lot of work but was also a lot of fun to see the images when we brought them up on the LCD at the studio where they chose their images.

Always a surprise seeing the images I shoot with my Lensbaby, usually a very pleasant surprise.

-Craig

P.S. These realtors were GREAT to work with. I would have done the whole thing for free had I known how few "high maintenance" agents and, more important, how many super fun and positive agents I would be working with.

P.P.S. Just kidding about the free part.



You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus

I like this story, and the shots!...do tell how you shot them...ie...what aperature ring? What lighting?



David L. Morel
www.davidmorelphoto.com

Excellent shots! Would also appreciate full details on the setup. Looks like the f/8 ring?

Ben

The shots were made with the F4 aperture for individuals, f8 for groups.

Almost all were shot with the Raynox .65x lens attached. Some were just the Lensbaby, a couple with the Raynox .5x attached.

Here are a few for those who don't have time to follow the above links:





-Craig



You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus

Nice work, Craig. I have yet to try any portraits with my LB, but I'll be sure to give it a try soon and see what I can come up with and I'll post it here.

Very refreshing! Should be good for business.....it makes the agents all seem more alive and eager to help. And that could be good for your business as well... Lenore

Craig,

Great shots. Did you use a flash or lighting setup?

Dave

www.stearnphotography.smugmug.com
www.pbase.com/dstearn
[www.betterphoto.com]

Craig,

These are great portraits. I've tried my Baby several times for portraits and I love it.
Once again the Baby proves she is worthy of just about any project, and in fact is the ideal choice.

Thanks for posting these.

Peace and Happiness
AJ

[www.flickr.com]

Thanks for the compliments on the shots.

I shoot with a White Lightning strobe turned up and into the corner behind my head.

I am a one light shooter whenever possible.

-Craig

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus

I am wondering if a Lightsphere II would provide a similar effect?

www.stearnphotography.smugmug.com
www.pbase.com/dstearn
[www.betterphoto.com]

It may give you something similar but I would prefer the 6 or 7 feet of corner that serve as the nice soft light to a brighter 7x5 inches then the soft corner or ceiling that would be the scenario with the Lightsphere.

While I have never use my Lightsphere I hear it is a beautiful thing for studio lighting on location.

Have you had good luck with your Lightsphere?

-Craig

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2005 03:14PM by Craig.

great set of images.....thanks for posting and have a good time

merry x-mas to you and your family and of course to your great LB team !!!

thanks 4 everthing

ollie

Regarding corner lighting.....it's much broader and softer.....that equals more forgiving and easier to capture expressions.

Unless you're right on top or up close an personal with the 5X7 inch lightmodifier it is still a point light source, the Lensbaby being a softer imaging lens responds better to crisper direct lighting with higher contrast ratios.

Um.....LB 2.0 sounds like a good candidate to experiment with the Lightsphere as in head and shoulders would be a good distance, not to close and not to far away ?

Please show us a test view and how about adding a +4 Macro and low power on the flash unit.

Craig,
I like the work you did, but am interested to know, why all Agents are on same chair? Somehow I can unerstand the sepia mood, but the radiator on left is tremendous imaginative subject to get in.
Let me say it so: "If you work with us, it's not important, but every Agent can be in help to You without exception". Is that so?
Thanks
Lazar




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/20/2005 05:35PM by lazar.

An awsome body of work Craig. I like that you've got the same props in every shot - just used differently. Did you get the agents to choose their own poses/ positions for the chair or did you stage it differently when they came into the room?

Marianne

Lazar,

They liked the chair (art director and owners of the company) and it happens to be in my meeting room/theater where the window and heater are so that works out nicely.

I pose them all in three or more positions in the chair. Livens up the shoot, makes sure I get their "good side" and gives me plenty of images to get the sweet spot where I want it and lots of others to ignore because I missed it. The lighting is tricky for focus as the ambient exposure has to be enough to almost blow out the window while not getting much ambient so light on the subject that there is ghosting. It is effectively focusing on a shadow in front of a bright window and trying to get the features of that shadow (eyes/face) in good focus. It has certainly honed my LB focusing skills.

All are shot with the Raynox 0.65x, which relates to another current discussion.

Have a super day.

-Craig

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus

Thanks Craig,
Amazing setup and pro worked.
Lazar

<<<It has certainly honed my LB focusing skills.

All are shot with the Raynox 0.65x, which relates to another current discussion.>>>

Enjoyed the portraits--I followed the link. Thanks for giving particulars. Guess I need to get that Raynox LOL (actually I don't do portraits either--but have lots of other uses for it).

I can see that honing my focusing skills is ultra important. I"ve tried a variety of ways to hold it and 'bend' it somewhat--and still be able to press the shutter button and not lose my focus. Not easy LOL. I do best on tripod--and I've even tried the timer, but that seems less of a solution.

Diane

<<Almost all were shot with the Raynox .65x lens attached. Some were just the Lensbaby, a couple with the Raynox .5x attached.>>

I haven't been able to find a Raynox .5 converter for 35mm. Any hints?? Or was this a mistype?

Ah, have found it at B & H, but not sure if its worth the additional cost--would really prefer the wider angle of the Tokina--but the additional weight could be a problem for me.

Diane




Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2005 09:25PM by picnic.

Raynox .5x is a lens I have not used in a long time.

It is big (not quite as big and heavy as the Tokina but big for my tastes) and expensive in light of the fact that it does not have a macro attachment.

We used to carry it on our web store but the added field of view of the Tokina plus the macro lens built into the Tokina made us switch to the Tokina instead.

It may be exactly what you want, however, and may be worth a try if they have a good return policy.

-Craig

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus

I decided to try the Raynox .65 and 1.5 tele and the macro set from your store--ordered this morning, so we will see if I would like to go wider after using it.

Thanks for the reply.

Diane

Craig,

I've been watching and learning from this great conversation...thanks so much!

...such wonderful portraits...

Larry

cu.

larry


"i like it when it's foggy. i get to touch a cloud." a.g.

Thanks Larry for your encouraging words.

This has been a wonderful group of people to practice both my Lensbaby focusing accuracy and my ability to pose people which is not a comfortable thing for me, probably because I have not done much of it in my career.

Have a beautiful day.

-Craig

You could not step twice into the same rivers; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.
Heraclitus of Ephesus