Spring is a time for renewal and what better way to capture all the freshness of the season than with early blooming flowers that spread hope for the warm, bright days ahead. There are endless creative possibilities for flower photography this time of year as the natural world wakes up from its winter slumber and vibrant colors emerge from the dullness. Here, Noa Smith walks us through how she challenged herself to use nothing but the Lensbaby Sweet Optic 80 for 7 days. Read on to see how she captured these springtime blossoms and experimented with black and white photography.  

This spring, I decided to challenge myself, and I spent seven days shooting with my Lensbaby Sweet 80 Optic.

I love using this camera lens for portrait photography, as it gives a soft painterly touch to my subjects, and it also creates movement in the images.

I have always admired watercolor paintings. Their lightness ... their undefined lines ... different shapes merging together and creating a symbiotic whole. Capturing these glorious blossoming branches made me feel like I had spent hours with painting, but instead of using a traditional paintbrush and paint, I used my camera and my Sweet 80 Optic camera lens.

Shooting at F2.8 with this camera lens was quite challenging, especially that the branches and blossoms were in constant motion. They were swinging in all sorts of directions due to a strong wind. However, nailing the sweet spot focus in such weather conditions was rewarding and well worth battling with the elements.

The camera lens kept my focal point sharp while it turned the rest of the image and the out-of-focus areas into a vision of a pastel painting.
If you have used pastel crayons before, I am sure you can picture what I am talking about.

These crayons are very soft, and they have a powdery texture. You can blend different colors or even just use your fingers.
I know it does sound like quite a messy procedure, but if you enjoy painting or drawing, you should give it a go.

Lensbaby Sweet 80 Optic | ISO | 100 | 1/640 | Canon 5D Mark III

I also did a bit of an experiment, and I combined the optic with the OMNI Seahorse Crystal.

I love shooting flower photography backlit as it reveals their beautiful and finest details. The sun was very high, as I captured this image around noon. I used the OMNI Seahorse Crystal to reduce this strong light's harshness and add softness and more texture to my image.
The real challenge was to keep the photo balanced. I did not want to make it look too soft. To avoid that, I kept my subject partially in the shade. This way, I created highlights, mid-tones, and lowlights within one frame.

Lensbaby Sweet 80 Optic | ISO | 100 | 1/4000 | Canon 5D Mark III

I captured this flower photography taking advantage of the cold tones of the morning light. I was aiming for cooler image tones to express that even though these lovely blossoms are already out, the weather can still be very chilly. No matter how fragile these little flowers look, I wanted to show they have so much strength and resilience. They are standing against even the harshest wind, like little soldiers, and spreading the hope of the warmer spring days ahead.

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