Re: Lensbaby Sponsored Selective Blur Photography Competition

On Sun, 20 May 2007 18:00:37 -0400, Rita Ä Berkowitz <ritaberk2O04
@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:

>DBLEXPOSURE wrote:
>
>>> To me this looks like a gimmick. Interesting the first time you see
>>> it, but does distract from the real subject.
>>
>> Actually, the opposite is true, the selective focus draws the eye
>> towards the sweetspot.  The concept is not new and the Lensbaby has
>> been around for a while as well.  It makes for some very nice
>> portrait work, as with any effect it can be overdone but when used
>> effectively, stunning images result.
>> http://www.lensbabies.com/index.php?page=lb2/galleries
>
>Sorry, I'm just not feeling it with these images.  It simply doesn't make

>any sense to ruin the possibility of having great portrait shots with
this 
>dime-store gimmick.
>

That was my feeling exactly when I saw what Lensbaby was for and can do. I
can
get better effects from a kid's $10 "Bug Eye -- See the world as a Bug
Does!"
plastic optics set I found in a tourist trap one time. A photographer
should
take excellent images to start with, then you can always do anything you
want to
them. Even ruin them, into effects like Lensbaby creates, in
post-processing.
But you can't go back and get those photos again once Lensbaby has already
ruined the source image for you. No different then letting the camera put
the
date and time stamp on your photo. You can't remove it later when you
realize
what an error it was to let something ruin your source image.

Amateurish, to say the least.

If there was a world-vote for the most amateurish photo gimmick ever
marketed,
Lensbaby would win top honors.