The Travelling Burnside Project

Earlier this year I received an e-mail notifying me I had been accepted to be a participant in the Travelling Burnside Project, organized by Lensbaby .  Lensbaby is a company who creates camera lenses that give special creative effects to your images.  The Burnside 35mm is their newest lens and they were giving photographers around the world the opportunity to spend a couple of weeks photographing with the lens before sending it on to the next participant.  I was thrilled to have this chance to try out the lens!

I received my copy of the Lensbaby Burnside35 in mid June and set out to shoot a variety of subjects and genre with it.  

The Burnside provides a swirl effect to your image, which is especially effective when there is a lot of texture in your background.  Your aperture setting will dictate how much swirl is created.  On top of this, there is an effects slider that lets the photographer add in camera vignetting to the image! You can decide how much of a vignetting effect you add by how much you adjust the slider.  The slider also adds a pop of brightness to the center of your image.  The bokeh and rich colours created by this lens were fantastic! 

I started my shooting with a variety of foliage around my own yard. 

Wild roses in the late afternoon sun - look at that swirl!! 

Wild roses in the late afternoon sun - look at that swirl!! 

Amazing bokeh and rich colour!

Amazing bokeh and rich colour!

The Burnside 35 really brings the focus to your subject!

The Burnside 35 really brings the focus to your subject!

I took it on a trip out to the Canadian Rocky Mountains to see how I liked it for landscape.  The effects aren't as obvious, but it still provides a painterly softness to the edges. 

Two Jack Lake, Alberta, Canada

My daughter was willing to be my subject so I could try portraits with the Burnside.  Now this is where I really struggled with the manual focus! I really fought to get sharp focused eyes.  In hindsight, I needed to use a smaller aperture and create a larger focus area. 

I love the 35 mm focal length of the lens - it makes it very versatile for so many genres of photography.  

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with the Burnside35 lens.  I could definitely see adding it to my collection of equipment to use when I felt the need to get creative. The Travelling Burnside Project was such a great way to really get to spend some time learning the lens and understanding it's capabilities. 

 

July Serenity Circle - Serenity in Sunrise

I am not a morning person - I really really wish I was.  

Earlier this month, I found myself awake at 5 am and happened to look out the window and see all the misty fog laying low over the ground.  I had a short internal debate with myself about whether to crawl back into my cozy bed or grab my gear and head out to the back field to try and capture the beauty of the foggy sunrise.  The sunrise won! I could nap later. 

The fact that I could just go into my own backyard made the decision pretty easy.  I didn't even have to brush my teeth! No drive to a shooting location, fighting for a spot! 

It was worth missing a little sleep.  It was peaceful watching the sky change, listening to the birds and seeing the dew before it evaporated in the warmth of the sun. 

Click on the images to see a larger version. 

one of the old horse shelters, no longer used

Waking up and drying off.

looking away from the sun

The Serenity Project is a collaborative photography project featuring images that bring a sense of peace and calm. Please continue the circle to Wendy May in Scotland to see what has brought her serenity this month.