Photographing fireworks!

I don’t know about you but watching fireworks if one my favorite activities. Put me in the middle of a field with hundreds or thousands of people, some patriotic music and a good fireworks show is the best way to celebrate the 4th of July!

When my youngest son, who now over 30 was just an infant we went to fireworks that were sponsered by the Herr’s company. We piled the boys in car along with a picnic dinner, some fishing rods, a blanket and some headphones for the youngest because I pretty sure he was on about about 4 months old and headed off to spend the afternoon at the county park. The older boys fished in the pond and listened to the first band who were there for the children and then the country band who was there for the adults. We had dinner on the blanket and the boys ran around with their glow sticks. The fireworks were AMAZING and that’s a understatement! This night started my love of watching watching these loud, ear piercing, kalidescope-like works of art! I rarely missed one of those events and I still enjoy going. Luckily my local township provides us with a wonderful show each year and rather than an hour long drive, I can walk there!

Over the years, I’ve tried to improve my skills at photographing fireworks. Once you get the hang of it though, it’s really easy! Let me give you a few tips. Put your camera on a tripod! The best fireworks are created using long exposures. You can’t hold a camera or even your cell phone still for 5-10-20 seconds. Use manual exposure. Set your ISO to 100. You can play around with your aperture but anything over f/8 should give you fairly in focus images. Anything less than that can create some really cool fireworks effects! I would recommend waiting until the first set and trying to focus while those first few booms happen! Once you set your focus, you can turn your AF off and leave your focus ring alone! Make sure you don’t touch it! If you have a remote cable release or another type of release you can just use that. Experiment with how long you want your shutter speed to be. Using a long shutter speed allows more time for more fireworks to explode in your frame but if too many go off it can become an overexposed jumble of light! Start at 10 seconds and adjust from there!

If you want to get creative, open up your aperture! The lines of light become wider and softer or you can create an image with lots of out of focus bokeh! Try rotating your focus rings to get creative effects. Take your camera off your tripod and move it around, in various ways, to create an abstract image. Not every image will work but you might find a couple of keepers in the bunch.

My final piece of advice is to put the camera away or at least the cable release done and just sit and watch for a few minutes. Be in the moment and remember why you are there, especially if you’re shooting on the 4th of July!

Lensbaby Edge 80

Lensbaby Edge 80

Lensbaby Edge 80

Lensbaby Velvet 28

Lensbaby Edge 80

Happy 4th of July to my American friends! I hope the next time you pick up your camera to shoot fireworks you find something you’ve read about here helpful!

Don't you love time off?

As I sit here after finishing another school year working in special education, I realize I have a lot to be thankful about. I work with the most amazing people and I’m blessed to work with some of the most amazing children. These students ground me every single day. They show me what’s important in life. It’s not about what you have or who you know. It’s about doing the best you can with the gifts you’re given. It’s about working hard and giving it your all!

While I work specifically with one student each year, I come in contact with so many more. I am a part of those little lives too. It’s an honor that I hold high. When I leave school day each I’m done. I have laid it all on the mat, as the saying goes I’ve given it all to those students whose lives I’ve been chosen to help shape. . To put it simply, I’m exhausted when I get home, but it’s the best kind of tired. Working with children is making a difference in their lives. It gives me a wonderful sense of purpose.

While I love what I do, when I get home I need to find a way to transition to the other parts of my life that I enjoy. For me that’s picking up my camera. It’s walking through the gardens for a few minutes or picking up flowers at the grocery store and finding solace as I work on finding compositions, or trying new techniques. It helps me to recharge and find more energy. Finding this creative outlet has been a game charger for me. It gives me some quiet solitude after hearing the chatter of school all day.

Summers are even better. There’s a lot of time off, less structure, and less expectation. . It gives me more time to spend on doing things I love. If you know me, you know a big part of that is using Lensbaby lenses. Sharing what I know and have learned is fun! I want you to be excited about it too. I’m here as a Lensbaby Ambassador to help you in any way I can. If I don’t know an answer, I’ll make every effort find one.

Please reach out using the contact tab if you have any questions! Want a 10% discount, use this link and the code WKUHLMAN at checkout. *discount not available on new releases and some sale prices

I’ll leave you with a reverse freelensing image using a Nikon D750 and the Lensbaby Velvet 56!

An f/stop comparison of the Velvet 28!

Back in November I was out in Arizona for my son’s wedding. Because I had to take a gown and shoes and a dress for the rehearsal dinner and all the clothes required to get through 11 days of traveling, I kept my camera gear to a minimum. It was a hard choice, but it was a wedding after all! One of the lenses I took was my Velvet 28. The Velvet 28 is a newer lens for me so I hadn’t really put it through it’s paces yet. Knowing I was headed to the Sedona, the Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend I thought it a good choice.

We got to Arizona a couple of days before the wedding and had some time to scope out some other areas. I was very interested on that first day to see how much blur I could put into my images while having enough details to be able to remember exactly where I was. How much was too much blur, if that’s a thing! And that is the thing about Lensbaby lenses, you can go from no effect to the most effect possible and every where in between! It’s not a one size fits all, deal.

I live with this man who isn’t into blur. It’s okay, it really is. I love him anyway! I am the photo keeper in the family and I’m the one who does the printing, but I sometimes give him a choice! I started by shooting at f/22, then f/16, and f/11 continuing down to f/2.5. The area is pretty typical of this part of Arizona. Lots of red rock and cactus! I’m not going to wow you with the most amazing sunset here. I just wanted to see how the Velvet 28 handled the blur at every f-stop. Here are my results! You decide for yourself, but I will say that if you like this effect but don’t always want to have it, you have options! Just shoot closed down. Love the effect…go for wide open! All images shot hand held at ISO 100. The other settings at listed on each image. Let me know what you think!

Are you wondering how to use the Omni Creative System?

This week I was commenting in the Lensbaby Unplugged Group on Facebook on a post where someone asked a very simple question. They were struggling with the Omni and wanted to know the best way to use it. Depending on what you read into that, it’s not an easy question to answer. The ways to use it are probably limitless, but there are easy ways to learn how it works for you!

One of the first ways I’ll suggest is take one of the wands, or films and work exclusively with it in a variety of lighting situations and locations. You might want to start with one type of subject where you can control the light and place the Omni in various locations in front of your lens to see how it affects your composition. Then you can take that a step further and use that same wand across a variety of subjects, using the same formula of trying it in several locations in front of your lens. Using this method will how you which genres of photography or at the very least, which subjects you find work with that wand. Once you have a good feel for that wand, go ahead and try another one. You’ll soon be picking out your favorites and realizing that some work better in some situations than other do.

You can also pick one subject and try our multiple wands during the same session. Take a picture of each wand before you start so you’ll know which ones you used when you’re ready to edit. Remembering to take the picture takes some practice but if you go slow, you’ll start to learn how each wand affects your final results.

For both of these methods I would suggest using a stationary subject, rather than moving children, let’s say. You’ll want to try to move the wands ever so slowly around your lens, or rotating them without moving them around the lens. The results can change with the slightest of movements. It may even be impossible to get the same effect again, especially if your light source changes.

One issue I didn’t address is which lens to use. Well, that’s another piece of the equation that you need to explore. I would suggest using the lens that you’re most comfortable with first. If you have a fixed lens, I’d try that before a zoom. You don’t have to use a Lensbaby lens, but you can! You can certainly use a cell phone too! There are no rules for any of this. I like to shoot close to wide open so I’m adding to the blur or the bokeh. It also helps to hide the edges of any flat surfaces you’re putting in front of your lens.

As you’re shooting just remember that your results may not be the same as someone else who is using the same tool. It’s all about the light and that changes with every situation. You need to just try to have fun with it! Try another wand or again in different light if the results aren’t what you’d hoped for. For some Omni’s the result may be more subtle and others way more obvious. This is totally normal! Just keep in mind the type of shooting you do that would benefit most from those types of results.

If I can answer any other questions, please reach out! You can use the contact form on my website or message me on social media! I’m happy to help in any way I can! Ready to purchase an Omni? Use this link and the code WKUHLMAN at check out for a 10% discount ! The discount is not available on any new release but by using the link/code you’ll let them know I sent you!

The Lensbaby Omni Universal Pack is available today!

This new product of Lensbaby promises to bring another level of creativity to your photography! The Universal expansion pack consists of 11 inserts, some bendable or trim-able to your needs! Some are reflective or my favorite a full of Swiss cheese type holes! It also include low profile clamps and universal clamps to help you configure the the inserts anyway you want! And you can also hand hold these if your careful to keep your hands out of the frame but I found using the clamps to be a bit easier to use since these are significantly bigger than the wands! They attach magnetically to a ring that attaches to your lens as a step ring does. Then you can add the clamps in any way you want until you get the effect your looking for!

The Omni Swiss cheese

Here I used the Swiss cheese before I removed the blue plastic coating! I like to jump in and try things! I did eventually remove it since I didn’t want all my images to be blue!

The Omni Universal Convex Mirror

In front of me were the trees and the grass. Behind me where the people! What a fun, busy effect!

Omni Universal Bendable

Here I wrapped the bendable film around the end of my lens!

Omni Universal Convex mirror!

I love the feeling of movement created using this mirror!

Omni Universal Gold Swiss cheese

Something a little different for me! I usually prefer color to black and white for some of my images but when I played with this the one, the mood changed so dramatically that I had to go with bow! I shot though one of the holes in the Swiss cheese insert allowing for focus on my subject and blur everywhere else!

What’s the cost you ask? Lensbaby is selling this in the US for $89.95!

If you’d like to read more about this new Lensbaby product, click here to check out the Lensbaby site! Unfortunately my discount is not available on new releases! If you have any questions, use the contact link here or visit me on Facebook or Instagram and leave me a message! I’m happy to talk with you!

More about the new Lensbaby Soft Focus II!

I’ve had more time to shoot with this optic and am more in love than I was at first! The soft blur is gorgeous! I love shooting wide open with the optic. At f/3.5 you have enough depth of field to get a good part of your subject in reasonable focus while still allowing for the fall off of soft blur!

The nice thing about the Soft Focus II optic is that it can be used in any Optic Swap housing. It’s not recommended that you tilt this optic in the Composer Series as it does not change the effect but since you can shoot straight with the Composer it’s perfect! If you don’t already already have a housing you have two choices. Buy it with a straight body or for a little more money get the Composer Pro II. The benefit of getting the Composer is that your would be able to tilt any other optic you would purchase in the future!

Take a look at the work I’ve done that moves me with this optic! Some of these images are also combined with the Omni Creative Wand system! I just love the combination!

If you have any questions at all, please reach out using the contact form. If you want to purchase use the link in the menu bar for a 10% discount on any item that’s not a new release! The website will tell which products are ineligible for the extra discount. Oh, and use the code WKUHLMAN to let them know I sent you!

I have a new portfolio to share with you!

I’ve been thinking for a while of creating a place where all my Lensbaby work is together in the same place. I wanted something people who are interested in the effects of specific lens could go to and see how I use each optic or lens. This is not to say that these are the only ways they can be used. Far from it. It’s just how I use them. I love nature photography and macro specifically but occasionally I dabble in a couple of other genres!

Over at Cathy Alice Photography you can find galleries of my Lensbaby work separated by each optic I currently own and use. I’ll be adding to these galleries and changing images out as I grow my craft. If you have any questions you can use the contact page and I’ll respond as soon as I am able. I still work in a school during the day so please be patient with me until the end of my work day for a response!

Because I can’t leave you with just an announcement, here’s a recent image with the new Soft Focus II optic!

One of my favorite times of the year is here!

Sometime in mid to late March Longwood Gardens puts out a display of the rare Blue Himalayan Poppy! It’s one of my many favorite flowers. Why? Well, for one, it ‘s blue! I just love finding blue in nature! It’s unusual and most days if you ask me what my favorite color is, I’ll tell you blue! These flowers come to Longwood via Alaska as much smaller plants that Longwood then has to carefully care for in order for them to bloom. The blooms only last a few days. it seems that us photographers (and every other visitor) like to touch them and take pictures of them. The touching and flash photography shorten the life span. If you’re lucky you can visit every day for 10 to maybe 14 days to see them and then they’re gone! Here’s hoping they’re still there next weekend so I can go back and visit! When I go I’ll be taking my Lensbaby Velvet 56 again and I’ll be using my Omni Creative Filter system! Use the contact form if you have questions or just want to chat about Lensbaby! Use my affiliate link on the Lensbaby tab for a 10% discount. (Discount not available on new releases and some sale items).

Lensbaby has a new optic!

I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be an ambassador for this company! Lensbaby allows many of their ambassadors to beta-test their newest products before they get released. I was fortunate to join a group of talented and inspiring photographers who were offered this unique opportunity. The Soft Focus II was released yesterday! It comes in two versions. For those with any of the Composer housings, you can just get the optic. For those with the house you have your choice of the “lens” which is a straight housing with the optic or to buy the Composer Pro Ii and add the optic!

Sunset at f/2.8

Versatility is extremely important to me when choosing a lens. The Soft Focus II had internal aperture blades, unlike the original Soft Focus optic. You can shoot from f/2.5-f/22. The effect of this lens has been described as a “velvet on crack.” You can see some of similarities but the Soft Focus takes that glow to a whole other level. Then you have option of adding multi-hole bokeh disks to add texture to your bokeh. There are three of the multi-hole disks and a sunburst aperture disk which are included with the lens/optic. You have the option of being as soft as you want at f/2.5 to focused at f/22 and very little special effect.

Notice the texture in that bokeh?

One of the really fun results I had was shooting lights at Christmas! This image taken at Longwood Gardens had me giddy and it was so hard to keep this one a secret!

I like calling these bokeh bubbles! Such an exaggerated effect!

This optic knows no limits to genre either! I’ve used it for macro, abstract, landscape, nature, my version of architecture, and I have friends who have created some amazing lifestyle and portrait work, even toy photography! With this optic you can be as creative as you want! There are no limitations!

Add a little color to life!

Today I had the opportunity to join a group of photographers from across the world to show support for the people of Ukraine. Our goal was for everyone to post an image with yellow and blue, the colors of the flag of Ukraine. My first thought was a yellow flower but how could i add the blue? Since today was the day I also post to Lensbaby Omni Loop, I decided to pull out my Omni gear to see what would work. The Omni film or gels were the first option. I pulled out the blue gel and within a few images I had a composition I loved and an image that I could share! I hope you like it too! If you’re interested in purchasing a Lensbaby product use the code WKUHLMAN at checkout for a 10% discount.

Let's revisit reverse freelensing!

So I wrote a post on reverse freelensing last August. Every once in a while I get a question about the how and/or why. For me there’s no question about the why! It gets me closer to my subject! It gives me more blur! Yes, I can add macro filters, but I’m adding glass that I’m not positive is the same caliber as that of my lens. I also don’t have to carry anything else with me. I don’t have to have filters in all different sizes. Yes, I can introduce dust into my camera and onto my sensor. It happens. But it happens changing lenses too. I’ve learned to my camera’s sensor because of this technique!

For me something happens when I remove that lens. It’s like a know a secret that others don’t know! I don’t really want to keep that secret, though! I want to share it! It’s another way to explore your creative self, your photographer self. You do have to be a little brave though. Dropping your gear is a real possibility. Practice inside at first. Over something cushioned until you’re comfortable holding your camera in one hand and your lens in the other! Don’t go outside on windy days.

To read about all my tips and tricks click here! And please, please, please…don’t try this unless you’re 100% comfortabl! Read how others use the same technique! Do your homework. A broken lens or camera is an expensive mistake. You don’t want to go there and I don’t want you to go there, so try it at your own risk!

Reverse Freelensed with the @lensbabyusa Velvet 56

My favorite flower is....

ranunculus! At least at this time of the year! I had never heard of this flower until I got into macro photography. The colors and curved ayers are beyond gorgeous. It’s also a simple flower. The stems sometimes bend in odd shapes and there aren’t a lot of leaves along the stem. They look even better with water drops on them, sometimes. But they look the best when I use one of my Lensbaby lenses to photograph them!

I start scouting out Trader Joes grocery store in January to see when they’re in stock! It’s really hard not to buy every color on my first trip! As soon as I get home I start counting the days until I have toI drive by that way again! ’m as giddy as a child when I bring them home!

Here’s an image from this year’s first purchase. Shot with a Velvet 56 and a 12mm extension tube. ISO 800 f/5.6 1/50 sec

Why do I shoot Lensbaby?

The list of reasons I shoot with Lensbaby is long but today I’ll give you one reason. I like being creative! Looking back on my life I almost remember having a craft of some sort in my hands. I got that from my mom. My mom could sew! Self taught too. She made my Communion dress out of several different patterns. She like the top of one, the bottom of a different one. The sleeves of yet another. I don’t remember exactly how many patterns but I remember the comments from so many people on that day! I still have the curtains my mom made for the nursery when I was first pregnant with my oldest child. He’s 36 now and they hang in my garage. Every day I come in and out and know my mom is still with me! My mom did all kinds of other crafts too, like counted cross stitch and embroidery. My mom sent me to a neighbor who loved to knit for lessons and to a seamstress who would teach me to sew the “right” way. It was a combination of many things that drove me to be creative, but I’ve always needed a pattern or an inspiration of some sort to get started.

Photography is like that for me now. I learned how to take images by using a guide. I learned the rules. The more I looked at other’s people’s work though the more I wanted to explore the use of creative depth of field and blur and bokeh! It fascinated me and I wanted to learn how to achieve those results.. That’s when I found Lensbaby. Lensbaby makes getting those creative result so easy and I can do it in camera! I don’t have to rely on a program like Lightrooom or Photoshop to get results. I can do it camera. Lensbaby allows me to explore those creative needs within me. I can push those results a little or a lot or somewhere in-between. Lensbaby gives me the power and the desire to try things that a typical lens cannot achieve. Lensbaby gives me freedom to be the best creative me I can be!

The images below were both taken with the Velvet 28! #lensbaby #shootextraordinary #lensbabyambassador #velvet28

Dormant in Winter

Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve | South Carolina

It's a busy time of year, but, also a time to slow down...

Holiday prep has begun and my inbox is overflowing with offers at every place I’ve ever shopped online, but the hustle and bustle of kids coming and going, homework, and quarreling has long since passed. I miss those days more than ever at this time of year. My camera was almost always in my hands back then to capture the shenanigans of my boys and their activities. Instead now I’m quietly looking for those tiny details that used to go unnoticed. It’s refreshing in a way and a blessing to able to have this time to slow down and enjoy the little things in life we often overlook. I find myself more at peace with many things. More accepting of many things. More open to trying new things!

My latest Lensbaby purchase, and one of my favorite new things, has been on my camera for a few weeks now! The Velvet 28 arrived after much fretting on which lens to get next. And I love it! At 28mm vs. my go-to Velvet 56, I’m getting a wider angle but still wonderful details. I can focus while only 2” from my subject! You should think about trying it out! Let me know if you have any questions!

Lensbaby is having their annual holiday sale! Use the link icon below (to the right of the FB icon and the code wKUHLMAN at check out for an extra 5% Lensbaby’s sale prices! That’s 15% + 5% off their regular prices!

Moving past Covid...

This has been a challenging year and a half and then some. March of 2020 had my family in Charleston for the wedding of one of my sons. More specifically the week that things began to close down. The wedding plans changed daily that week. Guests canceled. Venues canceled. The bride and groom scrambled to relocate, change venders and long story short, as the saying goes, they got married. That trip was the last I took for six months when I donned an n95 mask and braved a couple plane rides to visit that same son and his wife in Idaho. Fast forward to over a year later and once again, we jumped on a plane for the second wedding, of my sons, that was postponed and rescheduled due to Covid. This trip took us to Arizona. Each of these trips allowed me to be outside to do what I love!

I’ve been craving travel and some landscape photography for such a long time that I extended my stay to visit Sedona, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and the Grand Canyon! Right before leaving for that trip I ordered a new Lensbaby Velvet 28 lens! What an amazing lightweight lens to carry around! At 28mm and f/16 I was able to get some beautiful low light landscape images with some wonderful detail!

A view opposite of sunrise from the hotel parking lot in Sedona!

Just look at all that texture in the rock in Antelope Canyon!

I am so fortunate to be able to follow my dreams and check a few places off my bucket list ! Picking up my camera and being able to photograph outside where I’m able to be socially distant, for the most part, has been so beneficial to my life. Mother Nature is an amazing force and I’m happy to share some of her story here!

It's time to buy! Lensbaby's Holiday sale begins on Monday, Nov 1st!

I’m thrilled to announce that all of you waiting for a good sale, this is it! The wait is over. All things Lensbaby will be 15% off starting Monday, even the new products! And just to entice you a bit more they’re allowing you to use our Ambassador discount…an additional 5% off during this sale! Use this link and the code wKUHLMAN at check out! Not sure where to start or which lens to buy next? No problem, reach out using the contact form and I’ll help you out!

Taken with the Velvet 56 at f/16. Not all Velvet images have blur!

"Shoot Extraordinary!" but why?

As I typed the title I had to pause for a minute to consider the weight of those words. What exactly is extraordinary? Actioning to Google it’s” the very unusual or the remarkable”. According to Merrian-Webster is “going beyond what it usual or regular.” Does it look the same for me as it does for you? Probably not. Does that matter? Probably not.

The people that be at Lensbaby posted a question to the lensbaby ambassadors “Why you shoot Lensbaby?” I think the simple answer is because it’s not the usual or the ordinary. The real answer goes much deeper though. Lensbaby fills a need in our creative souls. It allows us to express part of us we can’t create with an ordinary lens. I’m not discounting those ordinary lenses, either. Not by any means. There are times when that’s what the vision needs. But then there are times when we need more. We need different.

My whole life I’ve been a rule follower. I find comfort in knowing where things are because I keep them in the same place. I find comfort in knowing that I’ll arrive safely on a trip because people follow the rules of the road. Something changes, though, when I pick up my camera. Then when I add anyone of my Lensbabies, I know I’m going to get lost in that moment ahead. I’m going to get high from the beauty I see in my viewfinder. I’m going to push limits I never dreamed of pushing. Behind a Lensbaby I don’t have to follow any rules. I can add blur, pull focus, and alter reality, even.

Lensbaby lenses are created to allow you and me to explore light and lines and blur in a way a typical lens doesn’t allow. They take us to a new dimension. They shift our vision from something ordinary, something that can be taken with any camera to something unique to us. Unique to you. Unique to me.

Shooting with a Lensbaby frees my mind from the comfort zone I know and allows me to challenge myself to find new depths of creativity.

This image was created using a:

Nikon D750 | #lensbaby | #Velvet56 | #OmniWand

IS0 800 | 1/200 sec

#lensbabyambassador #shootextraordinary

Lensbaby has a free class including giveaways! Don't miss it!

Lensbaby is offering its annual photography conference for free! Yes! For FREE! All you have to do is sign up here! There are so many fabulous photographers signed up! A few of my favorite nature photographers are on the list! But if your gig is portrait..they’ve got one! Travel, landscape, , light, fine art….there’s something for everyone! The classes will be aired between December 7-9th. If you miss one, or two, don’t worry..they’ll be available for download later! But try to get to something online! Free giveaways are involved during the airing! Among then are gift cards and even a Free Sony A7C ! Go sign up what have you got to lose?

Some analogous colors taken with the Sweet 35 ! Isn’t that blur just gorgeous!

New wands! New wands! Lensbaby has new wands!

So I’m very excited to share the Lensbaby has released new wands for their Omni Collection! These two wands are reflective. One is two sided, with a gold and a silver mirror on opposites sides of the wand. The other is a partially translucent wand that we called the smokey mirror.

I was fortunate to be asked to beta test these wands! The only down side was I had to keep them a secret until the release. No using them in public! I’m really looking forward to walking through my usual haunts, ie: Longwood Gardens and putting these into some real action!

I love how versatile they are. I’ve used them with macro and with landscape. I’ve added a bit of a reflection and completely moved the landscape from one side of a barn to the other! I’ve even added what looks like a pond in front that same barn, but it’s really just the reflection of the sky using the wand.!

The wands are available in the Deluxe collection online. If you already own several wands and would like these too, you can email customerhappiness@lensbaby.com and ask to purchase just these two!

To purchase these wands you can order the Deluxe Omni Collection or if you already own the wands and don’t need a collection you can email customerhappiness@lensbaby.com and ask for just the two! Be sure to use my link and the code wKUHLMAN for a 10% discount! https://linktr.ee/CathyAlicePhotography

When something old is new again!

For a few years I’ve been looking for a discontinued Lensbaby lens for my cell phone. Every few months, or weeks, or sometimes days, I’d hop on Google and do a search. I’d check Ebay. I never found anything I was comfortable plunking down my hard earned money for. That changed a couple of weeks ago. Amazon UK came to the rescue. My Lensbaby LM-10 arrived yesterday! Now, it’s not made for recent cell phones. It doesn’t attach as conveniently as it did before, but I can use it handheld. I reached out to some Lensbaby peeps and asked a few questions after it arrived. It seems there was an App with the lens that helped to change the sweet spot of focus. I won't have that convenience but it’ll challenge me to work around it. Today I was outside practicing and even managed a couple I kinda like!

Sometimes when I need something to spark my creativity, this is what helps! Trying a new technique, or a new gear is motivating. It even gets me excited to go back to old gear. I feel like I look at with fresh eyes!

What gets you motivated to create?

Here are two of the images I took today of my dahlias! i don’t have much time left with them this year and want to remember them in all their beauty!