The Traveling Lensbaby Project

Hello Storyteller is excited to continue with our next installment of the Traveling Lensbaby Project! We have several Lensbabies circulating around the globe. Our Hello Creatives are excited to use these lenses and share their unique art with our community. Our next submission is from the incredible Kristen Ryan with the Lensbaby Burnside 35!

“I was so excited to get the chance to test out the Burnside 35. The beautiful twisty bokeh it provides is amazing, and I was thrilled to try it out in my family’s outdoor adventures. Since the day it came, I can honestly say the Burnside 35 has barely left my camera. I am currently working on my 7th year of my 365 project. During my 365 projects I take photos in many different lighting situations. I need a lens that can handle it all and I was most definitely going to see what it could do. So I tested out all lighting situations and activities that would pop up in my normal 365 photos. Read on to see my experience with The Traveling Lensbaby Project!

Want to join Kristen on her 365 journey? Join her course and support group, A Year in the Life!

As soon as this lens arrived we were heading off on a winter camping trip and it was the perfect time to see how it would do with our outdoor adventures. As we sat up camp I immediately grabbed my camera with the Burnside 35 attached
and got to snapping. (I will note this lens is a manual focus lens, if you aren’t familiar with manual focusing it may take a bit to get used to snapping quick moving subjects. But with some practicing you’ll be chasing down those kids in no time!)

I noticed the closer my subject was to the lens with a wide aperture the more defined the twisty bokeh showed up in the background. I loved the separation it gave between my subject and background. Even with a busy background like bare trees it helped my subject stand out easily. It also handled capturing the evening sky and clouds really well which is always a plus for me!

 

Next, I wanted to test how the lens did in low light or any indoor light that I might come across. With the widest aperture at f/2.8 and the focal range of 35mm it allowed for some great indoor photos as well. I tested it in as many different indoor lighting situations I could find. Harsh shadows with bright light, soft window light, low evening light, soft box lighting. It didn’t struggle one bit and the highest my ISO went was 2000.

Overall I was very impressed with this lens and it is most definitely going onto my wish list! It is a lens that as long as you are comfortable with manual focusing, you could carry with you anywhere. It handles almost any situation with sharp focus and gives you that beautiful background separation that can be hard to find with other wide angle lenses.”