The Lensbaby Velvet 56 is Here!!!

To say that I am excited about this lens would be an understatement! I have loved this lens from day one and am very, very excited to get to shoot and share the images from here on out. This lens, the Lensbaby Velvet 56, is everything I could want in a day to day lens, but better! 

I love the 56 mm focal length as it is strong for portraits as well as environmental work. The killer point? It does macro AND it has some amazing halation effects wide open at f1.6. Yes! This Lensbaby has a gorgeous shallow aperture that makes creating dreamy effects a breeze. You can shoot your scene, the main subject, AND detailed macros of the scene, all with one lens! 

One of my favorite lenses to date is a vintage lens from the 1960s. It found new life on my Sony a7s with an adapter. The dreamy bokeh of my 'Dream Lens' is amazing, but I paid over $2000 for that lens. The Velvet 56  has a dreamy book too, and a killer build (very similar to all metal vintage lenses) with dreamy halation properties (the velvet look) from f1.6 to about f4. When you stop down the halation diminishes and it becomes a standard lens that is razor sharp. The only way I can describe it is that it has an "old Hollywood" feel. 

Here is a smattering of my test shots over the last few months. Be prepared to see more as I am IN LOVE!