I have always been fascinated with Lensbaby lenses. When everyone is going after tack-sharp images, here is one company bucking the trend by making art lenses that produced painterly images. 

So, when I finally got my hands on a Velvet 85, it never left my Sony body. It is absolutely great lens to shoot flowers and still life up close. Opening it up wide you can get a painterly glow to the subject. Granted that the effect may be too much sometimes, I usually stop it down to f2.8. It is enough to give an ever-so-soft glow to a really sharp image.

But with a lens baby, you really are not shooting for a sharp image. I love their philosophy of embracing the blur. It is ok if some parts of the image are blurred. The overall effect is your image looks like a painting. 

I would definitely recommend this lens to anyone who is looking to experiment with their photography and create something out of the ordinary. It is a manual lens, so it will take time to get used to it. It will definitely slow you down, in a good way! I have always believed in shooting with intent. And definitely Lensbaby helps you in achieving that. I absolutely love my Lensbaby. I look forward to adding other Lensbaby lenses to my gear set. 

About this image: 
I shot this set of images at the Auckland Botanic Gardens. It was a beautiful saturday morning, slightly overcast and a gentle breeze was blowing. So, I cranked up my shutter speed to freeze the motion. I shot this wide open to get the glow and create a really soft image. 

For more info:
https://lensbaby.com/products/velvet-85