Lensbirdie & her Lensbabies
Hi there, I am Birgit. The moniker for this photoblog — “Lensbirdie” — came naturally, having been called birdie more than half my life and being a shutterbug for nearly as long. I live in southern Norway with my longtime partner and our two young adult sons. I work as an in-house graphic designer, and photography is my main hobby.
I purchased my first Composer, half on impulse, during a lunch break back in the fall of 2010. It came with the Double Glass optic and the default aperture disk set. I have to admit that I struggled quite a bit at first — finding a balance between the right amount of focus and the right amount of blur — but I never considered giving up. Some strive for perfection in their photography, while I resonate deeper with images that some would consider imperfect — and as such, perhaps closer to reality than the technically perfect ones? Lensbaby’s magical bent and blurry look is spot on for my life experience and photography style.
My Lensbaby gear has become my go-to optics; I only use “normal” lenses for volunteer assignments, most often of the documentary type (music festivals, concerts, TEDx talks). Even then, I make sure to add a little LB magic..!
Of course, an eager amateur, I am a member of a camera club. I am the deputy chairman of the Norwegian Photographic Society and the editor in chief of the society’s online magazine. I’m also a member of the Board of Norsk Naturfotofestival, the largest nature photography festival in the Nordic countries. Occasionally, I compete in national and international salons, and I am rather proud to say that I have managed to get Lensbaby photos accepted. During the fall of 2017, I opened my very own photo gallery, where I showcase my own and other hobbyist photograpers’ work. The gallery has gathered a group of like-minded enthusiasts — we have weekly meetups, where we either photograph something together or teach each other some nifty editing tricks. We start the weekends by having coffee together every Saturday morning.
One of my photos is published in the 2017 Lensbaby calendar — an incredible honour and highly regarded acknowledgement!
My Lensbaby gear
I shoot using two full-frame Nikon cameras (Z6II and Df), as well as an m4/3 Olympus EM-10. Over the years, I’ve added quite the Lensbaby stash to my bag — as of 2022 I only lack the Soft Focus II optic to have a complete Lensbaby optics line-up..!
For Nikon Z:
- Composer Pro II (Jan 2022)
- Obscura (Aug 2022)
For DSLR:
- Composer (Oct 2010)
- Composer Pro (Aug 2014)
- Circular Fisheye (Aug 2015)
- Composer Pro II (July 2016)
- Velvet 56 (Feb 2017)
- Burnside 35 (June 2018)
- Lensbaby 2.0 (Oct 2018)
- Sweet 80 (June 2020)
- Velvet 28 (Sep 2020)
- Velvet 85 (Oct 2020)
- Sol 45 (Oct 2020)
For micro 4/3:
- Composer/Tilt Transformer (Nov 2017)
- Sol 22 (July 2018)
- Trio 28 (Dec 2018)
- Muse for 4/3 (June 2020)
Swap optics:
- Double glass (Oct 2010)
- Edge 80 (Feb 2013)
- Sweet 35 (Aug 2014)
- Optic swap kit: Zone/Pinhole, Single Glass, Plastic (Aug 2015)
- Soft Focus (Dec 2015)
- Edge 50 (July 2016)
- Twist 60 (Oct 2016)
- Edge 35 (Jan 2019)
- Sweet 80 (June 2020)
- Sweet 50 (Jan 2022)
Accessories:
- Macro kit (Aug 2014)
- Creative Aperture kit (Aug 2014)
- Omni Creative filter system + Color expansion pack (March 2020)
- Omni Crystal expansion pack + Flare wand expansion pack (June 2021)
For mobile phone:
- LB-M10 (through Kickstarter Aug 2014)
- LB-M20
- LB-M30
Disclaimer
It’s no secret that I am a devoted fan of the Lensbaby optics and lenses. For the last ten years or so, I have been shooting almost 100 % exclusively with LB for my personal work. I have been a test shooter for not-yet-released optics on a few occasions. There is no monetary payment for this, but I have gained two lenses, and my pictures have been published on the official LB website. Test shooters are always encouraged to be frank and honest in their feedback — well, there would be no point in doing tests otherwise, right?
For transparency: I was invited to join the LB Affiliate Ambassador program when it opened in July 2020 — this means that if you click a link from my website to lensbaby.com and make a purchase within 30 days from doing so, I will be rewarded a 10 % affiliation bonus. Use the code Wfostervold for 10 % off of your LB purchase — valid for all items but can not be added to sales or new products launch campaigns.
I will undoubtedly come across as an avid advocate and (self-appointed) promoter for LB. Still, my opinions are not in any way or means dictated or edited by the LB company. Although a solid fan, I realize that the “imperfect” and blurry result the lenses produce is not fitting for all photographers. I will do my best in answering any questions you might have about the different optics. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch — or join the Lensbaby Unplugged Facebook group, where both the company employees and other photographers strive to help and assist newbies! I claim that the Lensbaby company is a leader in creative innovation and the way they treat their customers.