This photo was taken at the iStock event a few weeks ago here in Salt Lake City. It has very little editing done to it, although I do admit to a little bit of tooth lengthening to make it look like she has fangs. :) We had an amazing makeup artist that day, Chris Hanson, who also did the makeup for the models in a few of the other photo-shoot setups.

I used a Lensbaby for this shot, along with many other images throughout the day, and was able to get really amazing focus on a lot of them. Anyone who says that you can’t get a sharp image with a Lensbaby hasn’t used one long enough to get it right. I’ve been trying to use my Lensbaby Composer as much as possible and I’m learning it’s one of those pieces of equipment that really takes practice to get the hang of it.

So if you have a Lensbaby and are frustrated—don’t give up! It is possible to get great focus with it. My one tip would be to compose, focus, take the shot … then re-focus and do it again and again with the same setup. Even if I think I nailed focus I usually refocus and take the same shot a few more times just to make sure (especially if I like the composition). I still miss focus, but the more I use the lens the fewer “bad” shots I end up taking. I really enjoy using my Lensbaby and find that it changes the way I see my images and compose the shots … doing it in the editing process just wouldn’t create the same experience for me.