Competitions
Francois W. Nel 191

Get creative with selective focus – This month we’re giving away a Lensbaby Spark for your Canon or Nikon DSLR!

Update 2: Friday 19 April 2013 12:15PM

And the winner is… Greg Liss!

Greg wrote: “My first photo with the Lensbaby Spark will be of my new puppy. He’s a Fug, Fox Terrier X Pug – what a cutie!”

Congrats Greg – we hope you get plenty of creative shots of your new puppy – and please submit them for our “Your Photos” albums on Facebook! We’d also like to thank everyone else that commented and shared – keep your eyes peeled for more upcoming competitions and giveaways!

Update 1: Friday 19 April 2013 12:00PM

The competition is now closed, and the winner will be announced shortly!

Hi all, it’s time for another great Orms Connect giveaway! This month we have an awesome Lensbaby Spark to give to one lucky community member! Read on to learn more about the Spark.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Lensbaby range of lenses, all you need to know is that they are a lot of fun to shoot with, and the results aren’t like anything you can achieve with most ordinary lenses! With the Lensbaby Spark, you squeeze the lens closer to the camera to focus, and with the flexible bellows tube, you can shift the plane of focus, or “sweet spot” to anywhere in the frame by squeezing a little more on one side of the lens. Want to see more? View the two videos below.

The Lensbaby Spark In Action

How To Use The Lensbaby Spark

Photos Taken With The Lensbaby Spark

Awesome, right? To stand a chance of getting your hands on a Spark, simply read the instructions below and enter the giveaway! The Lensbaby Spark is available in Nikon F-mount and Canon EF-mount only.

How To Enter
Make sure that you have liked our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter, and then leave a comment on this blog post, answering one of the following questions:

“How will a Lensbaby Spark change the way you shoot?”

Or

“What is the first photo you want to take with the Lensbaby Spark’s adjustable centre of focus?”

Rules

  1. The competition is open to all South African residents, 18 or older.
  2. The winner will be selected randomly, and will need to be a fan of Orms Direct on Facebook or follow @OrmsDirect on Twitter.
  3. Only one comment/entry per person will count. If you leave more than one comment, it will only count as one entry.
  4. No exchanges or returns available – the prize is awarded as is.
  5. The Lensbaby Spark is only available for the Nikon F-mount and Canon EF-mount. The winner will receive the appropriate lens mount version.
  6. Competition closes Friday 19 April at 12:00 PM.

Please note: We make use of Random.org to randomly generate a number corresponding to the eventual winner’s comment. We run the number generator once – the first number is the winner. All comments get checked for duplicates. The nature of this random system ensures that everyone has a fair chance of winning, which is very important to us. If you post under an anonymous nickname, we will attempt to maintain your anonymity.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

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Categories: Competitions Digital Photography

Author: Francois W. Nel

191 Comments

April 2013 Giveaway: Lensbaby Spark

  1. Given the shallow depth of field, I reckon the first experimental shots would be of the macro variety. Hunting down an interesting insect or flower in my garden.

  5. I’ve always wanted a Lensbaby as it just gives you so many more ways to shoot and express your creativity. Love the effects! And what would I shoot? The Mother City in all it’s pride.

  6. Hi there, I own a Canon D500, my first shot would be a DJ playing for the croud and all his fans and surroundings would be blurred out.. cheers Regards Thaabit

  7. i will take my band photography to the next level with this lens. think this lens will fit my style of shooting perfectly! so don’t hesitate to give it to me! this lens will be a big impact on my life and my photography. thanks

  8. I am a young and passionate photographer from Pietermaritzburg and I am planning to become a full time photographer. I would love this lens to improve my lens range and take my photography further.

  16. How will a Lensbaby Spark change the way I shoot? For one, it will teach me about manual focus and finding the sweet spot, something every photographer should know. Add to that how cool it softens the edges and lands the focus entirely on your subject/object, and you can move that sweet wherever you want. What lens gives you that kind of freedom?

  20. First photo I wish to take with the “L-baby” is of my babies at my upcoming birthday. I can picture it in my mind…. candles lit on the cake, anticipation on the faces…click

  26. The first photo I want to take with the Lensbaby Spark’s adjustable centre of focus will be of my beautiful Girlfriend. After all she’s the centre of my attention.

  29. The first photo will be of a girl with long blonde hair on a white horse standing in a green field ….hopefully the breeze will be blowing her hair and the horse’s mane …gorgeous soft blur on everything except her face which will be up close to the horse’s face as I shall ask her to lean right down until she is almost level with his face…wow!

  30. This the Lensbaby Spark will add some new life to my most loved obsession and hobby – “photography” and will allow me the freedom to create uniquely different shots by using its technology to change the point of focus and achieve different effects on same the subject. My first photographs would be self portraits and hopefully I can get my toddler to join me for a few creative and spontaneous snapshots.

  31. This the Lensbaby Spark will add some new life to my most loved obsession and hobby – “photography” and will allow me the freedom to create uniquely different shots by using its technology to change the point of focus on the subject. My first photographs would be self portraits and hopefully I can get my toddler to join me for a few creative and spontaneous snapshots

  36. I have absolutely no idea of how the Lensbaby Spark will change my way of shooting but I am really eager to try it out after having seen the videos and photos posted on this site….

  41. I’ve used a tilt-shift lens for architectural photography but need to play more with creative tilting! The small, not-ridiculously-expensive nature of the lens will allow me more freedom to run around town and do my own creative urban landscape shoots which I am reluctant to do with a big professional tilt-shift. Need more fun in my photography!

  42. I’ve used a tilt-shift lens for architectural photography but need to
    play more with creative tilting! The small, not-ridiculously-expensive
    nature of the lens will allow me more freedom to run around town and do
    my own creative urban landscape shoots which I am reluctant to do with a
    big professional tilt-shift. Need more fun in my photography!

  47. “How will a Lensbaby Spark change the way you shoot?”

    New angles, new dimension… the possibilities are endless! Just think how much fun this will add to my photography!

  54. I had all my camera equipment stolen last year when we were ambushed in Livingstone, Zambia during a 5 month Overland trip with my kids! The lensbaby would be a real step towards filling the gap towards replacing all my equipment I bought at ORMS! I love the fresh approch the lensbaby brings to photography and would shoot primarily funky portrait freinds and family.

  57. I will take over the world and rid everyone from illness and bad jokes!
    Ohh.. and I hereby promise that I would only use the lensbaby whilst intoxicated on life!!

  60. I just love the weirdness that you can create with this. I am not totally sure what I will do if I get this lens but it will have to be some sort of distortion of a face. I love photographing close up faces and this will sooooo be my thing

  69. My first photo I would like to experiment with this lense is a shot of table mountain from the top of lions head, either early morning, or late evening.

  70. It will def make a huge difference to my food photography! Thinking I should make creme brulee and photograph the caramelization of the sugar first!

  74. the first thing that comes to mind is taking photos in the water with my underwater husing. either of people or of my friends surfing barrels, think it will be interesting playing with people and water, seems very exciting- i would love one.

  85. Wow what a great addition this lens baby spark will make in experiencing my life through the lens, it will add a great dimension to my photography and in general how I see the world!

  86. the first photo i would take would be at an outdoor festival , singling out one eccentric person with the colours around them blurred and them in pure ecstasy from the music.

  93. I always try to compose my shots so that they need as little editing after shooting as possible. This is like a Photoshop lens effects app for the camera. This is an awesome idea and I love it, it will make my photography just that little bit more unique and interesting.

  95. The Lensbaby Spark is just pure brilliance in its ability to create effects with such ease and fun doing so. Our friends always ask us to take their pics, kiddies parties, portraits, family functions, and to create such lifelong memories and allowing the photo to be taken to allow the user to focus on that one sparkle of energy, to still capture the atmosphere with the gradual blur effect! The flexibility and allowing for required lighting effect is something I cant get with a standard lens!

  100. I’ve heard about the Lensbaby range before but I’d never actually bothered to check out what they do – after seeing the photos above I’m blown away. What an incredible concept! I have no idea what my first photo would be – still trying to wrap my head around the idea that you can “squeeze” your focus points around!

  101. I’d love my first shot with this lens to be of a solitary figure walking across “Caves/Dapat se gat” beach just outside Gordon’s Bay. The contrast of the shore with the rising cliffs out of focus would be cool.

  103. The lensbaby would be awesome on the Dancefloor! I can just imagine the fun and quirky shots I could get with this! Also for crazy bridal party pics! 🙂

  108. I would absolutely love to experiment with this lens, get some real focus without any editing. The first photo i take, would in all honesty (as a result of excitement) be the very first thing i see once I’ve put the Lensbaby Spark on. Hope my naive honesty does me some justice 🙂

  111. My first set of photos will be of my roses – i think the softness will compliment the beauty of the subject and i’m just super keen to play with it on manual focus!

  119. I am in the middle of an amateur photography course and would be so excited to own a lense such at the #lensebaby… I have always loved photography and am a happy snapper at the moment. Undertanding how my camera functions and what wonderful results can be achieved by using different lenses. AMAZING!!!

  121. Using depth of field and creative blur is something I employ in my fashion photography, and it would be great to be able to do the more extreme effects in camera as opposed to in post production and this lens is the perfect tool for that. I have so many ideas for creative fashion shoot concepts I could use it on!

  123. Being able t capture angles that allow the light to play with the colours that surround whatever subject I choose to frame — would make the most interesting portraits as well

  126. I would really like to win this lens to bring out more creativity in my work.
    first photo I will take is on the N1 by plattekloof when its getting dark.
    cape town by dark. love it to see all the city lights.

  128. It will amplify the emotion and moment in each image that I capture. It will push me to capture more movement in images. It wil cause me to shoot with a more artistic eye.

  131. The first photo I would take with my new Lensbaby Spark would be a photograph of my beloved dachshund or maybe a fashion portrait or maybe boudoir portrait or some detail shots at a wedding,,,just so many possibilities!!

  133. The first photo I’d take with the Lensbaby Spark is at my next wedding, looking at doing a funky couple shot!! Would be epic and my couple would love the pic!

  135. My first shot would be of the view of Table Mountain from my window .. boring I know, but that’s usually the first shot I take with any new camera equipment because it’s right there when I take the new toy out of the box!

  147. the first photo i will take with lensbaby, will be on my summer school trip to Malta, to give my research a twist and creating something unique and unseen by those from the area. focussing on the unusual and making the usual unusual…

  148. I just love shooting with wide open apertures and this lens goes way beyond that to create such a stunning effect! The first thing I would should would be … Anything I saw!

  149. The first shot I would like to take with the Lensbaby Spark, is while I’m on my handglider flying down the Drakensburg shooting the sun just coming up over the horizon. Now that’s Epic!

  153. Great competition this month! I have been trying free lensing with my D5000 for some time now. I am getting results but it’s really hard to perfect.I with this lens I’ll be able to change the field of view easily! Thanks 🙂

  154. The first shot I would take would be in a vibrant, busy scene, like at a local market, to try and emphasise the blur of surrounding motion, and focus on capturing a snapshot of an interesting character or object.

  155. The very first photo I am going to take with the Lensbaby Spark is of the
    kite surfers in Durban. I moved down here about a year
    ago and I’m constantly astounded by the speeds they reach and how deftly
    they turn around in the shallows, only to shoot back out across the
    water! It will make for the perfect action shot, but it demands the
    Lensbaby Spark’s unique characteristics to quickly move focus point to make it truly awesome!

  156. The first photograph that I want to take with my lensbaby is of my dog. The focus will be on her liquid chocolate brown eyes. Her long mane of mocha, ginger and black hair will flow away from those eyes into an out of focus background. I can already taste my photograph!

  161. I was shown a Lensbaby during a photography workshop I was doing and have wanted one ever since. It’s a sure way of taking interesting and unique photos!

  167. As a freelance photographer for a cape town newspaper, my first shot
    would be of those unfortunate kids and homeless people suffering the
    western cape storms that has past and is yet to come. Hopefully creating some awareness to those in need!

  169. What an awesome invention! Adds such an interesting effect to photos. This
    Lensbaby Spark will add more creativity to my photos and allow for more experimenting 🙂 My first photo would be of my boyfriend doing a jump!

  170. I have started a local publication called The Soapbox – featuring the best in fashion, food, music, art and design that our city has to offer. There is no doubt that The Lensbaby Spark will take the photography in my publication to the cutting edge. Such an AWESOME product 🙂
    (www.the-soapbox.co.za)

  172. It looks like this lense is something completely different 🙂 I would love to have a chance to experiment with it. The first photo I would probably take with it is of animals in action – not sure it will work.

  179. I love the new Lensbaby Spark….the first photo I will take with the Spark will be of my 3 Beagles playing…they are so full of live and energy and I love them to bits..!

  182. The first photo I want to
    take with the Lensbaby Spark

    Will definitely not be in
    the dark.

    It will without a doubt do
    a shoot

    with a monkey in a suit.

    Out of focus are the
    edges,

    But what would look cool
    is a fox sitting near hedges.

    I would surely attempt
    action photos

    Like a stunt guy on a BMX

    It would change my
    shooting style,

    By making the shot a bit
    more technical, just before people smile.

    But just as the video
    said, “Press the dial”

    And faded away is my denial.

    This would be a great
    start to my new, very own business

    Creating a style and
    identity that would be synonymous with quality photos.

    Because if we are suppose
    to capture memories, why not do it with a slick style that is dressed to
    impress!

  186. First instinct would be to experiment with bokeh… Getting creative with light, movement and some interesting bokeh, with the package of this awesome lens in the foreground!

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