Fun new toy!

Val and I headed to Milwaukee yesterday afternoon for an engagement shoot with Kristine and Brian. I keep saying that it must be the last nice day before winter sets in, and yesterday was yet another last nice day before winter. Trees in many places have lost most of their color and leaves, but near Lake Michigan things are still in full fall bloom! We shot a little by the lake at a small park where they got engaged. The story goes that Brian and Kristine were skipping rocks and Brian gathered some rocks together and asked Kristine which one she wanted next. Of course one of those rocks was a fabulous engagement ring! Way to go Brian!
The lakefront and the Milwaukee Art Museum were great locations to shoot at, but one of the highlights for me was getting to use a new gadget called a Lensbaby, which is a super cool, "looks more like a toy than a lens" kind of thing. It attaches to the camera like any other lens, but you can bend it around to produce some really cool effects. It takes a little getting used to, but it's SO much fun! I don't actually own one yet, Ward at The Camera Company, where I teach photo classes, let me borrow it to shoot some sample images for them. It's definitely on the top of my Christmas list now!
Here are some samples of what it looks like. Have a great day!