Spring Photos

Last fall I picked up a Helios 44-2 which is a 58mm f2 lens made in Russia famous for the swirly bokeh it can produce. This was an accidental outcome of the design/manufacturing process. It is a manual focus lense, so that is a new thing for me. These lenses are so cheap you can probably pick one up on Amazon (where I bought mine) or eBay with an included adapter for your camera for less than $50-$80 depending on which variant you can find. The manual focus will add a new element to make you be more mindful of your composition and handling of your camera. The end product is a nice mix of focus and swirly watercolor-like bokeh!

This photo collection is taken yesterday from a redbud tree in our backyard. Vivian was patient enough to give me a subject to photograph in front of it. These photos were edited to emulate Kodak Portra 400 (trees) and Ektar 100 (portait) films.

I’m excited to experiment with this lens more in the future. Have you tried the Helios before? Share a link to your results in the comments below. What other lenses to you like to use to achieve different looks for your photos?