LATEST ADDITIONS

I’ve been writing about and playing with—emphasis on play—Lensbaby lenses since they were introduced in 2004 and ten years later they’re still coming up with new ideas. All their products, including the Medium Format 3G with "Marvin the Martian"-like antennae, have been interesting and the new Lensbaby Velvet 56 portrait lens not only looks like fun but appears to be the most practical Lensbaby product ever.

Here are some of the questions I asked myself on the way to taking some of the photos you see accompanying this column:
• How am I going to find a father and son trekking through snow?
• How long is this fog going to last?
• Police tape? What’s police tape doing here?
• Is this rain ever going to stop?

Designer toys got their start in Japan and China but their uniqueness (and the fact that they are so freaky/cute) soon propelled them to red-hot global collectable status. Produced as limited editions, some of these vinyl creations can be worth thousands of dollars to dedicated collectors.

Nashville-based photographer Ryan Roberts began by creating whimsical images of vintage toys but he soon discovered the odd (and a bit warped) world of designer vinyl toys by artists such as Frank Kozik (Mongers Menthols series), Doma (Acid Sweeties series) and Pete Fowler (Monsterism series). It was then he knew he had the perfect photo subject for the fantastic scenes he saw in his head.

The reality is you can make portraits using any lens but most photographers will tell you the ideal portrait lens has a focal length in the range of 85-135mm. The first dedicated portrait lens was the 150mm f/3.3 Petzval developed in 1840, which had a 30-degree angle of view and was considerably faster than lenses of the period. It was so legendary that Lomography recently produced a new version for Canon EF- and Nikon F-mount cameras that costs $599.