Perspective is more than a state of mind.

Shooting DSLR photos with a single lens is like painting with one color; the limited palette can constrict your possibilities. Lensbaby’s Composer completely changes the way you use your camera. Instead of focusing on a single plane—such as everything 6 feet away—the Composer focuses on a single point, blurring everything else. You control which part of the frame is in focus and how harshly everything else blurs, allowing for subtle or dramatic shifts in your viewers’ perspectives. We lovingly call it a toy lens; it’s a surprisingly fun and playful tool for photographers.

The Composer attaches to a camera just like any other lens. But forget about using it if you’re an auto-only photographer; this is a manual affair. Interchangeable, magnetic discs set the aperture size, and you may have to read your camera’s metering to manually set its shutter speed. Some cameras, like the Canon 40D we used for testing, can automatically set the shutter speed in Aperture-Priority mode.

With the proper exposure, we pointed the lens straight ahead, adjusted its focus ring, and then bent it in any direction. With the lens skewed, we turned the ring again, bringing just one corner of the frame into focus. The biggest aperture openings—up to F/2—create the smallest area of sharpness. We took photos of flowers and other repeating patterns, drastically highlighting an area of interest. Our chosen off-center point looked sharp, while areas farthest away washed together in a mixture of colors. For portraits, we tried a more subtle technique, with an F/4 or F/5.6 aperture disc, keeping a subject’s eye in focus and gradually blurring the rest. The discs go up to F/22, where only the edges of the frame begin to blur, allowing a range of effects.

You can create similar results in Photoshop, but we felt a closer, organic connection with the Composer. The lens inspired us in ways we wouldn’t likely experience by manipulating photos after the fact, sometimes producing stunning results. The internal glass element sharply focuses on one point, and we swapped in optional, interchangeable pieces ($34.95 each) to effect Holga-esque, pinhole, or softer styles. These alternatives add even more variety.

We needed a lot of practice to snap images in a few seconds—starting out, it took about 20 seconds to point and focus the lens. But once aimed, the mechanism stays put, allowing multiple photos or other effects, such as time-lapse or high-dynamic-range composites.

Physically bend the lens to distort photos. Photography by Lisa Smith Studios