Five photographers “Got Appy” and won a spot in the new Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit

Portland, OR – June 29, 2010 - Lensbaby recently posed a challenge to its community- to come up with a new shape for their Creative Aperture Kit- and today they’ve announced the winners. Lensbaby photographers from around the world took action and submitted their best images taken with a Lensbaby lens and a homemade aperture disk for a chance to win a place in the new Creative Aperture Kit. Five fantastic photographers were selected and the grand prize winner, having their photo showcased on the product packaging, is Troy Eiffert from Kalona, Iowa. Four other fantastic photographers were also chosen and will also have their creative aperture design produced and added to the new kit: Ivan DeWolf, Jerrid Jones, Andrew Kua and Bjorn Rannestad.

Troy Eiffert’s winning photograph is a perfect example of using aperture shape as texture, and how it can add a striking element to a photo. "I created the slots aperture to achieve a vertical, horizontal or diagonal painterly effect depending on how it was placed in my Lensbaby Composer,” said Eiffert. “This is by far my favorite and most versatile aperture I have cut from the blank disks."

Here are the winning photos.

GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

Slot Aperture :: Flower by Troy Eiffert
Creative Aperture Disk Name: Slots

RUNNERS UP:

nightsplat by Ivan DeWolf
Creative Aperture Disk Name: Dripsplat

LB Creative Apt by Jerrid Jones
Creative Aperture Disk Name: Diamonds

The Heat Is On by Andrew Kua
Creative Aperture Disk Name: Swirly

Soren by Bjorn Rannestad
Creative Aperture Disk Name: Whirlpool

Lensbaby Creative Aperture Disks allow users to custom cut shapes onto blank aperture disks in order to add unique one-of-a-kind effects to their photos. These disks allow specular highlights (bright points of light in a photo- like street lights or bright sunlight on a lake) in the out of focus area of a photo to take on the shape of the hole on the aperture disk. By using an xacto knife or craft store hole punch, photographers can create a multitude of shapes. The aperture disks are compatible with the Muse, Composer, Control Freak, Lensbaby 2.0 and Lensbaby 3G lenses and with the Double Glass, Single Glass, Plastic and Soft Focus Optics.

The Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit 2 will feature nine disks in total, including an additional four shapes envisioned by Lensbaby staff. The new kit will be available by the holidays from www.lensbaby.com for $14.95 MSRP or from select specialty photo stores nationwide. The Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit Blanks will remain available for enterprising photographers to cut their own shapes at any time (MSRP $9.95). For more information, visit www.lensbaby.com/creativeapscontest.

About Lensbaby
Lensbaby is a Portland, Oregon based manufacturer of award-winning Creative Effects SLR camera lenses. Lensbaby was launched in February 2004 by Craig Strong, a professional photographer and the inventor of the patented Lensbaby Creative Effects SLR lens system. Lensbaby sells to photographers all over the world through its website, www.lensbaby.com, by calling 877-536-7222 / 971-223-5662, at tradeshows, in leading photo retailers and through a growing global network of international distributors.