A Different View

AJ Schroetlin from Fort Collins, CO took up photography as a hobby after an accident left him mostly blind in his left eye. The former homebuilder took a series of jobs, but quickly realized that he wanted to make his new hobby into a career. After seeing an ad for a Lensbaby, he bought one and began experimenting, quickly noticing that the sweet spot of focus works best when it is surrounded by a complimenting blur.

Above are two of his many Lensbaby shots, check out more here.

The accident had left the vision in Schroetlin’s left eye completely blurred, while his right eye still has 20/20 vision, meaning that he naturally saw things in this way already—sharp in the middle and blurred on the edges.

Since his initial discovery, he has honed his skills, and like many photographers makes a living shooting portraits and weddings, though one of his favorite subject is the Colorado landscape. He now uses a Lensbaby for about 20% of his shots, but he has carried the initial lessons that it taught him about composition and focus and to all of his photography.

Below, one of Schroetlin’s non-Lensbaby landscape photos (a composite of 9 shots from 3 different angles merged to create a panorama)

You can see all of AJ Schroetlin’s work on his flickr page.
—Kathleen Davis