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<p>My oldest daughter and her husband have ten children and live in a big house with a good number of windows. This makes natural-light photography of domestic scenes a joy. The Lensbaby Spark lens allows me to choose what I focus on, while blurring everything outside that circle, with specular highlights (natural, bright spots in the image) showing up as stars. (The Spark has a number of options for lens inserts. I have used the star one by force of habit more than anything. I'm going to have to experiment with the other options.)</p>
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<p>Art is at least in part <em>abstraction </em>-- taking away what is extraneous or demoting the secondary (in the artist's vision), so that attention goes to what is important. (Sometimes, art involves <em>complication </em>-- teasing the viewing or hearing mind to find a pattern. The seeking of visual or dramatic intelligibility is itself satisfying. Impressionism is an example of this abstraction and complication in painting -- and photography.) Black &amp; white photography takes away color. That, coupled with the Spark lens's ability to put part of the image out of focus, makes the contrast between the subject and the surroundings sharper. The image has an immediacy or intensity that others, in color and in focus everywhere, generally lack. At the same time, the viewer needs the blurred parts of the image for social context and meaning.</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default has-lightbox"><!-- wp:image {"id":15860,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} -->
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1648-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15860"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Renata dressed up for St. Nicholas Day, and for the celebration of her sister's birthday.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1657-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15862"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Renata looking back, as my wife gives some piano instruction to Susannah.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://christopherhumphreyphotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/O3A1692-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-15863"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Papa kisses Beatrice as her birthday party begins</figcaption></figure>
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