Emma 338

This fine portrait of lovely Emma in a masterpiece by Zenni marks the end of her third photo shoot. High time for a big mug of hot coffee in a restaurant to warm the limbs after a good hour's work on the cold, windy pyramid. We actually did a theme series in the restaurant and this will be posted on another occasion. As the saying goes, meat for another day and another story.

Emma, it was my privilege and honour to work with you again! Thank you for squeezing this photo shoot in your busy time schedule on short notice. Apologies for the cold wind on our main location but I do hope that the scenery in these new portraits is a lasting compensation for that. Modeling can be hard work but rewarding when the results are as excellent as this. What stuck me again is your motivation to improve your posing on each new occasion. That's how it works. And in my opinion, this is your best documentary so far. It was a real pleasure to do the editing job at home and it often brought a smile on my face. We agreed to do another photo shoot on a fine summer day and I will keep the glasses we selected in the restaurant aside for you. Emma, you are a gem and I wish you a healthy, happy, successful 2017 in every respect. Thank you again, and till next time!

Emma 336 - 337

"I overheard that, Mr. Photographer, thank you". The compliment about Emma's marvelous looks in these Zenni was actually made and her sweet smile was heartening.

Emma 335

Lovely Emma posed in many Zenni glasses during her second photo shoot and again on the present occasion. Many of their frame styles suit her quite well but in my opinion, these glasses are the best. Feel free to disagree....

Emma 333 - 334

The frame has a touch of the cat eye look and the decoration with the silver arch is quite attractive.

Emma 332

Regular viewers of my weblogs may remember a reddish Zenni pair nicknamed "Wall of Glass". Its lenses are minus twelve and 15 millimeters thick, hence the name. During the past two years, no less than nine models - Emma included - posed in the Wall of Glass. A couple of months ago I ordered this brown version of the frame, this time fitted with the standard prescription of minus eight. The wall has gone but the lenses are still 8 to 9 millimeters thick. Lovely Emma is the first to pose in these glasses.

Emma 331

Glasses: Zenni 205625
[L=R: -8.00]

Emma 330

It's safe to assume that after her initial delight, it took the first owner of these glasses some time to get used to the blended myodisc lenses. The main problem is the limited peripheral view, forcing her to look straight ahead and move her head more than before. The crazy, psychedelic effects created by the transition zone towards the carrier lens are rather disturbing. I heard this from the few models who could see well through some blended myodisc glasses from my collection. Petra was the most articulate in her comments. She had heard about blended myodisc lenses but never seen a pair, let alone try it on. It was a magic moment when she put them on. She liked her looks in the mirror but added straightaway that the field of view was limited and it would take her some time to use such glasses in real life. It was a different experience for Emma who had to cope with the massive blur but she managed bravely, delivering magnificent portraits. Hat off for Emma!

Emma 329

"Wow, Mr. Optician, you did a marvelous job. Fantastic. Thank you!"

Emma 328

The great aesthetic advantage of blended myodisc glasses is the total absence of "cut in" and power rings when seen "en face". Imagine the reaction by the first owner of the glasses when the optician handed her a mirror to assess her new looks....

Emma 327

I will never forget my first sighting of a lady in blended myodisc glasses. It happened on a summer day in 1988 during holidays with my wife and daughter in Austria. We did some shopping in a town called Kufstein, near the Bavarian border. A group of six people came standing next to me and they were in a lively talk. One of the ladies was sporting the most fascinating glasses I ever saw in my life. The frame really suited her but the lenses were intriguing. They changed aspect with the slightest movement of her head. I could see that the lenses were extremely strong but entirely different than the myodisc glasses often seen in my youth. What struck me was the lively, outward attitude of this lady. There was nothing "handicapped" about her. Ladies in myodisc glasses were always shy when they felt that someone was looking at them. Ten years later I came across an extraordinary pair of glasses in a thrift store and immediately recognized the lens type seen in Kufstein. It took another five years to come across the name "blended myodisc" glasses. They always remained white ravens in the streets and I can only remember a handful of sightings. The last sighting was about ten years ago. My collection hosts half a dozen glasses with blended myodisc lenses. The pair shown here to great effect by lovely Emma was frequently used during the first years of the project but not lately. Some names of the past, for comparison: Gita 257, Lettie 161, Farishta 396, Marleen 241, Petra 189, Leonne 147, Melissa 227, Grazyna 040, Emilia 267, Osi 222, Sohaila 106 and Juliette 113. High time for a comeback....

Emma 326

By far the most extreme of all vantage points. The model's right eye looks elongated in an anatomical impossible manner. This weird effect is created by the magnifying carrier lens. Not to worry, Emma, it does not get any worse than this. From now on, it will only be getting better. Promise!

Emma 325

Yet another vantage point, almost "en face". Again we see a striking asymmetry between both eyes. The most striking feature is the "half moon" next to Emma's left eye. The confusing thing is that this time the "half moon" is black. The reason is that it absorbs the image of the model's black braids. By contrast, the lens in front of the model's right eye only shows the impression of a make-up stripe at the corner of her eye and the rather shady central part of the lens.
Lens width is 50 millimeters and lens height is 45 millimeters. The size of the central "bowl" in each lens is about 30 millimeters. The transition zone from the central bowl to the surrounding carrier lens is about 5 millimeters. The bowl takes almost half the surface of the complete lens, say 45%. The carrier lens takes just over 30% of the surface and the transition zone takes almost 25%. In other words, the frame is large but the first owner of the glasses had a rather limited field of view.  

Emma 324

Next vantage point. This time we see the "half moon" next to the model's left eye and the impression of a make-up stripe in the corner of the model's right eye. A difference with the previous vantage point is the contrast between the shade around Emma's eyes and the irregular way the carrier lenses seem to catch additional light towards the bottom side of the frame.

Emma 323

So let's take a closer look at the striking effects created by blended myodisc lenses from different vantage points. The lens in front of Emma's right eye (from her side of the glasses) shows a feature best described as a "half moon". This is the transition zone between the "bowl" in front of her eye and the magnifying carrier lens in front of her braids and cheek bone. Note the sharp indentation at the lowest point of the "half moon". By contrast, none of these features are visible in the other lens. The only strange phenomenon is the elongation of the eyelid and the eye corner, just as if Emma applied lots of make-up to create a special effect. This was not the case. What we see is the magnifying effect of the carrier lens.

Emma 322

Blended myodisc lenses were an invention of the early 1980's. The aim was to offer an aesthetic alternative for traditional myodisc lenses with their all too visible demarcation between the central "bowl" with the high prescription and its surrounding carrier lens. The newly invented lens type was called Lentilux in the German language, a term alluding to Varilux (a progressive bifocal lens with a transition zone instead of a visible demarcation line). The back side of the blended myodisc lens is beveled so that it folds back towards the edge. The result is a central very concave lens, surrounded by a convex part towards the edges. The glasses shown here to great effect by Emma are an excellent example of this intricate lens type. Taking pictures of models in blended myodisc glasses is precision work. I always intend to show the amazing distortions and phenomenal light effects that change with the slightest movement of the model's head. This time the job had to done at great speed because of the cold wind on our location. No time to check if the horizon was straight. The editing of this fine portrait included the use of a soft focus.

Emma 321

Glasses: Gan Aimh, 1980's (blended myodisc)
[L: -16.25 / R: -17.25; c-2.00 o]

Emma 320

Minus sixteen is serious business but Emma posed in much stronger myodisc glasses during her second photo shoot so she was quite able to create credible portraits like this. We deliberately kept this series short because of the weather circumstances. Time for a switch to blended myodiscs....

Emma 319

These nameless myodisc glasses were made in China, six years ago. The lenses are cheap quality and the anti-reflective coating is poor. As a result, it's next to impossible to edit the reflection caused by the strong concave shape of the back side of the lenses. The first model who posed in these glasses was one of Ireland's top models (Sohaila 127). The next opportunity only occurred last year in the Pavilion Gardens in Brighton (Nicci 117). Lovely Emma is the third model posing in these striking yellow glasses.

Emma 318

Glasses: Gan Aimh, from China (myodisc lenses)
[l=R: -16.00]

Emma 317

Encore.... High time for a switch to the next pair.

Emma 316

In spite of the cold and the wind, Emma kept posing great. This is yet another natural and above all, credible portrait. The direct eye contact is fantastic. You'd swear that these are the model's own glasses. The lenses are actually ten times as strong as Emma's mild prescription.

Emma 314 - 315

The cold wind on the top of the pyramid forced us to work as quick as possible. No opportunity for telling stories or giving lectures about glasses....

Emma 313

All Zenni glasses in my collection are fitted with standard 1.57 lenses. High index lenses are simply way above my budget and the standard lenses create interesting light effects.

Emma 312

The third pair ordered in mid November as a candidate for my partner Nel. Her choice was inspired by one of her daughters who posed for me in a purple version of the frame during her first photo shoot in the summer of 2015 (Mirjam 069 - 074). Six months later, Mirjam complained about her eyesight at long distance and went to an optician who decided that her myopia was too minimal for getting glasses. This annoyed her as she had a similar experience with another optician six years before after noticing a problem with driving a car at night. On that occasion she gave me a slip of paper from the machine in the shop and I did an eye test with her while Nel drove the car at night. Mirjam tried some Zenni glasses from my collection and I ordered a pair with a correction of -0.50 for night driving (L: -0.75; c-0.25 axis 179 / R: -0.50; c-0.50 axis 156). However, she always kept forgetting about the glasses and nothing was heard about car driving anymore.

After hearing about the new complaints last winter, I jumped in again and we did a test in daylight with a number of glasses from my collection. It turned out that a lovely vintage pair by Pro Design (Mirjam 011 - 013) had the perfect prescription for her.  So she got that pair on loan and I ordered the purple Zenni glasses in the same prescription (L: -0.75 / R: -0.50) and with her PD. She liked these glasses initially but again, she gradually became rather forgetful about them. Probably because the correction was so mild that she barely noticed the difference.

Last month, Mirjam almost had a serious accident, driving a car at night without her glasses on. This was a real wake up call for her. She said that her glasses seemed too weak, so we did yet another eye test in full daylight with glasses from my collection. A pair by Stepper turned out to be perfect and it was great to hear her excited reactions about the difference. She also said she never realized that her eyes had become that bad and the thought of becoming really dependent on glasses worried her. So I gave her the Stepper glasses (L: -1.50 / R: -1.25) on loan. Mirjam then decided to go to yet another optician for an eye test. This time the optician did a full eye test with her and it turned out that she definitely needed glasses. She did not get the receipt yet but she told me that the result was L -1.25 / R: -1.00 with a cylinder of -0.25. If that is correct, the test with the Stepper glasses was a good experiment.

Anyway, Nel often saw Mirjam in the purple Zenni glasses and this inspired her to check the green version of the frame. When the glasses arrived, Nel gave them a try but she did not quite like the green colour so the glasses went back into my collection. Two weeks later, Emma was the first model to pose in them.

Emma 311

Glasses: Zenni 249224
[L: -11.00; c-1.25 v / R: -11.50; c-1.25 v]

Emma 310

The whole series in the glacier glasses is excellent, but this capture is my clear cut favourite. Emma has an expression and a smile that can easily make a glacier melt.... Great!

Emma 308 - 309

The contrasting colour setting of the frame and the strong prescription in the lenses are quite unique so my next request to Emma was to bow her head down for a few seconds. The effect reminded me of some adventures in the Alps, crossing huge crevasses in glaciers. Ice looks white at the surface but the belly of a glacier is often a deep, clear blue. So let's call this pair the glacier glasses from now on.

Emma 307

Lovely Emma then obligingly turned the other cheek to her photographer, showing the light effects in the left lens. A cascade of power rings....

Emma 306

Excellent posing by lovely Emma in glasses with a prescription of minus twelve. Again, the direct eye contact suggests that these are her own glasses. Note the play of the light in the right lens. The inner curve reflects the colours of the frame and the adjoining curve is a reflection of the white scarf. Zenni beveled the edges of the lenses under an angle of 45 degrees so that the glasses can be folded up neatly. This creates a touch of a myodisc effect.

Emma 305

Here is the second blue pair ordered as a candidate for Nel. She really liked this frame but after a long look in the mirror she decided that it was too funky for use in everyday life. So the glasses went back into my collection and I decided to bring them along to Gronau. Of course Emma had to rely on my opinion. Here she is showing the mighty power rings in the lenses. Minus twelve is a different ballgame than minus eight.

Emma 304

Glasses: Zenni 183725
[L: -11.00; c-1.25 v / R: -11.50; c-1.25 v]

Emma 303

Another fine portrait of lovely Emma posing in "black and blue" glasses by Zenni. Looking at the sky is always a handy trick during photo shoots in strong glasses. The brain tells the eyes that there is nothing of interest to focus on and this helps producing a fine, natural expression.

Emma 302

Minus twelve is quite a strong prescription, but there is nothing extreme about this fine "en face" portrait of lovely Emma.

Emma 301

When I asked Emma about the blur through the stronger lenses, she reacted with a smile. Why not? It's best to keep cheerful in the cold. Note the nice decoration on the arms.

Emma 300

This is one of four Zenni pairs ordered in November. My partner Nel was interested in getting a couple of new glasses so the frames were fitted with lenses in her prescription for long distance. Three weeks ago, she tried them on and rejected this slightly melancholic frame. No problem to me as all the rejects can be used for photo shoots. It presented no problem for Emma either as she posed in several strong glasses during previous photo shoots.

Emma 299

Glasses: Zenni 624236
[L: -11.00; c-1.25 v / R: -11.50; c-1.25 v]

Emma 298

That sweet little smile and the natural, perfectly credible eye contact - small wonder that the devoted photographer clean forgot to keep his camera in a vertical position.... Mind you, the cold wind on the top of the pyramid made it difficult to concentrate on technical routine as well. But occasionally we must suffer for our art. Emma is always doing the utmost to make each new photo shoot better than the previous. It's a treat to work with such a highly motivated model.

Emma 297

Never mind the tilted horizon - Emma's beautiful looks in these glasses had the effect of a minor earthquake in the quiet surroundings of Gronau :).

Emma 296

This is arguably one of the nicest frames produced by Zenni a year ago. A touch of  the cat eye style combined with a lively colour setting in black, white and orange. The nice decoration of the arms is another reason why many models have a preference for this frame (e.g. Mirjam 169, Cat 050, Julia 156, Xenia 083, Monique 036, Clare 129). Unfortunately, the frame apparently did not sell well as it went out of stock after a few months. A pity!

Emma 295

Glasses: Zenni 633821
[L=R: -8.00]

Emma 294

Lovely Emma is the fourth model who posed in these attractive burgundy red glasses, being preceded by models from Paris (Cat 087), Athens (Nefeli 153) and Brighton (Miliswa 048). All these models have a PD of 64 and more. It's good policy of Zenni to cater for a large variety of PD's. Some of the locations used during our first photo shoot can be seen in the background.

Emma 293

It took this vantage point to show that the glasses are indeed minus eight. The sparkle in the lenses is mainly the reflection of Emma's white scarf. The Pop 'n Rock Museum is visible in the background.

Emma 292

An advantage of our location on top of the pyramid was the absolute quietness. Even the park at the foot of the pyramid attracted only a sporadic visitor. The lady in the red coat was convenient as a supporting actor, showing the height of our position. Emma obligingly kept a pensive mood pose until it was the right moment for me to snap.

Emma 291

During the selection of the glasses for this photo shoot, there was no doubt in my mind about the large red glasses shown here by lovely Emma. The frame suit hers perfectly. The amazing thing is that they somehow don't give one the impression of strong glasses.

Emma 290

Glasses: Zenni 206415
[L=R: -8.00]

Emma 289

My hands were suffering from the cold, but a big smile from my equally half frozen model can do miracles. Thank you Emma, for this wonderful series!