Wide Open - January 3-9, 2016
Kevin-
Well, my fastest lens is an 85mm f/1.4 Nikkor. Often, I love to limit depth of field as much as possible and a fast lens can do that. Limiting depth of field (shooting wide open) can be wonderful as it assures that maximum attention is focused on the actual subject of a photo rather then on distracting background and foreground elements.
On Friday I made my first drive of the season up to Joshua Tree National Park with the Cholla Garden as my specific destination. I wanted to be there at and just after sunset, when the skies behind the cacti would look the most spectacular. That’s an hour and 40 minute drive there and an hour and 40 minute drive back in order to be in the right place for the 15 minutes when the color in the skies was just right.
Unusual for me but I used live view to compose the images. I didn’t have time to really suit up with protective clothing (always a good idea when quickly moving a tripod mounted camera around the cholla) so live view allowed me to compose without having to stick my face and body to close to the adorable cactus. At f/1.4 the center of the image is tack sharp, but the focus falls away quickly in front of and behind the branch of the Cholla in the center.
Nikon D4s. 85mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens. Tripod mounted. ISO 100, f/1.4 at 1/125th of a second.
Well, my fastest lens is an 85mm f/1.4 Nikkor. Often, I love to limit depth of field as much as possible and a fast lens can do that. Limiting depth of field (shooting wide open) can be wonderful as it assures that maximum attention is focused on the actual subject of a photo rather then on distracting background and foreground elements.
On Friday I made my first drive of the season up to Joshua Tree National Park with the Cholla Garden as my specific destination. I wanted to be there at and just after sunset, when the skies behind the cacti would look the most spectacular. That’s an hour and 40 minute drive there and an hour and 40 minute drive back in order to be in the right place for the 15 minutes when the color in the skies was just right.
Unusual for me but I used live view to compose the images. I didn’t have time to really suit up with protective clothing (always a good idea when quickly moving a tripod mounted camera around the cholla) so live view allowed me to compose without having to stick my face and body to close to the adorable cactus. At f/1.4 the center of the image is tack sharp, but the focus falls away quickly in front of and behind the branch of the Cholla in the center.
Nikon D4s. 85mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens. Tripod mounted. ISO 100, f/1.4 at 1/125th of a second.
Paul-
Photography is the simplest thing in the world, but it is incredibly complicated to make it really work. -- Martin Parr
Okay, maybe this falls under the Whatizzit theme from a couple of years ago. A while back, an acquaintance of mine who is a glass blower here in Lincoln gave me some of his prototype pieces. One was of a stylized human head he’d eventually be producing at a much large scale, and with more detail and clarity.
My brain--currently being examined in situ by bewildered specialists from Johns Hopkins—thought it might be interesting to place the head inside a thin-walled glass cylindrical tube (aka a vase) and fill the latter with distilled water. I positioned the head where I wanted it to be, and placed the vase on a small metal-mesh stand under which (facing up) was my sole light source. Between the stand and the vase was a translucent piece of plastic, and atop that were the front parts of two cannibalized CD cases—one of red and one of yellow plastic. I took my black darkroom apron and draped it across the back.
Suddenly, I noticed something I suspected several years earlier: Because of the way the glass was blown and annealed, there was a different density and appearance of glass inside the head which—when illuminated as I had—kind of took on the appearance of a brain in which neurons were going through phasic firing. (Those guys from Johns Hopkins are wondering why my brain doesn’t do that.)
This submission doesn’t really hit the mark like I hoped it would. And, there’s certainly any number of more interesting and challenging things I could have done for this theme. (The possibilities were wide open, you could say.) And I’m pretty certain the rest of you will demonstrate exceptionally well with your submissions. You’re all on a roll.
[Compulsory guilty confession: I should have tweaked my ISO more to keep the f/stop down to its maximum aperture of 4.5. As it turned out later, the .exif data recorded f/5. I am unworthy…]
Our story so far: 18-55mm lens set at 42mm; aperture priority; center-weighted averaging; ISO 100; 1/40 sec.; f/5; -3 1/3EV; camera is tripod-mounted. The photographer questions the perspicacity of placing a vase full of water over a utility work light, and wonders why the smell of slowly melting plastic didn’t occur to him earlier.
Photography is the simplest thing in the world, but it is incredibly complicated to make it really work. -- Martin Parr
Okay, maybe this falls under the Whatizzit theme from a couple of years ago. A while back, an acquaintance of mine who is a glass blower here in Lincoln gave me some of his prototype pieces. One was of a stylized human head he’d eventually be producing at a much large scale, and with more detail and clarity.
My brain--currently being examined in situ by bewildered specialists from Johns Hopkins—thought it might be interesting to place the head inside a thin-walled glass cylindrical tube (aka a vase) and fill the latter with distilled water. I positioned the head where I wanted it to be, and placed the vase on a small metal-mesh stand under which (facing up) was my sole light source. Between the stand and the vase was a translucent piece of plastic, and atop that were the front parts of two cannibalized CD cases—one of red and one of yellow plastic. I took my black darkroom apron and draped it across the back.
Suddenly, I noticed something I suspected several years earlier: Because of the way the glass was blown and annealed, there was a different density and appearance of glass inside the head which—when illuminated as I had—kind of took on the appearance of a brain in which neurons were going through phasic firing. (Those guys from Johns Hopkins are wondering why my brain doesn’t do that.)
This submission doesn’t really hit the mark like I hoped it would. And, there’s certainly any number of more interesting and challenging things I could have done for this theme. (The possibilities were wide open, you could say.) And I’m pretty certain the rest of you will demonstrate exceptionally well with your submissions. You’re all on a roll.
[Compulsory guilty confession: I should have tweaked my ISO more to keep the f/stop down to its maximum aperture of 4.5. As it turned out later, the .exif data recorded f/5. I am unworthy…]
Our story so far: 18-55mm lens set at 42mm; aperture priority; center-weighted averaging; ISO 100; 1/40 sec.; f/5; -3 1/3EV; camera is tripod-mounted. The photographer questions the perspicacity of placing a vase full of water over a utility work light, and wonders why the smell of slowly melting plastic didn’t occur to him earlier.
Jerry-
I have a great lens for this theme, an 85mm f1.8 lens that when wide open is very selective with what ever you focus at. My lovely wife posed dutifully on the couch by the living room window and after about a half dozen photos I (she) was done. Just a narrow plane of sharpness with a bit of her iris and some eyelashes fairly sharp. ISO was 400, exposure 1/500 @ f1.8. The lens couldn't focus closer than 3 feet so I put it on some extension tubes to get close enough for this shot. The tubes I had purchased back in the 1970's and every so often they come in handy.
I have a great lens for this theme, an 85mm f1.8 lens that when wide open is very selective with what ever you focus at. My lovely wife posed dutifully on the couch by the living room window and after about a half dozen photos I (she) was done. Just a narrow plane of sharpness with a bit of her iris and some eyelashes fairly sharp. ISO was 400, exposure 1/500 @ f1.8. The lens couldn't focus closer than 3 feet so I put it on some extension tubes to get close enough for this shot. The tubes I had purchased back in the 1970's and every so often they come in handy.
Don-
My first foray into Lightroom. Its an amazing learning
experience and has been responsible for a new prescription
of stronger anti-depressants. Well two photos the first is a Para no no
Pyrac, no no that's not it, it some kinda bush that I cannot spell.
I liked this picture but I liked the cross better. The cross was taken
this morning during a bit of snow fall. A orange light off to the side
gives it the tint that I altered a bit to give it a gold appearance.
Lens was a 24 - 70 mm f/2.8. Exposure was 0.6 sec, f/2.8, ISO
64 with the camera set on Aperture Priority.
My first foray into Lightroom. Its an amazing learning
experience and has been responsible for a new prescription
of stronger anti-depressants. Well two photos the first is a Para no no
Pyrac, no no that's not it, it some kinda bush that I cannot spell.
I liked this picture but I liked the cross better. The cross was taken
this morning during a bit of snow fall. A orange light off to the side
gives it the tint that I altered a bit to give it a gold appearance.
Lens was a 24 - 70 mm f/2.8. Exposure was 0.6 sec, f/2.8, ISO
64 with the camera set on Aperture Priority.
Byron-
I shot a picture like this one last year. I liked it but it didn't fit the topic very well. I reshot it for this weeks theme. I'm amazed how guitar strings look when they go out of focus. My accoustic guitar has character. See the light spot to the lower right of the hole? It's not a reflection, the wood is chipped there. It's not as bad as Willie Nelson's guitar but it is character non the less.
I used 1 flash shooting through a softbox directly above the guitar.
ISO 100, f1.4, 1/60 sec
I shot a picture like this one last year. I liked it but it didn't fit the topic very well. I reshot it for this weeks theme. I'm amazed how guitar strings look when they go out of focus. My accoustic guitar has character. See the light spot to the lower right of the hole? It's not a reflection, the wood is chipped there. It's not as bad as Willie Nelson's guitar but it is character non the less.
I used 1 flash shooting through a softbox directly above the guitar.
ISO 100, f1.4, 1/60 sec
Deron-
This was the most difficult topic for me. I had to text and call Uncle Byrone and his Magic Trombone for assistance on how to set up the trusty D-40.
I was originally going to shoot the streaking lights of traffic, but it was too early in the day to get anything that wasn't all washed out like the sins of the baptized.
I decided to come home and shoot my original idea from last week's topic, 'Name of a Musical Artist(s)'.
Hopefully, I did it all to strict WPOTM specifications, setting the camera to (M)anual Transmission and, I think, an F-stop of 5, I quickened up the shutter speed a bit from "Streaking Car Lights" mode to "Stationary Jar Of Goodness" mode and this is what you get.
Sooooo, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages... put your hands together for one of the most famous bands in the world, hailing from the Pacific Northwest, fronted by Eddie Vedder and formerly known as Mookie Blaylock... the one...the only... PEARL JAM!
This was the most difficult topic for me. I had to text and call Uncle Byrone and his Magic Trombone for assistance on how to set up the trusty D-40.
I was originally going to shoot the streaking lights of traffic, but it was too early in the day to get anything that wasn't all washed out like the sins of the baptized.
I decided to come home and shoot my original idea from last week's topic, 'Name of a Musical Artist(s)'.
Hopefully, I did it all to strict WPOTM specifications, setting the camera to (M)anual Transmission and, I think, an F-stop of 5, I quickened up the shutter speed a bit from "Streaking Car Lights" mode to "Stationary Jar Of Goodness" mode and this is what you get.
Sooooo, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages... put your hands together for one of the most famous bands in the world, hailing from the Pacific Northwest, fronted by Eddie Vedder and formerly known as Mookie Blaylock... the one...the only... PEARL JAM!