Yemin Moshe and stitching in general.

[fahim mohammed]

Ben, May God give you strength, wisdom and success in all your endeavors.

Kindest Regards and Best Wishes.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I met up with Asher many months ago and we wandered through the alleyways of Nachlaot, an incredible area and one of the oldest in modern Jerusalem. As we passed by an alley he darted away and pointed towards this archway. I had to admit to having ignored it but he pursuaded me of its photographic potential (was I blind?). I took a few shots there but nothing to write home about but when I got home and saw the potential that had been there I promised to return. Well it's been far too long but after talking to Valentin until 2am about my pano problems I was pursuaded by a cheeky friend that sleep was far overrated and I should get up early to finally do this picture. I slept just 1.5 hours once I finally got to bed and risingm traveled to Nachlaot so that I'd be there at the exact same time that we had stood there all those months ago.

This is the result, just as I've imagined it all this time. The 3rd shot I took and although I remained a further half hour, I knew in my heart that I'd nailed it just minutes after setting up as this old man hobbled painfully down that road from his morning prayers. I was there with him at every painful step, I know it only too well, I hope his determination will be mine too as things get tougher...

Ben,

I'm so proud of you to see the drive and persistence that you put into your work and then have the technical capability to materialize what's possible in your mind. This picture is now a fact and has from now on, a life of its own independent of you and I, both!

What a great timeless and rich picture you've made! BTW, where are you still using film? Where has digital taken over?

Asher

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Hi,

I'm on the road shooting weddings so only quick reply, apologies, digital took over from my 35mm film with the 10D, from medium format film with the 5D and from LF film when I discovered stitching and when Type 55 disappeared. Film is just to much faff for anyone but someone who loves the process. Personally if I could sketch I'd probably never take a photo again, everything that comes in between the image I have in my mind and the finished picture is an annoying necessity for me. You can imagine how I feel with that mindset being in the middle of culling, ordering, numbering and editing 4 weddings on the road using a slow netbook

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

A momentary return to my old project for this image. I had originally shot it last week with the intention of it being part of the dream project, shooting with the Takumar wide open. It was a nice soft picture which made the most of the contrast but the moment I saw it on the computer I knew it needed proper treatment, stitching, resolution and huge amounts of tonality. The latter was incredibly difficult actually, I've never had an image so difficult to process. The image called for midday winter sun for that soft shadow from the tree and bright but still low sunlight. Trying however to keep the tonality on the building soft has taken up the entire day! The stones are filled with hundreds of tiny pits which all collected their own little shadow rendering the wall either harsh and dirty looking from the contrast or grey from lack of it. I'm believe I've gotten there in the end however. I shot the frames for the stitch leaving the floor for last. While I was doing the rest of the frames there were birds aplenty on the ground but when I got to that final frame they had all flown off. It took 20 minutes of waiting until a bird finally walked into the frame but it was walking too fast for my 1/15 shutter. I was about to dispair when it suddenly turned to profile, froze for enough time to get one shot and then flew off. Heaven!

Amiel
​

There is a print in the orthapedic clinic across the street from me where I get my shoe inserts which although a bad print of an horrific painting, has always interested me. Not for the picture itself but for the juxtoposition of strong light streaks and a doorway. I'd always imagined that it just would never work for a photograph (it doesn't particularly work in that painting for that matter). I was wandering back yesterday from an appointment through the old narrow alleyways which lead up to the shuk in Jerusalem when I saw this doorway and the light streaking around it. I knew I had to come back and shoot it for the Dream Project. This small alley is just one of the most incredibly photogenic streets/alleys in Jerusalem (the first image was also shot in this area), places where if you don't come out with portfolio quality images then you're just not trying. I'm very pleased with both of these images, they encompase the quiet splendour of these narrow alleyways which have been Jerusalem for time immemorial.

Gaon​

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I'm going back to showing my work on this thread if that's ok, when it's a narrative I feel it's more in keeping with the stories of this thread than just posting the images on one of the other threads.

Couple more from this morning for The Dream Project (part 2). A bright cold day with a low sun that gave georgous light. I'm getting about 1 in 2 in focus with my scotch tape shimmed viewfinder and manual focus at f1.4 though I get consolation from the fact that the AF on my 5D ain't even as good as that! Both images from my old radioactive 1962 Takumar Super 50mm f1.4 shot wide open.

I underwent an operation on my foot two months back, I'm still not walking very well post operation and after the images above (the last two) I could hardly walk the rest of the day. Infact I shot a 2 hour job the next day and couldn't walk for 4 days after that! Yesterday however I managed to get hold of the right pills (I'd run out) and loaded up with a zillion types of pills I went out this morning. I had a great walkaround of the Nachlaot area of Jerusalem, I'd had far more 'keepers', good photos though more street photography than the stuff I was looking for but evenso, having two which fit into the project for a mornings work was very very acceptable!

The area is riddled with tiny alleyways, rarely named and not marked on the map, you walk down the streets and alleys always with the thought at the back of your mind that you could never manage all of them, who knows what gems are lurking down the alleys you just didn't have time to explore! Each one is a treasure and I only managed a fraction of them before making my way out of the maze. Just a few meters away from this scene a teenager out from school on his lunch break sat down on the steps, with his books on his lap and a steaming coffee next to him he was oblivious of the photography and even the cold, he belonged to a different world surrounded by the pathways of history.

Givon​

Pipes and electricity cables crisscross the walls and air spaces above the alleys but with some judicial composition you can avoid the worst of it. Sticking to a single FOV/Focal length as I've done since the very beginning of my work in this country, a 50mm, does train one to make the composition work for you, to only use the elements and geometry which are necessary to accomplish the artistic goal of the image.

Yosef Haim
​

I had a young aspiring photographer with me, I take him with on my walkarounds sometimes, he finds it educational (heaven help him if he thinks I'm someone to emulate! ). I walked past this scene as we headed back for the bus stop, I literally span round 360 degrees and shouted out to him 'Jonathan, how on earth can you continue walking past this!'. The winter bare tree was backlit beautifully and the windows and stairway were just perfect for the composition. I took this picture as in the background of the square, old Russian men called to each other as they returned from their mornings shopping in the nearby shuk and a group of chefs from the surrounding resturants carried boxes of food to the walls and then grouped together for a lunch of showing off their latest creations to each other. Cold and bright with a low winter sun even at midday, that light was just inspirational!

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I went out today to shoot in the area where I'd found the 'Gaon' and 'Amiel' pictures above. Possibly the most photogenic set of alleyways in Jerusalem this small area is across Jaffa street from the Machanei Yehuda Shuk. I went back there today flushed with the success of yesterdays shoot and itching to make my Takumar shine again but it was one of those days when however hard you try you just don't seem to be able to take a photograph that works, you just can't create and the harder you try the less it seems to work. Instead of getting fustrated however I just enjoyed the experience of walking through these georgous alleyways, quiet and serene for all the distant noise and bustle of the shuk some few hundred yards away. The air was cold, the sun warm and it was a privilige to walk through one of the nicest areas of this incredible city.

and then I got home and discovered that, quite by chance and without ever thinking that it would work when I had raised the camera to my eye, I had managed to pull this one off!

Charity Box
​

It's hard to try and picture compositions which with every fibre of their being say 'Jerusalem'. Many pictures could have been taken in any number of old Mediterranean towns and villages. These shutters however are quintessentially Jerusalem, specifically the older parts of Jerusalem and with the charity box on the wall, the same charity boxes that have adorned the outer walls of so many of these tiny synagogues throughout the city, unspoiled and unvandelised for a century in many cases, this picture is indeed Jerusalem.

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

Ben,

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. I haven't done vertical panos but you’ve given me some great ideas. I will need to get a different tripod for this kind of work. The one I use isn’t suitable for this duty.

But more importantly, your portrayal of Jerusalem is very interesting. Your B&W treatment takes the viewer back to another time and you have a fine sense of composition, from which I've learned quite a bit.

I've wanted to do a project to photograph the interiors of some of the local synagogs and proficiency in vertical panos and multiple row panos are the next logical steps toward that goal.

Thanks very much for sharing this formidable project and keep up the great work!

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Want to know a little secret Tracy, although the stitching work was done with a multitude of different lenses over the years including a 24-105L, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm, 70-200 f4L, 70-200 f4L IS and 70-200 f2.8L, only one of those images used either a panning head or a nodal slide and only then because I'd bought it for other purposes so thought why not bring it along. A decent tripod head with a panning base (most models have) and autopano pro to stitch with (it's much easier to use than PTGUI) and off you go!

Interiors is of course a different matter, you'll need a proper pano rig for that. I'm very happy with my nodal ninja for a mixture of advanced features, superior build and price. Budget for a levelling base to go with it though, that's pretty much essential, I'd personally advise the RRS one they just released, I wish I could get one myself, it does look very superior.

Vertical pano's are very rarely seen, I'd personally be wary about doing a longer crop than the 6X12 that I've used here, it's just about ok for verticals. On the other hand, the only thing ever stopping you from doing anything, however crazy, is your imagination!

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

Thanks for sharing that. After a mere 100 or so panos, I have yet to use an official pano head. One of the secrets I learned is that if one keeps the minimal focal point outside of 30’ or so, give or take for the lens used, then a suitable pano head isn’t really needed. For horizontal panos, anyway.

My tripod has a ball head on it and that doesn’t permit locking it to swivel vertically. As a result I’d have to free hand the alignment to do vertical panos.

A little while ago at the LL site, a member showed a home made pano head and some of the results he’s gotten as well. If I have the time and can figure out how to set it up for my camera and lenses I’d love to go that way, as it looked like it was about $30 worth of wood and related hardware. Otherwise, I’d make a bee line for the RRS brand of equipment. They make a premium quality set of tools.

For vertical pano subject matter Seattle’s Space Needle is perfect. There are some other local tower buildings I’d like to do, just because.

I'm also intrigued by the work of Gursky and his techniques for shooting large interior spaces.. It would be fun to do some stuff along the lines of his “Shanghai” capture

There are some interior spaces around Seattle that offer both vast unobstructed interior spaces and equally large window space into the city that I think would work really well for this kind of thing.

But it needs to be done right, so I can see some kind of pano head in my not too distant future.

See the influence your vertical panos has made!

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Tracy, go for it!

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I've been somewhat saving the best for last with this new project, I hadn't been to photograph in the Old City yet knowing that it would provide the bulk of the final work. I went out today, took a bunch of pictures which are necessitating a further visit and better treatment but this one worked out nicely.

Sephardic Square
​

As you enter the Jewish Quarter of the Old City from the carpark/bus stop, there is an incredibly narrow alleyway which leads off to the side. It gets so narrow that with the drainage channel running down the middle, there is no part wide enough for both your feet so you kind of limp down the alley with one foot on the floor and one in the drainage channel, holding onto the walls on either side so that you don't sprain your ankle. Off to the right halfway down this alley is the Sephardic Centre, an old Spanish style square surrounded by buildings which was the center of life for the Sephardi (Eastern Jewish) community in Jerusalem for 300 years. The buildings around this square housed the Sephardi Rabbinical Court and a Kabbalistic college. This picture shows the entrance to one of the buildings from the square.

EDIT: That's weird, why is the forum resizing the pic? It's showing at about 130% of the size and looks bad as a result.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Getting a lot of dislike for this last one, opinions please?

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

It is fine capture.

 

[Mark Hampton]

Getting a lot of dislike for this last one, opinions please?

Ben,

could be that the space on the left/right is to tight but that is im my mind how you want this to read - the cutting of the growing things - in pots - its artifice...

it balances because both plants are cut. but on its own you could wonder if its a mistake - when looking at the work as a whole that wouldn't cross my mind as there is a clear intent and defined way of making that's unfolds over series.

It will be intreasting to see how the rythm in the works together. Have you put some together on a wall?

keep them coming.

 

[Jerome Marot]

I also think that the crop is too tight.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Following a long talk and review with my father who is the real artist in the family (has training which is far more than my seat of the pants version of art ) I've renamed 'The Dream Project' and it's now called 'Contemplation'. His point was that the pictures were not abstract enough, or at least a large portion were not, to fall under the concept conjured up by the term 'dream'. Actually using the title 'Contemplation' does give me more scope. We'll have to see where I go with that.

 

[Mark Hampton]

Following a long talk and review with my father who is the real artist in the family (has training which is far more than my seat of the pants version of art ) I've renamed 'The Dream Project' and it's now called 'Contemplation'. His point was that the pictures were not abstract enough, or at least a large portion were not, to fall under the concept conjured up by the term 'dream'. Actually using the title 'Contemplation' does give me more scope. We'll have to see where I go with that.

Ben,

interesting - the dream is a passive (in terms of our waking self) and contemplation is an active idea.. your father may have something in one sense as the work you make is very directed in some cases laser like.

He sounds much like yourself - awake to the outside.

cheers

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I saw this metal gate/door through the branches and bushes as I whizzed past on a bus last week, it was pretty far away so looked tiny and I only saw it for a split second but I knew I had to return and capture it eventhough all I'd seen was the gate and not the walls, geometry and light which makes this picture work so well. I had imagined the gate framed by the trees as I'd originally seen it, infact that's how I first shot it but then walking about a bit I saw the possibilities. With the late afternoon winter sun and just the right angle, I'm rather pleased with this one! First picture in the newly renamed Contemplation (part 2) project since slightly changing the direction of the work. Shot with the Takumar.

The Doorway​

Interesting story about this place, this is a doorway leading off the Bell Park in Jerusalem and leading to the back of the Jerusalem Theatre. My abiding memory of this part was from over a decade ago when I was in the army. I was seconded to a police anti-terrorist unit and as we came back off patrol in the south of Jerusalem a call came through as there had been a reported dead body seen in the park. We arrived, jumped off the jeep and there indeed seemingly wrapped around the tree was the dead body of a man. The officer gingerly turned him over (gingerly as we were worried about needles!), I was volunteered to check through the pockets for some ID when at that point the dead man stirred. He hadn't been dead, just a tramp who was very annoyed at being woken up from his nice comfortable tree at 3am! We apologied profusely and very embarressed left the park. ​

 

[Asher Kelman]

Ben,

This is so special. It's the gradient of light that you have discovered that's so good.

Asher

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

To be honest my hat goes off to the architect, that's one heck of an incredible design! That light shone through like a beam between the hotels and the modern buildings to give this georgous effect between the walls. I have no doubt whatsoever that it was by design.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

A return to the Timeless Collection for me with an image which somewhat fulfills a 6 year wait to capture an image within the Old City of Jerusalem which would encompass Chanukah for me. I've had an image in my mind for those 6 years but in the end I came away with something completely different.

For over a thousand years the Jews in exile lit their Chanukah lights indoors out of fear of their neighbours. Although the tradition of lighting in the house prevails still in the Diaspora, in Jerusalem today the residents proudly light 'Petach Habayit', at the entrance to their house as the custom was originally conceived some 2 millenia ago after the events leading up to the Chanukah miracle. I chose to celebrate that in this image.

Petach Habayit
​

This image looks wonderfully serene but taken on one of the busiest and most ancient streets of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City it was certainly anything but! Being the last night of Chanukah the place was overrun with tour groups, tourists, people on the way to the Western Wall and residents coming out to light their candles. I knew I'd need the maximum tonality I could get out of the street lighting and was shooting at iso 100 with a 25 second exposure (X10, this is a 44 megapixel stitch!). 25 seconds never takes quite as long as when you have literally over 200 people passing between the time you first set up your tripod until you finish and pack up. It was agonising trying to time the gap between the various tour groups, honestly, 25 seconds is sooooooooo long! .

Rather flat yellow street light combined with an over contrasty 85mm lens made for a lot of work to try and keep the tonality looking 'right'. I hope I've managed even after such a drastic resize and the 'save for web' compression.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Ben,

Petach Habayit
​

What a lovely work. Your tedious effort has certainly paid off.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

It really was tedious, I was trying out a new pair of boots yesterday, came back from that shoot with one ankle covered in blood and the other with two huge blisters on it. They have since been taken back! I also lost the eyepiece for my camera which did rather annoy me.

You know what they say, no pain no gain, I've certainly gone through a terrifying amount of pain to make these images but it's been worth it because they will be beautiful and meaningful to me long after the pain is forgotten.

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Ben,

You know what they say, no pain no gain, I've certainly gone through a terrifying amount of pain to make these images but it's been worth it because they will be beautiful and meaningful to me long after the pain is forgotten.

As I used to say when I was Director of Sound Production at Albuquerque (New Mexico) Little Theater, "I know that to create one must first suffer, but this is ridiculous".

Again, my congratulations on that lovely work.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

It really was tedious, I was trying out a new pair of boots yesterday, came back from that shoot with one ankle covered in blood and the other with two huge blisters on it. They have since been taken back! I also lost the eyepiece for my camera which did rather annoy me.

You know what they say, no pain no gain, I've certainly gone through a terrifying amount of pain to make these images but it's been worth it because they will be beautiful and meaningful to me long after the pain is forgotten.

Very, very well done Ben. I am glad to read that you are satisfied and that is all that matters. How did you arrange the ten tiles, what lens did you use?

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

It really was tedious, I was trying out a new pair of boots yesterday, came back from that shoot with one ankle covered in blood and the other with two huge blisters on it. They have since been taken back! I also lost the eyepiece for my camera which did rather annoy me.

You know what they say, no pain no gain, I've certainly gone through a terrifying amount of pain to make these images but it's been worth it because they will be beautiful and meaningful to me long after the pain is forgotten.

Very, very well done Ben. I am glad to read that you are satisfied and that is all that matters. How did you arrange the ten tiles, what lens did you use?

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I don't have many lenses these days to be honest, this was using my 85mm which is my longest current lens. I would prefer a 100mm for stitching to be honest and my Canon 100mm actually had better contrast than this lens for this kind of work (the 85mm is rather harsh) but I'm not stitching enough at the moment to make it worth buying again.

I didn't use my pano rig, it isn't necessary for this kind of thing, I had the RRS pano head on the top of my ball head, flop it over into the ball heads 90 degree groove, then use the pano head to rotate up and down and the ballheads pano base to rotate from side to side, pretty much all my pano work to date has been done with this method.

I shot 10 frames in total but I was doing it by feel rather than any calculated method and this wasn't a NPP stitch so I was leaving a lot of overlap for the program to work with.

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

This is a very ichnographically as well as aesthetically rich photo. What size do you print these?

If you haven’t done a show of these images, you should definitely talk with a gallery owner or two.

 

[Asher Kelman]

This is a very ichnographically as well as aesthetically rich photo. What size do you print these?

If you haven’t done a show of these images, you should definitely talk with a gallery owner or two.

Tracy,

Did you mean iconographically as well as aesthetically rich, or do you indeed, really mean that the picture helps map out the quarter?

BTW, Ben is actually making sophisticated interactive panoramas in which one can go from one room to another.

Asher

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Thanks Tracy, the Timeless Collection is available in either 10X20" or 15X30" though I could do a 20X40" from them there is so much detail from the stitches!

I have a show in California in September next year but if you know anyone else who would to show this kind of thing let me know. I'm hoping Asher's show does take off and I can show there too.