Just for Fun No C&C will be given: summer flowers

[Jim Galli]

summer flowers​

Flowers in my wife's garden. Critique if you like. Definitely not made with the 5D.

 

[Asher Kelman]

summer flowers​

Flowers in my wife's garden. Critique if you like. Definitely not made with the 5D.

Jim,

You could have done this on a 5D with a card tube and one of your meniscus lenses from a lantern, LOL!
This however, is from a lens with the tell tale marks of a pedigree of whirling bokeh makers. This spins a nice mood for showing the flowers themselves. With this work, the artistic post processing we do in photoshop is likely not needed at all. This is the beauty of the use of such lenses in isolating the flowers in such a low key way. For art, this approach is very satisfying and much appreciated by yours truly!

For those uninititiated in the wonders of soft focus lenses,

With a 5D one would need a f1.4 lens wide open and then still have do add a motion blur in photoshop and some vignetting too perhaps. The obsession with flat lenses perfect to the edge is justified for large groups of people, architecture and product photography. I recommend at least getting a LensBaby™ and playing around with shift the clear portion of the image field to different parts of the subject or buying a body cap for your DSLR with a pin hole in it. You will be blessed with some interesting images too, I promise you!

Thanks for sharing!

Asher

 

[Jim Galli]

Thanks Asher. Some may find the method used of interest, or at least amusing. Remember Lartigue's race cars of 100 years ago with the egg shaped tires? Done with a curtain shutter at fast speed, it stops the action but makes the tires egg shaped because the tire is in a different place as the slit passes on it's way from bottom to top. I did these in high winds today hoping to achieve a similar effect. My Speed Graphic shutter was set at 1/800 second and I purposely waited until the flowers were the most disturbed. The lens is a little petzval used in theaters 90 years ago for 35mm movie cameras. About 110mm focal, it is f3.2 and has no adjustable aperture.

 

[Asher Kelman]

The lens is a little petzval used in theaters 90 years ago for 35mm movie cameras. About 110mm focal, it is f3.2 and has no adjustable aperture.

I didn't suspect the aperture trick but the lens I think is the one you bought earlier this year perhaps? What is it mounted on and how?

While we are at it, surely you took more?

Asher

 

[Jim Galli]

I didn't suspect the aperture trick but the lens I think is the one you bought earlier this year perhaps? What is it mounted on and how?

Asher

It is very simply mounted on a wooden 4X4 lens board for the 1946 - ish Speed Graphic 4X5. The Speedy has a focal plane shutter of cloth with 4 slits. 1 1/2" 3/4" 3/8" and 1/8". You choose the size slit you need for the shutter speed desired. It has 24 possible from 1/10th to 1/1000th. A very elegant and simple solution to the antique shutterless lenses.

While we are at it, surely you took more? Asher

You're such a good sport to ask! I did 7 of which I'll share 4 more in the order taken.

wine

silver service

tomato

toy train

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