Obsolescence [7]

A few images from last Spring. I thought about posting this in the lens forum, but then thought that this might be the better place.

These were all shot with the nearly two-year old D70 (somewhat of an old dog in digital years) and the manual focus Tokina 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, which was designed some 30 years ago.

Two obsolete pieces of technology.

[1] first light



[2] echo



[3] snake and fruit



[4] aerial twist



[5] real simple



[6] geometry



[7] jester



All images were shot with the D70 using the camera's default, "normal" curve and converted from RAW using Nikon Capture (perhaps another obsolete piece of technology).

All of these were shot early in the morning, which is my favorite time to shoot flora. The air is still cool, the light is sweet, and morning dew can gives subjects a nice bit of additional interest.

As always, thanks for looking. Any comments, questions, or suggestions are welcome. Most of these images are pretty straight forward, but if you have any questions on the lighting or technical details, I'd be happy to answer them.

Todd

The first two and the fourth shots are my favourites. Very interesting and unusual compositions, technically perfectly executed, obsolete tech. notwithstanding. Thanks for posting.
--
Arcady Genkin
http://agenkin.fotokritik.ru/

Arcady,

Thanks for your picks, glad you found the compositions of a few of these interesting and unusual. In some ways, I find myself trying to subvert the natural appeal of these subjects, and composition becomes a device in this war against these pretty little things.

Thanks again,
Todd

I always love your shots, Todd. I see things similiar to you, but my skill is still quite novice.

Thanks for sharing.

--
The Lonely Raven

Jack of all Trades,
Master of None

Hi Todd!

Really like the #2. Spot on title too. Well Done!!!
--
Best Regadrs,
Jukka

Nice shots! I like your work.

This 100% crop recently reminded me I don't need to be buying another camera body anytime soon. Check out the detail in the reflected objects in her sunglasses. The bars on the windows especially.

80-200mm f/2.8D at 200mm, f8.



More artistic fare here:

http://www.dcgambits.com/gallery/Rons-Album

Hi Todd,

It's great to see you posting again. I love seeing your work (even if you do use such "old" equipment ;-)))

In this series "aerial twist" is my absolute favourite. It's unusual and incredibly beautiful.

Kind regards,
Irene
--
http://www.pbase.com/daria90

...I like aerial twist & jester the best M
--
http://mglennn.smugmug.com/

Lonely Raven said:

I always love your shots, Todd. I see things similiar to you, but
my skill is still quite novice.

Click to expand...

I think that, up to a certain point, training one's eye is truly the most essential part of photography. While learning how to see and how to execute that vision necessarily go along with one another, the latter is really secondary to me.

There are some areas of learning how (and what) to see that seem to overlap with technical execution, though, which is actually kind of exciting. I think some compelling images can come from learning the limits of what's possible with any given bit of equipment.

Anyway, I'd like to see some of your shots sometime. We'll all get where we're going eventually.

Todd

Jukka,

jankanpaa said:

Really like the #2. Spot on title too. Well Done!!!

Click to expand...

Thanks. #2 came about after making this image:



The backlit foliage provided some really interesting and strange images, especially in the defocused areas. I was thinking of posting a set of just maples, but decided to break it up. Shooting these winglets (or helicopters) was a useful primer in photographing the fall leaves.

Glad you like the title, too. Just seemed right

Todd

uuronl said:

Nice shots! I like your work.

Click to expand...

Thank you, glad you could get into it.

uuronl said:

This 100% crop recently reminded me I don't need to be buying
another camera body anytime soon. Check out the detail in the
reflected objects in her sunglasses. The bars on the windows
especially.

Click to expand...

Wow, that looks great. The 100% crops from some lenses breakdown compared to the resized/printed images, but not this one -- it hardly looks like a crop. I've found that's a good indication of the quality of a lens. If it can reach pixel-level detail at 100% viewing, it's quite impressive.

I think for a lot of people not planning on making huge prints, 6-8mp is really plenty. Beyond that, the extra file size and processing power needed to handle the larger files isn't justified. It's quality, not quantity. Your shot certainly shows how good 6mp can be.

Thanks for sharing the crop. I may post a crop of one of these images if I have time, I love the way the Tokina performs.

Todd

Great stuff as usual Todd. While it is really your creative eye that makes these images work, I have a technical question. How do you nail focus dead on the spot (e.g. a water droplet, blade of grass, etc.) you are looking for with these macros? The only way I can seem to do it reliably with the D70 is to put the spot of interest into one of the AF brackets and use AF. I'd rather use MF but can't seem to tell precisely when the spot I'm looking at is in perfect focus. With my F80 film body, I don't have this problem because of the large viewfinder.

Any insight would be great!
--
Regards,
Joel

Ginger1 said:

Hi Todd,

It's great to see you posting again. I love seeing your work (even
if you do use such "old" equipment ;-)))

Click to expand...

Haha... Perhaps I'm just nostalgic. At the very least, the D70 was just as good of a tool for making images as it was when I bought it. That the D2X, D200, etc, have come out since then doesn't degrade the quality of images that were made with it in the least.

Now, wanting to make present and future images with "higher quality" equipment is another matter, but even then there is an amount of desire involved, rather than need. I still find the D70 is much better than 35mm film.

Ginger1 said:

In this series "aerial twist" is my absolute favourite. It's
unusual and incredibly beautiful.

Click to expand...

Glad you enjoyed that one. I was mildly obsessed with photographing Japanese maples at the time I shot that image, intending to make a series out of the work. The light was a bit harsh when I shot that, but still coming in at a low enough angle to render this dramatic scene: the helicopters caught the light nicely, while the background, still in shade, was pushed down.

Looks like I missed out on the coffee and milk thread, but wow. The fourth image in that set is perfection, to me. That nearly spherical bead of coffee welling up and the "skirt" of milk splash is so excellent. Well done.

Todd

tao.design said:

Thanks for your picks, glad you found the compositions of a few of
these interesting and unusual. In some ways, I find myself trying
to subvert the natural appeal of these subjects, and composition
becomes a device in this war against these pretty little things.

Click to expand...

I understand you completely. To me it often looks as if for many macro photography has become a demonstration of technology: most people are mostly focusing on getting the focusing right. On some photo sights that I visit many photographers that I respect have quit even looking in the macro sections. The flower petals with droplets of water used to fascinate me, but now they bore me most of the time.

I think that macro photography has a lot of potential for unusual and experimenal shots. Your photographs are a good idication of that. I like your expression "war against these pretty little things" - it made me smile. The challenge is to make a photograph beautiful not only by virtue of a beautiful subject, almost to a point of having to overcome that natural beauty, just as you say. I wish you good luck in this persuit.
--
Arcady Genkin
http://agenkin.fotokritik.ru/

Thanks for the votes, M. Glad you could get into these shots from Spring. I'm sure before I know Spring will be back again, and I'll be loosing sleep for the sake of catching the morning light on little flowers...

Todd

Joel,

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the image set. I had a lot of fun shooting these images, and unfortunately haven't had a chance to air them out until now. About your question:

jolay said:

How do you nail focus dead on the spot (e.g. a water droplet,
blade of grass, etc.) you are looking for with these macros?

Click to expand...

Sheer force of will. But seriously, that's really part of it.

The real answer is that I rely on a combination of things to ensure that I get the images I want -- which, among other things, means getting the focus where I want.

All of these shots were made handheld. I've started shooting with a tripod a little more, but the majority of my macro work is done handheld.

I never use the AF brackets for focusing macros -- it's all done by visual confirmation of the subject on the wimpy ground glass. For one, I don't trust CAM900, CAM1000, or CAM2000 at macro distances -- AF is not optimized for such close distances and contrast spreads. Also, and perhaps more importantly, using the AF brackets limits composition too much for my needs.

In no particular order, I rely on these things to help make the image:

1) "Skill."

The least important of these devices that I employ. I have pretty steady hands.

2) Patience.

If I want a shot, I will do whatever it takes to takes -- within reasonable constraints of time and energy -- to make sure I come home with the image. I try not to rush the process, and will take my time steadying myself and setting up to make the shot. Also, I will simply make as many exposures as I deem necessary to give me a high chance of nailing focus. This really bleeds into and technique, so more on this below.

3) Technique.

And by technique, I mean luck. Want to increase your chances of getting bang on focus? Shoot more. For some images, if I'm in the zone and feeling cocky, I might only make one exposure. Maybe it's three exposures. If I'm not feeling solid or if I'm fighting the shutterspeed, maybe it's ten exposures.

In the end, it doesn't matter how many exposures you make (memory cards permitting), because all you need is one. The one that's in focus. You can delete the rest and no one will care. This tenacity for going after the image is what I mean by making the image by force of will. If you want it bad enough, make it happen.

To facilitate this "technique," I shoot in continuous mode. Always. There's never a time when I don't shoot in continuous mode, actually, regardless of subject matter.

In concert with simply making a lot of exposures and using continuous mode, I will often adjust my posture and position to change focusing distance, rather changing the focus of the lens. I'm often doing this anyway to find different compositions. Rocking backwards or forwards to maintain the proper focusing distance is often much easier than changing focus itself.

It's not really deliberately rocking back and forth so much as it is compensating for any of my own movement (or the subject's) that may have occurred in the time between when I first focus the shot and when I release the shutter. This movement is really just millimeters in distance, nothing a casual observer would even notice.

Alright, this turned out to be a much longer explanation than I expected, but there it is. Hope it helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Todd

agenkin said:

I understand you completely. To me it often looks as if for many
macro photography has become a demonstration of technology: most
people are mostly focusing on getting the focusing right. On
some photo sights that I visit many photographers that I respect
have quit even looking in the macro sections. The flower petals
with droplets of water used to fascinate me, but now they bore me
most of the time.

Click to expand...

What other photo sites do you frequent? Always looking to have a look at what's going down at other sites.

agenkin said:

I think that macro photography has a lot of potential for unusual
and experimenal shots. Your photographs are a good idication of
that. I like your expression "war against these pretty little
things" - it made me smile. The challenge is to make a photograph
beautiful not only by virtue of a beautiful subject, almost to a
point of having to overcome that natural beauty, just as you say.
I wish you good luck in this persuit.

Click to expand...

Arcady, yes, I think that macro photography does have a lot of potential for expressing unconventional vision -- I think that's one thing that appeals to me. The challenge.

A year ago, I never used my macro lens except for the ocassional snap of this small thing or that. I dismissed photographing flowers as something that wasn't for me, something too saccharine.

Needless to say, a various set of events changed my mind, not the least of which is that I have access to a really excellent botanical garden. At first, it was something akin to a moral dilemma when I started photographing flora. A year of photographing urban decay had made me cynical.

I agree completely: the challenge is to make the image compelling by virtue of its own merit - the light composition, vision. In some ways, it's much easier to photograph something that's not naturally attractive. The photographer is starting from nothing and building everything.

With something such as a flower, making an original image means stripping down the subject before starting that molding process.

Thanks for the well wishing, I need it

Todd

I especially love the backlight in #4.

I just love your work. It's obvious that you have a passion for it.

Also, thanks for sharing the info on your technique. I've been thinking about making trips to a botanical garden 2 miles from my house. I feel guilty in saying that I've lived in my home for 10 years and have never been there. I need to stop missing opportunities like that.

--
Nick
http://www.logiman.smugmug.com

Todd,

Great work as usual. I like them all except for #5 which is good, but a bit plain to show for a photographer of your caliber. On the other hand, sometimes it's good to go back to the basics Essentially, the way I experience those photographs, #5 lacks the "soul" that the other ones posses.

Good shooting,
Przemek

tao.design said:

A few images from last Spring. I thought about posting this in the
lens forum, but then thought that this might be the better place.

These were all shot with the nearly two-year old D70 (somewhat of
an old dog in digital years) and the manual focus Tokina 90mm f/2.5
macro lens, which was designed some 30 years ago.

Two obsolete pieces of technology.

[1] first light



[2] echo



[3] snake and fruit



[4] aerial twist



[5] real simple



[6] geometry



[7] jester



All images were shot with the D70 using the camera's default,
"normal" curve and converted from RAW using Nikon Capture (perhaps
another obsolete piece of technology).

All of these were shot early in the morning, which is my favorite
time to shoot flora. The air is still cool, the light is sweet, and
morning dew can gives subjects a nice bit of additional interest.

As always, thanks for looking. Any comments, questions, or
suggestions are welcome. Most of these images are pretty straight
forward, but if you have any questions on the lighting or technical
details, I'd be happy to answer them.

Todd

Click to expand...

tao.design said:

What other photo sites do you frequent? Always looking to have a
look at what's going down at other sites.

Click to expand...

Mostly a few Russian sites. What I like about them is that there is a limit (e.g. 1 picture in 5 days) that one can upload for discussion, so there are not so many family-album-type pictures there, although, still, of course, truly interesting pictures are in minority. I wonder whether there are English sites like that. I also like that my former countrymen often aren't pussy-footing when critiquing.

In case you would want a peak, here are a few links. Unless you speak Russian, you won't understand a word, but the pictures speak the universal language. The site at the last link has English interface; I have only visited this site a few times, but heard good things about it.
http://www.photosight.ru/
http://www.fotokritik.ru/
http://www.photoforum.ru/?lang=en

tao.design said:

A year of photographing urban decay had made me cynical.

Click to expand...

I'd be interested to see your urban pictures. Are they posted anywhere? There is a lot of tenderness in your macro shots (and I don't only mean these latest ones, but the ones that you posted here earlier); I wonder how you photographed the city.

tao.design said:

I agree completely: the challenge is to make the image compelling
by virtue of its own merit - the light composition, vision. In some
ways, it's much easier to photograph something that's not naturally
attractive. The photographer is starting from nothing and building
everything.

Click to expand...

Amen. For me, what's left is to walk the walk, now that I talk the talk. ;^) Since I got my D50 in November I've been absorbing all photography-related things, aiming to develop a critical eye for photographs. With that (hopefully) critical eye I look at my pictures up to date, and find them mostly boring, lacking character. But I think that I am improving, and the last couple of weeks brought me three or four pictures which I myself find interesting. But what's more important to me, I conceived them before looking through the viewfinder, and later executed them to an acceptably close approximation of my vision. This brought me a lot of satisfaction.
--
Arcady Genkin
http://agenkin.fotokritik.ru/