Vaperturegood morning
Posted on May 15, 2014
It’s finally warm enough to brave the early mornings and capture some of the beautiful imagery that most of us never get to see. I love the sunny contrast in the clouds, and shining glimmer of the water, and the perfectly placed shadows of the buildings with the orange glow of the rising sun illuminating the eastern face of one of them. This would display beautifully as a medium sized canvas print. Taken with a Zeiss 21mm f2.8 Distagon manual focus lens.
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united
Posted on December 3, 2013
Perfectly aligned international flags at Rockerfeller Center with not a wisp of wind. I love the subdued quality of the light, and the soft background contrasting with crisp focus on the flags themselves. If you look closely, you can read the labels on the flag poles (talk about sharp focus!).
Zeiss 35mm f1.4 Distagon lens mounted on a Canon 5D Mark III camera.
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in the room
Posted on November 18, 2013
I love when a photograph makes you feel something…
This image actually feels a little creepy, like this suit of armor has someone in it, and that someone is standing right in the room with you. It’s a unique effect that I see quite frequently with the Zeiss 100mm f2 Makro Planar lens. It renders this overwhelming 3D quality in it’s images, more so than any other ZE-mount Zeiss lenses, which are all known for their pronounced micro contrast and 3D quality. I read quite a few skeptical remarks about this effect before I bought this lens, but after shooting a few thousand photos with it, I’m definitely a believer. I tried capturing this image with two outstanding Canon lenses (the 85mm 1.2 and the 135mm 2.0), but neither of them produced an image like this… not even close.
This image is not for sale because this belongs to The Met, and to everyone who supports the museum with their donations. Here are a few other photos from my visit (all taken with the Zeiss 85mm f1.4 or the 100mm f2 Makro-Planar):
blue
Posted on November 17, 2013
All of my favorite shades of blue in the same photograph. I used the Carl Zeiss 25mm f2 lens for this shot because I knew that it would render the colors with this subtle subdued kind of feeling to them. It never gives that over-vibrant look that resembles a filter like some other lenses would have with this scene. It’s a special lens with a really unique drawing style that is quite different than its little cousin the 28mm f2.
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stroller
Posted on November 5, 2013
This is such a fun mini-series of two photos taken at FDR Four Freedoms Park in New York. I was trying for an interesting composition with a large aperture to bring the railing and the stairs out of the image and away from the background, and as I was taking my shots a child walked in and pushed the stroller away. I didn’t even noticed that this had happened at the time because I was so focused on adjusting my composition, but it turned out to make a great matching set!
I shot these with the only autofocus lens I own, the Canon 85mm f1.2, which really lives up to the hype it gets about being a “magical” and incredibly sharp lens. It’s definitely a hard lens to use… there’s no debating that. But if you spend some time with it and learn what it’s strengths and weaknesses are, I’m sure you’ll see that it’s a special lens… Canon’s best in my very humble opinion. The aperture was set to 2.5 with a 1/5000 shutter speed and -1EV since it was a very bright sunny day. Zero post processing. Straight out of the camera.
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welcome
Posted on November 4, 2013
This is a photo of a wonderful japanese sushi hangout on 10th Avenue between 22nd and 23rd that just begs you to come in and feel at right at home while you nosh. The colors and the warmth that come through this image are my favorite part, and it conveys the exact feeling I get when I see it in person.
This photo was shot handheld with a Zeiss 50mm f1.4 manual focus lens set at f/2.2. Exposure 1/50. I set the exposure compensation to -0.3 after my first shot turned out a little too bright and didn’t convey the true feeling of the image. The Zeiss 50mm f1.4 certainly isn’t the best lens in the world, but I love it for capturing the feeling of a scene, especially at night. I don’t know how else to describe it, but when what you’re looking to do is capture the true feeling (vague term, I know) of what you’re experiencing, the Zeiss 50mm f1.4 just seems to nail it every time. I also own the Zeiss 50mm f2 Makro, which is a stunningly beautiful lens, but if I try to use it for photos like this where the feeling is paramount, I am never quite as happy with the result. When I’m trying to showcase the details of an object such as a striking display of architecture, the Zeiss 50mm f2 Makro blows the 1.4 our of the water, but when I want to capture that warm fuzzy feeling I get from a person or a place, the 1.4 just sings.
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