Starkindler Blog » urban landscapes

Messy

dwa — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:42:32 +0000

Approaching the City

dwa — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:55:55 +0000

(Leica M4, 50mm Summicron-M, Tri-X 400, through a rainy windshield)

Spring in Central Square

dwa — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:17:25 +0000

I’m not dead, I’ve just been concentrating on film and my darkroom course at the SMFA lately. I’ll give you this though – a slice of springtime in Central Square

Boston Scenes

dwa — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:18:25 +0000

Selections from walking to/from a friend’s gallery opening last night:

Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8

dwa — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:19:29 +0000

A while ago I had rented the Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens. Why? I wanted something fun to play with, and had always been curious about the TS/E lenses. The 90mm also had a reputation for being very sharp (which it was!) and it had a high maximum magnification as well.

The tilting mechanism was what I was most interested in, and was also the weirdest thing about the lens. The plane of focus does *not* stay parallel to the lens as you tilt it. It also moves as you focus the lens in addition to as you tilt it. It’s still usable hand-held but when it’s absolutely critical you nail the plane of focus, a tripod is in your future. A good explanation of how tilt works can be found here from Northlight Images.

When you abuse the tilt, you can blur the heck out of an image like so:

More careful use though results in a depth of field as deep as your heart desires. I don’t have any great examples of it, but this will do. I didn’t nail the entirety of the front sign, but the bottom of it is in focus as is the far sign:

Assuming you can focus well and hold it steady, the lens is also sharp and I love the colors and ‘pop’ I got out of it with so little effort:

Ultimately though, I wouldn’t buy the lens for myself. I already have a very excellent f/2.8 lens of about that focal length in the form of the 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro, and I think the tilting and shifting would be much more useful for me in a wider focal length.

Determined

dwa — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:37:44 +0000

I haven’t given up on getting good photos out of the T. Can you spot the self-portrait hiding in there?

And for lack of a better place to put them post them, a couple of shots on the way to/in the North End:

On an equipment related note I picked up the battery grip for my camera a little while ago – while it makes it a lot more bulky it fits my hands and handles much more nicely. It also makes my camera bag quite cramped, I might need a bigger one soon (any suggestions are welcome). I’ll also be renting the 90mm T/S-E lens this week, so expect to see some experimentation from that in the near future!

Boston Public Garden

dwa — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:05:12 +0000

Scenes over the past couple of weeks from the Boston Public Garden. I’m actually really looking forward to winter and hopefully getting some decidedly different shots then!

Most of these were made with my favorite lens, the 100mm f/2.8 USM macro; the exceptions are the first and last photos. Personally, I’m rather pleased with the B&W skyline shot, and the duck has a peculiar attraction as well.

Frustration to a T

dwa — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:03:01 +0000

Last month I had focused most of my photographic efforts on the garden along the path I walk every day and had been really pleased with the results. So next I had decided to try and focus on the MBTA and at best I’ve been frustrated. There’s probably a few reasons it hasn’t been working out quite as well – I’m usually rushed and stressed when I’m using the T, and everyone else around me is too. I also try to avoid pointing my camera at people who are just out and about, and (surprise!) there’s people on the T.

Walkabout Photos

dwa — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:24:56 +0000

No exotic lenses or interesting events for this post, just a bunch of photos taken recently:

The last one, in particular, is a happy accident of shutter speed and IS and deserves a look at larger-than-thumbnail size. The rocks on the shoreline (the Atlantic on the New Hampshire coast) stayed decently sharp while the waves show a bit of motion. Next time I’ll have to purposefully try for that!

Playing with the Canon 24mm f/1.4L II

dwa — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:44:13 +0000

I had rented the 24mm f/1.4L II for a little bit to play around with – I love fast lenses, and 24mm is a fun focal length. I ended up really liking the lens but I don’t think I would use it enough to justify it right now – I already have the 17-40mm f/4L after all. Some of the better results from the 24mm: