The blog is here, over at my site.
http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/Af.../Swirlies.html
Tell me what you think and then tell me how to
make the swirlies happen. I think I'm getting close. That one
of my wife's garden was breathtaking even in the ground glass!
Comments? Ideas?
Jim, your portraits are amazing even if they don't swirl. As far as the garden shot goes that photo makes me want a little dramamine. Very extreme. The other day I recieved a Dallmeyer Patent Portrait 3d put it on the 11x14 just to see coverage and the one thing I noticed was that foliage of some sort at a certain distance was the only thing I could get to swirl. I'm looking for the swirls too. I'm sure one of those wet plate guys will have some insight, they always seem to swirl. It might be the ether though.
Jim I have a Petzval but only get swirleys when the geometry of the subject is correct. Lots of verticals with horizontals growing off the verticals. Also from what I see, to really get the swirley going try a lens on a film size bigger than the lens is intended for. Or for that matter 2 sizes. A 5x4 lens on a 10x8.
I am with you Jim. Love the swirlies, but can't seem to make them happen with any regularity. They clearly seem to be as much subject dependant as they are aperture and focus distance dependant. That said, the examples you posted all have perfectly beautiful bokeh, even though the portraits don't swirl. What I think is you need is slightly oof specular higlights, or at least point-source highlights, near the edges to make them appear. I assume it is becasuse coma is what's making the swirlies, and the oof highlights allow the coma to be more easily seen.
Again, my compliments on those portraits, they are darn fine without the swirlies anyway!
Cheers,
I think there are (at least) two separate causes of "swirlies", which manifest themselves in different ways with different lenses under different circumstances.
While I ponder this, does anyone have a good name for the opposite of "swirlies"?
Nice work Jim. The only problem I find in using a Petzval is that you have to center the optimal point of focus in addition to focusing on it. Your flowers picture may have real applications to the study of black holes. Perhaps there is a time/space analog to the lens comae aberrations? Are you near area 51?
I could tell him, but then I'd have to kill himOriginally Posted by Toyon
Ether that or maybe it's how the plate is poured: first a pancake of collodion is poured at the center of the plate and when it spreads outward to the edge, we then start to tip the glass towards each successive corner in a broad circle. Having seen the care we take in doing this circular application of the chemistry, the subsequently applied photons follow suit and disperse themselves in a swirl around the edges of the plate.
Next question?
From the examples I have seen the swirl is most visible when the background is busy, filled with small random details, your garden the perfect example.
Want a portrait with that? Take it with lots of vegetation in the background. Alternatively I used to use a cloth background with lots of little nubbies, these would also show the swirls.
Is coma the only contributing factor or does curvature of field add to the effect?
Joe, my next question is do you live anywhere near Saint Paul, MN so you could teach me the fine art of collodian?
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