Three lenses...

[Mark Sawyer]

Maybe eventually I'll figure out what I'm doing...

1.) 8 3/4" Verito wide open (f/4)
2.) 8" IWSWG stopped down to f/16
3.) 8 1/2" Acuton, f/45 (and an hourlong exposure in the fading light)

[David A. Goldfarb]

I like the Acuton shot. The scene has enough interesting light and textures of its own that it works well sharp.

Maybe the Verito at a different f:stop could have added just a little glow on the highlights while keeping everything fairly sharp. I usually find that I'm using the Verito around f:6--I set it while looking at the groundglass, but it almost always ends up in the same place when I look at the dial--but for this, I suspect I'd go smaller.

[nelsonfotodotcom]

Mark, I enjoy the Acuton shot. What film/dev on that one, or all of them I suppose?

[Eric Rose]

Mark they are all excellent shots in their own right. What were you trying to accomplish? Since you went from wide open to a small aperture I suppose you were studying the DOF effects. Certainly you nailed the long exposure.

[Darryl Baird]

Looks to my eyes that each works in their own right, so perhaps my question would be to the choice of compositions, vertical or horizontal, tight or loose. Since you've twisted the traditional still life to a mix of gravitas (with really impressive canine teeth!), onions (rather than fruit), and sheet music.... what your driving at with the content would tend to direct my choice of lens' effects. I love the bones, skulls and transience you're exploring. I revisited the Paris catacombs recently... squeezing off a few in the low-light, "NO-Flash allowed" underground. I use this as my facebook icon.

Maybe eventually I'll figure out what I'm doing...

1.) 8 3/4" Verito wide open (f/4)
2.) 8" IWSWG stopped down to f/16
3.) 8 1/2" Acuton, f/45 (and an hourlong exposure in the fading light)

[Ernest Purdum]

Oh! the benefits of fading light.

[Jim Galli]

OK, I gave this big licks to the point of transferring all three to a single palette in photoshop so my eye could travel between the 3 without interruption. I do like the Verito one best I think. I love the little play of light on the song sheet, and the glow on the skins. The IWSWG might have been just as successful wide open but it doesn't seem to have enough of either at it's f16 throttle. Still, on it's own it is a fine image. The Acuton shot has done some great stuff with the light and contrast and is pleasing in a standard normal sort of way. I agree any could work well on it's own but I would chose the Verito shot. Also, the Verito needs to come up in all it's values to get nearer to where the Acuton image was for a better comparison. And to my eye all three improve with some slight desaturation but now we're getting into esthetic decisions best left to the artists eye.

I'll post all three on a single background if you like.

[Mark Sawyer]

Thank you, everyone. The funny thing is, after trying to choose between them, I think I could be okay with any of them...

I like the Acuton shot. The scene has enough interesting light and textures of its own that it works well sharp.

Maybe the Verito at a different f:stop could have added just a little glow on the highlights while keeping everything fairly sharp. I usually find that I'm using the Verito around f:6--I set it while looking at the groundglass, but it almost always ends up in the same place when I look at the dial--but for this, I suspect I'd go smaller.

I've tried using the Verito that way, going for the subtle, but I usually end up wide if I think I can get away with it. It's definitely pushing it here, but anything worth doing is worth doing to excess! But if I were doing it over, yes, I might try f/6 or so. Even f/8-ish might be nice at these closer distances, where the uncorrected aberrations really stand out. But that was what I was exploring with the IWSWG. (It's a new one that's <i>really</i> bad, even showing its problems at f/16. I don't know that this one will be kept together or cannibalized/reincarnated...)

[Mark Sawyer]

Mark, I enjoy the Acuton shot. What film/dev on that one, or all of them I suppose?

All were done in a stand development of HC110b on HP5+ for times ranging from 12 to 18 minutes. It's a nice combination, especially with uncoated optics, (the Acuton is coated, so it got the shortest time with corresponding exposure increase...) The grain gets a bit large, but I just contact print, so it's not an issue. (All are from 8x10 on my old 2D, btw.)

[Mark Sawyer]

Mark they are all excellent shots in their own right. What were you trying to accomplish? Since you went from wide open to a small aperture I suppose you were studying the DOF effects. Certainly you nailed the long exposure.

This was an image that's been in my head in rough form for a while. I kept shifting whether I wanted it soft or crisp or inbetween. It has a different feeling each way, different connotations and suggestions, but all seem to fit in their own way. Nothing resolved, I suppose...

Not so much a study of depth of field, though it was definitely on my mind. When one is using a soft lens so wide, limited depth of field is a standard working condition, and camera movements only do so much. (The IWSWG image was an attempt to get a lens with the aberrations still around at a small stop for more depth, but it wasn't quite the effect I hoped for. But maybe I just screwed up and half-an-f/stop either way would have been better.)

It does take some time to figure out lenses that change so much with slight changes in aperture, and I can't say that I'm there yet. But there's a certain joy in the exploration, and I'm learning. I'm finding myself doing several versions of images at times, out of a combination of curiousity and maybe insecurity. I thought this was a nice spread of three interpretations.

The long exposure is a fun thing, last image of the day in the fading light, and just let it go til it's not doing anything anymore. It's something I find myself doing often, as I like the late light. There's a soft quality to the illumination that goes well with the sharper lenses...