Blog: Adapted Lenses
Glass of Water in Sunlight, Revisited
November 28, 2023
Permalink | Tags: Photography, Film Photography, Adapted Lenses
Earlier this month, I posted an image of sunlight passing through a glass of water. At the time, I was trying to use up a roll of Ilford Delta 100 black and white film I had in my Nikon F, and this subject seemed a good way to do so. A moment later, I also shot the same thing with my Canon EOS M50 and an adapted 58mm Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar lens.
Having gotten my latest round of film back from the developer, I can now share both renderings. The one on the left is the film image, and the digital one is on the right:
I’ve grown to love working with film, but I have to confess I’m torn between the film rendering and the digital one. The film image has a natural softness in both resolution and grey tone that I like. The other has the distinctly clinical resolution that I’ve come to expect from digital photography. But it also has a satisfying contrast punch, and its depiction of light reflecting off the grain of the table’s wood is rather pleasing to me.
Which is better? I'm not sure.
Glass of Water in Sunlight
November 12, 2023
Permalink | Tags: Photography, Adapted Lenses
Intent upon finishing a roll of film I had in my Nikon F, I saw that late afternoon sunlight was streaming onto the kitchen table. Remembering an earlier photo shoot I did with a glass of water, I filled the same glass, attached my 135mm f/3.5 Nikkor, and worked the scene. I only had three exposures left on my roll of film and quickly finished it off.
I wanted to see what my Canon EOS M50 could do with my Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar lens, so I got that camera and lens and continued to work the scene.
It’s amazing how much beauty simple objects can have in the right light.
Candids
August 7, 2023
Permalink | Tags: Out and About, Adapted Lenses, Photography
I’m getting better at taking candids of people on the street. The images I took today aren’t my best work, but I have to say I enjoy it most when I can get shots of people just going about their day.
I find I strike the right balance between getting the kind of people shots I like to get and preserving the anonymity that I would like to have myself if I were the subject by placing people in the context of their surroundings. Besides, I’ve never been an in-your-face kind of street photographer. Especially when I use my old Nikkor lenses adapted for my Canon EOS M50 mirrorless camera, doing so achieves a certain softness that accomplishes a pleasing aesthetic while also slightly blurring out people’s faces, all the more contributing to anonymizing their identity.
The Music Store
August 3, 2023
Permalink | Tags: Out and About, Adapted Lenses, Photography
One of my ongoing photography efforts is to go inside local businesses on my town’s Main Street rather than lurk outside and take pictures of them from the sidewalk.
Today, I stopped into one of our local music shops. I had a brief conversation with the owner about vinyl record albums and, like film photography, how the medium never really went away. He mentioned that the major labels stopped cutting vinyl around 1994 or so but that artists like Bruce Springsteen insisted that their albums be put out on vinyl among other media. After asking permission to snap a few photos in his shot, I got some really nice candids from some interesting perspectives.
One of my favorites:
Lazy Day
July 24, 2023
Permalink | Tags: Nature, Adapted Lenses, Photography
Everyone has lazy days. Even squirrels.
This splooting squirrel was probably just trying to stay cool on a hot summer day more than he was being lazy. (Do squirrels or any other wildlife ever feel lazy?). Staying there long enough for me to get out my Canon EOS M50 and adapted telephoto lens, he let me shooting through the glass of a window that sits right below the point at which our fence meets the house.
Something Else Entirely
July 24, 2023
Permalink | Tags: Nature, Out and About, Adapted Lenses, Photography
I was out with my camera walking around town when I had a sip of water at this park water fountain.
What I first thought was a small piece of bark stuck in the drain turned out to be something else entirely.