You probably can’t tell from the text but I always thought you could from the photos, figure I actually put some time and thought into what I post here. So I keep track of the stats just to see what hits and what misses with you so I put my efforts into places that count. SO I was just blown away when looking at the stats from the D3s post that went up. In its 1st 24hrs, 30,737 folks “saw” that post (can’t say how many read it). That’s not what blows me away, that’s not new.
What blow me away is that only 978 actually looked at the photographs, the Zoomify images!
Forget the time I took to post all of that, what flies though my head in one simple question. How in the hell do folks determine where the truth lies if they don’t look at the photographs? The proof is ALWAYS in the pudding not the recipe. These stats are devastating to me, why the hell even post images, just type some dribble and leave it that. Hell, just get some crayons out and call it a day.
Folks, PHOTOGRAPHS are everything! Those 978 who checked out the images, I thank you and know YOUR photography has to be better than the rest for one simple reason. You’re curious about your craft which always translates into better images! And why is there no photo here? Guess.
It’s raining here so we headed out for a three hour walk. And of course, the D3s went along. It’s fun to walk the streets and watch the life. It always amazes us, all the dogs that you find on the streets, in the stores and, well, just everywhere (there isn’t that many trees if you know what I mean). Now this one really grabbed my attention, what a face!
We love visiting NYC! It’s got an energy and character I don’t think you can find any other place. Using points, we uped our room as in, we went up to the 25th floor so we could have the view you see in the last blog and this. While they’re not pine trees, the vertical lines out the window just fascinate me.
I don’t know if it’s the contrast of the shapes against the lines or the novelty of the water towers themselves, perhaps they make me think of the old west, whatever it is they just grab my eye!
This is the roof top view from our room looking left and right. I spent most of the night shooting them and then once the light came up (what light there is) I just kept on going. It’s a search for patterns, textures and character. The entire time I was thinking B&W. Looking for whites and blacks is the key because they are what give a visual depth to the varing heights of roofs and towers. I just love it!
Photos captured by D3x, 50f1.4 AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film
After an interesting start this morning at the airport, Sharon & I finally landed in the Big Apple. It’s great to be back. In fact, I’m so excited to be here and presenting at Adorama Thursday night, I went and made a whole new presentation for the evening. In fact, it’s like none I’ve ever done before. I should be fun. I look forward to sharing it with you!
“What is the best f/stop?” This is the #2 most frequently asked email question that I receive. Seriously! I’ve written about this a few times here on the blog. It came in again today and this time it really struck me as really funny since, I’m rethinking that whole DOF question for myself. Readers of the BT Journal have read a little about how I started to “re-investigate” minimal DOF earlier this summer. While I’ve owned the 28f1.4 AF for some time and I didn’t have really kind words about the new 50f1.4 AFS, I now own one. It’s all Joe’s fault!
The upcoming issue of the BTJ will chronicle how with the file quality of the D3x, I’ve gone 180 degrees back to shooting mostly wide open. This photo of a Brooks Griz is a good example of what I’m liking, 600mm at f/4. Technically the only thing that is sharp are the eyes, a little behind them and a little in front. Why does more look in focus than that? The readers of the next issue of the BTJ will have the answer (I gave an answer to the class last week in ME). What does that have to do with buying the 50f1.4 AFS?
This portrait of Jim taken in Central Park is why I think McNally is on to something in his own retro look back/forward at minimum DOF. Making the subject “pop” visually in the photograph has been the cornerstone of my photography from the get go. You can see it plainly in the photo of Jim where the background is physically so far away when shooting at f/1.4, the background is out of focus. It’s not so obvious in the thumbnail image of the griz. I’ve been very privileged to see some of Joe’s images where he’s exploring this same retro look back at minimum DOF that he has taken with the new 50f1.4AFS. What makes it work is the fact that while the 50f1.4AFS is not a fast focuser (is that a word?) it is gloriously wicked sharp! That measure of sharpness for me is when you can count the whiskers on the chin; this image of Jim taken with the 28f1.4 has that quality. The 50f1.4AFS delivers the same which is why I bellied up to the bar and bought a class B one from Jeff at Adorama when it became available (saved me some bucks).
Creating a video on the 50f1.4 AFS (and I still owe one on the 16Fish) will serve as a better review of the lens. For now, just wanted to keep you all in the loop where photography is taking me and where I’m taking my photography.
You’re probably wondering what happened to me today, I’m wondering that myself. I’ll blog about that shortly but in the meantime, this just got posted and thought you might want to give it a listen. Enjoy!
