Photography – Page 29 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

The Nikon V1 and 32mm f1.2 Lens for Botanical Photography

Multiple reasons routed me to the Nikon 1 system. A DSLR with a big lens is heavy, so when the Nikon 1 system first came out, I looked, but did not like the initial prices, nor the lack of lenses. Also, I wasn’t too sure if it would be successful enough to invest in.

Time passed. When the V1 dropped significantly in price, I looked again. Seeing images shot by Steve, by Craig Litton, Joe Marquez, Sue Wotton and others at Steve Huff Photo pushed me to look at it. Finally I bought it. Since then, I’ve added lenses to the bag, but when the 32mm f1.2 was announced, I was seriously interested, and bought one when I could catch it in stock.

There is no one area of photography I prefer, but flowers have always given me a great deal of pleasure, especially wildflowers. As it is late in the summer, nearly all our wildflowers are gone in the heat of Southern California, but locally we have some rather lovely gardens with flowers in bloom. When I finally had some time to test out the 32mm lens, at f1.2 to f1.6, I shot a series of flowers and leaves, using both the auto and manual focus.

The beauty of the lens is the ability to isolate a flower from either background or foreground. Bokeh varies with what lies in front and behind of the subject, and with the 32mm f1.2, it varies in quality. It can be rather nervous when leaves in the background are small and fine. Other times, distance or background blur beautiful, creating an element of serenity. Color, contrast, and detail are well rendered. The three pictures below show how the manual focus allows for choosing one’s focal area, and show how the foreground, middle ground, and distance can be chosen. Click on them to see full detail.

Altogether, I am very pleased with the ability of the Nikon V1 and the 32mm for taking pictures of flowers and other plants. Some post-processing can add to the beauty of an image, but even just out of the camera, most images are pleasing and need little work.

Dahlia

Fallen-1500 Fern-1500 Hollyhock-2 Purple Saber-Lily-1500

Lens

As a birthday present – a bit early – I got the Nikon 32mm f1.2 for the Nikon 1 cameras. I have the V1. This lens, equivalent roughly to an 85mm lens, has a separate manual focus element on it, unlike the others in the Nikon 1 series.

Yesterday, I went to a local garden, and took a series of pictures. Some I used the automatic focusing, on others I used the manual focusing. I need to figure out how to use it. The main, point, though, of the excursion was to simply evaluate the lens at f1.2, to check the bokeh, to check the accuracy, and to simply see how it worked.

Follows are some of the shots, with some post-processing, just because that is what I do, but I did very little sharpening because that was the main focal point – observe the depth of field of the lens.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the lens, but there is definitely a time and place for such a wide open f/stop. Click on the composite picture below, then click again to enlarge it, if you want to see more of the details.

The Eyes Have It

Every now and again we set out for several weeks, driving all the way, and stopping at various places to visit family, friends, and see the sights. This year is a tour of scenic places, and places with character. Because I want to take some good pictures, I have been going through my lenses and checking them for accuracy in focus. Of course, some lenses are better than others, and some systems work better than others.

The Nikon D7000 has the ability to adjust the autofocus in different lenses, and store those manual adjustments in the menu, for up to twelve different lenses. I have been going through all my autofocus lenses, rather painstakingly, to sort them out. Only one is really out of kilter, and it could be that I just need to send it in to be refurbished by the manufacturer to factory specifications. Needless to say, it will not be traveling with me!

There are a lot of ways to check the focus of a lens, so I won’t get into it here. The final test, though, is on the eyes of my victim. His left eye is the one I use – don’t ask why, I don’t know! Once I like what I see in the lens, I record it by naming the picture with the adjustment in the camera, the f/stop, and file it in a calibrations directory. I’ve heard that lenses should be checked every 6 months or so, and certainly be checked out with any new camera.

Lies

There is the purist in me that says a photograph should never be changed from what the camera took. To change it means I cannot take a picture in the first place.

Another part of me that realizes there is such creative potential in photography – especially digital photography. And, in some situations, it is the only thing that makes a dismal photo worth looking at. For me, color and contrast are always attractive. Together, both change mood, season, emotion, focal points.

Today, I went out to the local botanical garden around noon. There was not the least bit of interesting light, only shadows. I wanted to see what a new lens could do, and was too lazy to get out when the light is particularly nice (meaning get dressed and out the door before 7 a.m.!). The intention was to see how well the V1 does creating panoramic pictures on manual focus – important to learn as the camera is highly automated. A couple came out okay, but they were truly boring to the eye. So, color manipulation and such – the art of post processing.

Creativity or lying?

Off the Limb

Sade Reid

The meetup photo shoot went really well. The models were lovely, and the site, even though it was along a busy street, proved to be a perfect backdrop for the models.

The building has tall columns, long windows, and is completely white. It recalls a Southern plantation house on the front – but it is far from that – it’s an office building!

The building and the models’ clothing complemented one another quite nicely. The models were really fun to work with, and most of us got some pretty good pictures I think.

And, both cameras and all the lenses used worked out very nicely. No need to feel anxious. I do, think, it would have been good to bring the 70-300mm lens, for use with the D7000. The V1 handled itself quite well.