Oktoberfest '08 - Uncle Frank - 35/2 & 85/1.4

Please excuse my tardiness. I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short :Curved:.

I'm looking forward to playing in this sandbox. I'll try to submit pictures 3-4 times a week, and though I'll be committed, due to school and business, I can't guarantee I'll be very pure :redface:. But when I'm pure, I'll stick to the 35/2 and 85/1.4.

Using this pair of primes will be no hardship. They're the ones I reach for when I have an important portrait session. I love the way the draw me into the picture, forcing me to find perspectives by zooming with my feet. Even though both lenses are fast glass, I'll probably use them with off-camera flash, which is another of my passions.

Note that none of my shots will be straight from the camera. I'm shooting in RAW these days, and using the tandem of Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS2 to finish my snapshots.

Now I'm off to find a victim :biggrin:.

 

October 2

Thanks for the nice welcome, folks! Jani, I'll definitely do some portraits, but not exclusively.

My first submission features the 35/2 at product photography. I chose a bottle because glass photography is a challenge, and working with spirits is fun. You just have to guard against getting tipsy.

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Next time I'll try to do something with the Cream Machine.

 

I've tried them all, Rich, and Jameson is my drink of preference. I like their bottle, too  .

 

October 3

Two primes and a flash make a nice lightweight kit, so it's no problem dragging it everywhere I go. That way I can react to opportunity rather than planning for material for the Oktoberfest, which is just what happened at the gym! As I was going in the front door, a couple of friends were headed out, so I imposed on them to let me grab a quick snap or two. Mark wasn't convinced it was a good idea...

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but he couldn't resist Sylvia's smile. We'll make this my entry.

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In case you couldn't tell, I was using the 85/1.4, and it lived up to its nickname of Cream Machine by blurring the busy background nicely. That's what makes it so good for location portraiture.

As long as I had the rig set up, I couldn't resist taking a few shots of Al and Gail. FYI, the aperture was set at f/2 for all 3 images.

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Thanks, Rich. I'd like the b&w better if Mark wasn't scowling at me  .

That's 2 for 2.

Thanks, Lisa. I'm guessing you're talking about the bottle.

I'll buy you lunch, and tell you everything I know, but I'm still a student myself.

Very kind of you, Harry. I'll gift them prints if they like the pictures, but the ladies weren't too happy about posing without makeup.

It was overcast, Randy, which is great for portraits. The sky was like a giant softbox!