Wide Tree

[HulaMike]

Taken with a Nikon 12-24 DX. It is at 12mm on the S2.

The angle is deceptive. I'm looking almost straight down from my second storie lanai onto a tree that is leaning away from me. The "leaf" looking element center left is actually a large piece of bark and a full 10 feet beyond the limb.

Pretty nice lens!

Shot B&W>Std>Std in camera. Iso 100 / f6.7 / 1/180. This is virgin territory for me. I have never shot with in-camera tone or sharpebning turned on. Good glass is changing some of my pervious misconceptions about the S2!

Comments / Criticism Always Appreciated!

[HulaMike]

50 views and not one comment? Come on people. I can catch as well as pitch. ;)

[VA_Shooter]

Well, OK. It's an odd sort of shot. Not great art. But it does demonstrate the capabilities of the 12-24DX lens very well. Shadow detail is excellent, DOF is good throughout the image and the detail in the various textures is very good. The lens maintains the perspective you describe from your shooting position well, no distortion. I think this lens would work very well in a wide variety of applications.

[Dieselfuel]

Mike,

I like the photos you've been taking with this lens.

I'm thinking of getting one to shoot weddings in the "photojournalist" style.

You know, B&W, grain, something with some feeling.

It's the only way I can do weddings. Gotta make it interesting!

Thanks for posting those photos.

Keep 'em coming.

[HulaMike]

Thanks Connie. It IS an odd shot. In fact, it was a random pot shot right after I opened the lens. Wasn't going for "art" but I did like several things happening after I opened it up, the tonal range being one of them. Personally, I wouldn't have minded a little perspective abnormality as that's one of the things I enjoy about shooting wide the most.

[HulaMike]

Thanks DF. I gotta get out and do some real shooting soon. I've been required to stay close to the home fires the past two weeks for various reasons. All I can say about this lens right now is that its a winner! Very sharp and contrasty with excellent resolution edge to egde even at 12mm.

[big_ben_blue]

50 views and not one comment? Come on people. I can catch as well as pitch. ;)

Alright then, you asked for it, but don't be mad with me, if I tell you, that the pic isn't really doing much for me :( . I have trouble identifying THE subject: is it the tree, the trunk, the "environment" at whole, the shapes and lines,...; I simply can't get a grip on the subject matter. My eyes wander around, but don't stop at anything.
I do enjoy most of your work (that other tree shot in the colour section is simply stunning with an amazing crop), but this one looks uninspired to me and is not up to your usual high standard.
Nevertheless, the shot serves as a good example on the quality of the12-24mm (WANT ONE SOOOOO BADLY).

Cheers,
Chris

now you can offically blame me for ruining an otherwise perfect evening in paradise, aka Hawaii :rolleyes:

[HulaMike]

Your kidding, right? I like nothing more than thoughtful conversation over a pic; mine or yours. Its all good!

The perspective is weird and there is no normal reference for you unless you were on my porch. You talk good haolie! But.....if you forget subject matter for a moment, there is something neat going on with the lighting and tone. Often that's enough for me. Maybe not this time though.

[big_ben_blue]

Guess we reached a peace agreement then :D

BTW: What's a "haolie"? Never heard this word before.


Cheers,
Chris

[HulaMike]

I might have it misspelled actually. "How-Lee" is how it's pronounced, a white guy in Hawaii, an outsider. Caucasins are a minority here, at least on Oahu.

[Igor]

Sorry Mike, not among your best shots. Can't feel/see anything special.

[Serge]

It's a bit top heavy Mike, could improve with a crop, but
I love the texture and rich tonality, lens looks like a winner.

[crabby]

Not the best shot for a lens test and not the best shot for fine art and not the best shot for B&W, but it's kinda in between. I can tell that it has good contrast and edge to edge sharpness and minimal distortion for a lens this wide. I like the shot but a little more distortion would add interest as would more area of deep shadow. Too much gray area. It just needs to be a little more extreme overall. I like the balance of the framing and composition. Viewing it at this size doesn't do it justice. A very large print where the very fine detail would actually be the point of interest is what a shot like this is made for.

[JPS]

Sorry... but you've asked for it ! As you said, one should know "personnally" your house to get -or try to- what you were "seiing" THEN !!!
Else, as a photo, not much to pull the eye, a bit "messy... BUT at least it shows that this lens is plenty sharp, and gives "an idea" of what could be done in B&W with it !!!
Shoot more pics with it, Mike ! just the idea of taking B&W "in-camera" with the 12-24 looks VERY PROMISING !!!
:cheers:

[HulaMike]

Igor, Serge, Mike, JP;

I agree with all of your comments really. I modified my text after I first posted and I think that caused some confusion. Originally I stated this was a test shot, wasn't trying to make a nice photograph. But that doesn't matter really, I posted it afterall. (wink)

I agree a crop is in order Serge but wanted to show the full 12mm shot.

Mike, have to disagree with you some as I think there's a nice range of tonality in the shot. Perhaps its a monitor thing. I haven't tried to print this one, never will. Its a test.

JP, I ALWAYS appreciate feedback! No one has to ever fear critiquing one of my pics, I'm not that good or thin skinned. Everyone has a right to an opinion and I want yours.

Igor, That's a fair statement and one that means a lot to me. As you know, I'm all about "feeling" and mood in photography. If it ain't there for you, it ain't there Brudda.

[Igor]

Mike, I expect more shots from you taken with this lens. I don't have it and I'd like to see what it is capable of in the hands of expert.

[HulaMike]

You mean there's a Nikkor lens you don't own? Unbelievable! :lol:

Thanks for the comments.

[Igor]

Teasing... :) I have the 14mm Tamron which is still better than your 12-24 :D

[HulaMike]

A ha! A challenge. You pick a subject we can both shoot, color or B&W, and let's have a friendly comparison. As you really can't go wide :lol: lets start at 14mm.

PS: Your fisheye doesn't count.....

[Igor]

That's gonna be fun. Accepted.
Now to subject choice... Ukraine and Hawaii.. hmm.. any suggestions???

[VA_Shooter]

Well, to make this fair, you two really ought to meet in the middle somewhere. And who, exactly, is gonna judge these pictures? I vote for a panel of three--Serge, JPS and LindaG--that kinda covers the globe.

[robinp]

That's gonna be fun. Accepted.
Now to subject choice... Ukraine and Hawaii.. hmm.. any suggestions???
Following on from your other post today Igor, how about you both photograph a church - assume you have some Christians in Hawaii Mike?

Cheers, Robin

[HulaMike]

Well, to make this fair, you two really ought to meet in the middle somewhere. And who, exactly, is gonna judge these pictures? I vote for a panel of three--Serge, JPS and LindaG--that kinda covers the globe.

Hmmm. Interesting idea. How about we meet Chaser and stay on his boat in Greece.

[HulaMike]

Following on from your other post today Igor, how about you both photograph a church - assume you have some Christians in Hawaii Mike?

Cheers, Robin

Grin. We have a few. Some beautiful churches here too. Nothing as contemporary as the one Igor showed though.

Maybe add that it be CFWA as one of the beauties of a wide angle lens is its capability to focus from inches to infinity.

[chaser of light]

Oops I nearly missed this thread !

My critique is as follows:
I know that you of all people know exactly what is right or wrong with this shot!
But I find one thing about it truely fascinating, Its a new angle for the subject, I have seen thousands of pics of trees shot from the ground, but nearly never from this angle.....that makes it a very worthwhile effort in my book!
Now stick your head out and exploit it and Im certain you will come up with a winner.
As for the glass....nothing comes close to the one we are issued at birth :cheers:

[HulaMike]

I was hoping somebody would see it the way I did Max. I can always depend on you. The more I look at it, especially the full sized file, the more I like it. I was concerned that I was reading familiarity into the comp that others couldn't see, but in the final analysis that doesn't matter. It works on its own as a B&W photograph.

I've got to stop being so self deprecating when I post shots. Even though I said, "only a test! only a test!", I kept wondering why no one saw it the way I did. Glad you noticed.

[Linda G]

Wow! what you miss when you leave for a day or two!


My take? What did it look like in color? Any more information? It reminds me of an old black and white movie and makes me want to see if I can reach out my window to reach out and climb down it as I escape from whatever.

Okay, someone here accused me once of having too vivid an imagination but I refuse to quit.

How do you justify having such a wide angle lens and not using it close to home? I mean, everything there should look different through that lens! Show me the rug in the hallway. What a new view! Get low, look under the kitchen table. Move around with it, see if you see things differently? MORE!

[HulaMike]

Your wish is my command......wide angle has always been my most favored form of photography Linda. I held off on going DSLR for a long time waiting for affordable full frame which never came. You know the rest. The mighty S2 rocked my world and i adjusted to 32.5 degrees on my 20mm. This new lens has reawakened my long term relationship with wide.

Oh yea, it was nice in color too.

[Linda G]

Mike, I, too go for the wide angle.

I was always looking for longer lenses because it was far away from what I could get with my little instamatic! Ah, but I discovered wide angle when my daughter worked for the college newspaper and brought the D1x home with a 17 - 35 and we put it on one of Mel's Nikons (I was full Canon then) and took a walk. WOO HOO!

I ended up with a Sigma 17-35 for my canons and then...in 6 month's time, went digital. the 17 made it the same as I had before with film and I am still waiting for a wide angle for my digital. *sigh* The widest we have is 20mm which isn't nuthin'. ah, but my day will come! And meanwhile, share the commonplace from a new vantagepoint. Thanks!

[sandman]

Wides have always been my favorite lense , and i'm thinking seriously of getting this lense , this shot has sort of made my mind up .
I had a 18mm on my F5 and really miss the dimension it used to give me ,, but untill now my sigma 17-35 was the widest i had . but i will get this one soon .

Brian

[HulaMike]

Brian,

The best deal I found for the Nikon USA lens was Cameta Camera off ebay. They have (are you ready for this?) 50,000 positive feedbacks. I'm very proud of my 45. I got the USA version for $999, $30 less than any other source I found; enough to offset shipping. They couldn't have been better in the transaction. Even placed a bag of candy in the shipment. great followup emails, etc.

I'm sure that price would be good in the uk translated to Euros. 800.991-3350 or 631.691-1019. Their URL is www.cameta.com

[crabby]

Ok Mike let me clarify my opinion. I didn't say it was lacking in tonality. It does have a good range although I'm not sure if the deepest shadow are as black as can be and whitest whites are pure.

Well I'll shut up now. It is a monitor thing. The simplest solution is usually the best solution. I decided to look at your image in photoshop to check the levels, and they do cover almost the entire scale. So I adjusted the gamma to windows 2.2 and suddenly it has a lot more "pop".

I still like the image and I still think it would look best on a large scale.


PS-This lens is high on my must have list.

[HulaMike]

Thanks Mike. I am on a PC and so there was a difference in view I suppose.

I'm still a base rookie with respect to digital B&W and am experimenting right now. I find that I like editing in LAB for B&W, at least levels and curves and your good tutorial on how to get a decent B&W print from my Epson was invaluable info. Thanks again.

[crabby]

Try Russell Brown's tip on "Seeing in Black & White" on his tips page. It's one of my new favorite ways out of a dozen to convert to B&W.
http://www.russellbrown.com/body.html

[HulaMike]

another winner! Thanks Mike