Crystal on the tracks

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STM

Senior Member
Taken several years ago but this is the first time I tried a grayscale conversion with it, D700, 300mm f/2.8 ED-IF AIS Nikkor

CLM_0160-1200_zpsfab1056c.jpg
 
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STM

Senior Member
Rick M said:
Wow! Great Shot! I never seem to find anything like this when I go to the tracks!
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Thanks! I love photography on RR tracks but from my experience, very shallow depth of field is best. If the tracks are too sharp, especially in the background, it becomes distracting. I always use a long lens, at least 180mm, but often 300mm, both f/2.8 and close down 1 stop to f/4. The depth of field of the 300mm at f/4 is very narrow, so critical focusing is a must. All of my lenses are AIS so I focus manually. I have swapped out the focusing screens on both my F4S and D700 to microprism/split image ones. From my experience, focusing screens designed for use with autofocus cameras are generally unsuitable for critical manual focusing. Here is another image on the tracks showing how shallow the depth of field can be (just a couple of feet) but also how well it separates the model from the background without losing a sense of place:

Navannah_zps87ae953f.jpg
 
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S

STM

Senior Member
That is what the EXIF says. I can never remember that kind of stuff. I am getting older and my hard drive is getting so full so I have to delete stuff like that from time to time! :rolleyes:
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I'm reminded of a page that hosts "Bad Band Photos" where the large majority of them are taken against brick walls or along train tracks. It may not work for bands, but it certainly works for models. Depth of field is key, as you said. Alas, like Rick, I never seem to find anything like this when I get there.
 
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Dave_W

The Dude
Nice images! I like the shallow depth of field on shots like this, too. Have you ever tried using the Brenizer method?

And to all the rest of you - that young lady is going to be somebody's grandmother some day to be careful what you think... ;)
 
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Rick M

Senior Member
Dave_W said:
Nice images! I like the shallow depth of field on shots like this, too. Have you ever tried using the Brenizer method?

And to all the rest of you - that young lady is going to be somebody's grandmother some day to be careful what you think... ;)
Click to expand...

Lol, I'll be dead by then, but I ain't now!
 
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STM

Senior Member
Rick M said:
I'm also curious as to your shooting height, it appears you are shooting slightly up at the model?
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For the most part I use a tripod, or at least a monopod, and shoot around eye level. The fact that I crop to place the model on a third and don't use a lot of foreground can look that way.
 
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STM

Senior Member
Dave_W said:
Nice images! I like the shallow depth of field on shots like this, too. Have you ever tried using the Brenizer method?

And to all the rest of you - that young lady is going to be somebody's grandmother some day to be careful what you think... ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, what he said! She is 30 now (was 27 at the time of the shoot) and has two very cute boys. Here is another shot from the same day. This was shot with the 180mm f/2.8 at f/4. I think this is my favorite portrait image of all time:

CrystalBeach_zps183c159a.jpg
 
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Rick M

Senior Member
Thanks, The crop creates that illusion, which is nice. I figured you would need to shoot perpendicular to maintain the DoF plane.

Ok, enough technical stuff, back to drooling :)
 
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