Just another day at the beach with a beautiful lady...........

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STM

Senior Member
Ok, this is not exactly current, but I have not had much time to go out shooting and it is even a little too cold here right now for beach stuff.

When it comes to the perfect lens for outdoor portraiture, I honesly can't think of a better one than the 180mm f/2.8 ED AIS Nikkor. Razor sharp just one stop down and the bokeh is as smooth as the focusing ring.

And regardless of what Paul Simon says, everything looks BETTER in Black and White! :D

CLM_0145BampW1000_zpscfeaa081.jpg
 
S

STM

Senior Member
Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:
Come warm weather I will be down to visit you.
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All of a sudden they are coming out of the wood work. I just got an email from someone who wants to shoot this friday. It will turn out to be an all day long thing. And tomorrow I am meeting with the model on this back to the 60's project. I am meeting with the new one right after I meet with the one for the project. And sometime tomorrow morning I need to go out and shoot some TX @400 and see if the undiluted D-76 and 75 degrees is going to give me the grain I want for this project. When it rains, it pours. I am going to be up to my neck in beautiful women, but I will somehow manage to find a way to muddle my way through it
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
For what it's worth from a beginner, this photo is amazing. I like all of your photos but this one is fantastic. I am a sucker for black and white.
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
Wasn't referring to the model, but the pic in B&W and as whole shot, good comp,lighting. I was wondering after posting that if I was going to be called a perv, but seriously, I hope to get shots like this one day. Ha, perv, LOL
 
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STM

Senior Member
Krs_2007 said:
Wasn't referring to the model, but the pic in B&W and as whole shot, good comp,lighting. I was wondering after posting that if I was going to be called a perv, but seriously, I hope to get shots like this one day. Ha, perv, LOL
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The lighting on this one was pretty simple actually. I did not use fill flash, instead I just used a spot meter and metered off several places on her body; face, tummy and back and then took the best compromise while still keeping good light on her face. You can use the Zone System in digital in a limited capacity, just like in color film because you cannot push or pull color film like you can black and white, but when using digital, you have to know how close the ISO on your camera equates to the ASA on the meter. My D700 requires .4 EV less exposure than the corresponding ASA. And of course what you cannot fix in the camera you can always work with it in post processing. But even working in 16 bit, digital sensors are incapable of being able to handle as many Zones as black and white film.

And the "perv" was all in good fun!
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
No worries on the comment, I am sure I deserved at some point in my life.

Lighting is something I really need to get a grasp on. By the way I am really a fan of B&W, Ansel Adams fan. Just haven't gotten the post processing down to make them look that good yet, using Aperture but thinking about changing. Was this shot in color and then converted in CS5
 
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STM

Senior Member
Krs_2007 said:
No worries on the comment, I am sure I deserved at some point in my life.

Lighting is something I really need to get a grasp on. By the way I am really a fan of B&W, Ansel Adams fan. Just haven't gotten the post processing down to make them look that good yet, using Aperture but thinking about changing. Was this shot in color and then converted in CS5
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I always shoot in color and RAW and convert it. Digital does an acceptable job with grayscale, but in my opinion, just barely. It has come a long way but is still light years away from competing with a properly exposed B&W negative printed on Oriental Seagull premium paper. I spent a lot of time, and trial and error, learning everything I could about the Zone System. Ansel devised it with large format in mind, where each negative could be developed separtely depending on the exposure adjustments, but I could still use it for roll film. In 35mm, I carried 3 bodies with me, each designated N+0, N-1 or N+1. Each film would be processed separately, With the Hasselblad, it is a lot easier, because you just designate a separate back the same way. If you are interested, check out the three books he wrote on the Zone System; The Camera, The Negative and The Print. Amazing amounts of information and lots of his gorgeous images as well. You might be able to find them in a library. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find them on the web and download them. I don't know if they are still in print, I kind of doubt it. My copies are almost 30 years old.
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
Great, thanks. I will look for the books and anything on the Zone System.

One more question, racking my brain on ASA, what is that ?

I don't have a light meter but plan to get one in the future
 
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STM

Senior Member
Krs_2007 said:
Great, thanks. I will look for the books and anything on the Zone System.

One more question, racking my brain on ASA, what is that ?

I don't have a light meter but plan to get one in the future
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ASA - American Standards Association. It was used with film to denote film speed. DIN was basically the same thing, but was used in countries who were metric and had a different numbering system). It eventually was replaced with ISO, or International Standards Organization. ASA 100 was just called ISO 100. But digital sensors work completely differently than film. You can vary the sensitivity of a digital sensor quite a bit, actually you just change the amplification of the signal whereas with film you were pretty much stuck with a single speed within a pretty narrow . You could "push" (expose it as though it had a higher ASA and extend development) or "pull" (expose it as though it had a lower ASA and reduce the development). The Zone System uses push and pull development based on where you place your exposure values. The old addage is you expose for the lows (lower EV's) and develop for the highs (higher EV's)

There is another book you can find on the Zone System which is less theoretical and more practical. I have it too and use it as a quick reference when I need it. It is called the Practical Zone System, written by Chris Johnson. It is an excellent book in paperback and about half the thickness of just one of Ansel's books.
 
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Krs_2007

Senior Member
Talk about feeling stupid, I wasnt thinking that ASA, tried to go more technical, oh well. I did find the book, plan to order today.

I havent thought about push/pull in years, nor ASA since going to digital point-click years ago.

Thanks again for the info
 
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