21mm and Flare

[Wayne R. Scott]

Hey Guys,

I am trying to get used to seeing wide angle type shots, but I am struggling. Here is a shot from Sat. Other than some flare in the upper left hand corner (anybody notice it?) How is this for compostion with a wide angle. Do I need to get right in their faces to make wide angles work?

What do I use for a lens hood? This was shot with a Contax IIA and Zeiss Biogon 21mm f4.5 on Kodak HD 400 film. I kinda think the flare works with this shot, but I know for sure I don't want it in every sun shot.

Wayne

 

[Rich Silfver]

Don't take anything I say too serious. I suck at wider focal lengths. Having said that I don't think the above is a 'good' example of what a wider angle lens allows you to accomplish.
The same shot could more or less had been taken with a standard 50 (yeah, yeah the elongated path - but could have achieved close it by stepping back and going down a bit).

The strength - to me - when it comes to these 'wider-than-50' lenses is when you are either;
a) close to the subject and able to include some environmental elements at the same time, and/or
b) in smaller/confined areas where the wider lenses 'adds' some space and allows you to get more into the frame than you could have with a standard 50.

So...I'd say...get close..or go into some smaller areas 🙂

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

Here is another one with flare. This one was closer, as rsilverberg suggested but probably not close enough. I too, really suck at wide angle shots. I am thinking of selling this lens and buying a nice Bronica 645RF.

Wayne

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

This one was shot with a 24mm.

Wayne

 

[Rich Silfver]

The last one would definetively fall into 'category b' 🙂

Very nice.

 

[Doug]

Wayne, I like wide angles a lot, but seldom go wider than 25-28mm or equivalent. Well, I admit to fondness for my big Pentax's 45mm, which is more or less like 22mm in the itsy-bitsy film format. 🙂 But it too will flare and show reflections of its aperture if I let the sun get into the frame. And the wider you go, the harder it is to get that sun or its reflections outa there!

In your two first shots above, you're backlit with the sun or a good reflection of it in the frame. How about arranging the shots so that isn't the case? Then I think some side-light would add better modeling to the figures as well. On the dock, move 'em around to the left-side railing and get the sun to their right, for instance. Yeah, the background changes, for better or worse. lol.

 

[Doug]

PS: And, Wayne, get in there closer! No, closer yet! Fill the frame; utilize that wide expanse to best advantage...

Here's one of a lady photog snapping a dewy spider web, looking rather like a spider herself... (15mm Super Wide Heliar on a Bessa-L)

 

[Huck Finn]

This post has been a delight to read & is a good example of why this forum is the best! On some other forums, people humiliate & beat up on a poster who makes himself vulnerable to criticism by asking for feedback.

Wayne, thanks for taking the risk. Doug & RS, thanks for your helpful comments. We all learn from conversations like this!

 

[rover]

I agree with everything that Richard said. Close, closer and closest works. I recently picked up a copy of the National Geographic book, Through the Lens. It is a collection of photographs which were published in their magazine through the years. What strikes me is how many images were made with wide angle lenses, close up.

I find that it is easier for me to see my own shots by looking at images others have made. In sports they say you have to visualize what you need to do. I photography I look at an image and see myself in a similar shooting situation and then try to figure out how the image was made. It has helped me later to have a better idea of how to make a picture I am seeing.