Thursday, June 10, 2010

Nikon 85mm f/1.4 D AF

We spent some time in our local mountains, Big Bear & Lake Arrowhead, so I decided to put my 85 1.4 on my camera since I have not used it in a few weeks.  The first image is a picture of my beautiful wife.  I shot this with the aperture set to f/9.  You can see that the hotel in the background is distracting.



The second image was shot from the exact same spot only the aperture changed from f/9 to f/1.4.  

      
                                                  
I love the Bokeh (out of focus background) that this 85 1.4 produces. Even the tree branches that are only about two feet behind her are totally out of focus and no longer a distraction.  I have used this lens with great success for all types of portraits, from senior portraits to fancy wedding shots.  It always delivers with that special "Bokeh" quality!  Both images were taken with the 85 1.4 on my full frame Nikon D3.  This lens also works great on DX format cameras like the D300 my wife is holding in the picture.   The DX crop factor of 1.5 changes the 85mm to a 128mm 1.4 lens.  Perfect for head shots!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Going Wide, Real Wide!

Here are two photos taken on Sunday with the Nikon 16-35mm.  Both of these pictures were shot with the lens set at 16mm.  I like the top picture better.  This picture is a good example of getting an almost 3D affect.  You just can't do that a regular lens.



Both of these pictures appear as taken.  No lens distortion correction has been applied!  This lens, as almost all ultra ultra wide lenses, does have visible distortion at the far corners at its widest setting.  As long as you keep the important stuff from getting too close to the ends of the frame you'll be OK.  But in the end it's the subject matter of your photo that counts.  If you like volley ball or pretty girls, you'll most likely find the photo at the top more interesting.  Right?!