Texture and patterns in the bokeh

I am drawn to the abstract pattern that a lens can create when the the whole subject can not be in focus resulting in some areas of the image blurred.
Much can be said about bokeh and it's rather impossible to be fully quantified or describe it but most purist cherish the "smooth" out-of-focus backgrounds.
I, on the contrary, prefer to find lenses that offer "texture" in the blurred areas of my images.


refitted projector lens 35-KP 1,8/120   1/640sec

I do understand that such traits in these lenses are not so well suited for subjects where the attention should remain in the in-focus areas but a lot of my photographs are often of close-up and semi-abstract subjects where a "busy" bokeh might be the crucial component of an image


adapted Pentacon 50mm f1.8  1/1600sec

Initially my visual adventures were concentrated on "bubbles" in the bokeh; now I am pursuing the textured, busy and "weird" bokeh.
Some lenses are specifically sought after for those incredible traits and unfortunately my favorite looks are out of my price range (like the Dallmeyer Super-Six 102mm f1.9 lens)

Slowly I am starting to understand which subjects, what patterns and what light will be a suitable theme for my experiments. Repetition of small objects and lines, combined with the correct subject/background ration and lens will reveal surreal images.
And it's a look that the mighty iPhone has not conquered yet :-)


adapted Kodak Cine 63mm f2.7  1/50sec



refitted Helios-89 30mm f1.9 (from FED Mikron)  1/4000sec



refitted Russian projector lens 35KP-1,8/120  1/800sec


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The judgement

"Yes, but that is Photoshopped..."  with a consternated tone of voice.


refitted projection lens Will-Wetzlar Maginon 85mm f2.8   1/125sec

So, if those images were created in camera, would it have more value?
If one works magic with in-camera settings, plays with lenses that are unusual, uses unconventional angles and cleverly crops an image, is then held in higher esteem?

I have that discussion often when on topic of editing: some are up in arms that images are manipulated but perfectly accept black and white ones :-)
To me however sounds like ignorance and laziness; somebody's defense for unskilled results.

*PS for the record, above image was created in camera....

Beach kangaroos

A storm has been brewing for a few hours and the dark clouds started gathering and moving in.
I headed for the beach trying to capture the dramatic sky when I noticed a few kangaroos grazing on the dunes.
Just as I was photographing the shore a couple of kangaroos hopped right down to the water's edge wanting to dip their toes. A few minutes later a few more came and soon there were twenty or so.
In a rather bizarre moment they all lined up and started to wade, mother with joey in pouch, letting the spilling waves lap up to their bellies


adapted Jupiter-11 135mm f4  1/4000sec

The dark sky served me a surreal scene with the parting clouds and the bright sun complements to the moment. I stood in awe and observed what was going to happen next.
Some hopped around, some just let the waves wash them a bit to then gather again and slowly retreat to the dunes again to forage.


adapted Jupiter-11 135mm f4  1/2500sec

The evening brought some very soft light where I could capture them again in a large grassy field.


adapted Jupiter-11 135mm f4  1/100sec




adapted Jupiter-11 135mm f4  1/500sec

These are wild kangaroos, free to roam without enclosures, as nature intended.
I can not bring myself to enjoy observing wild animals in any other way...

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The afterglow

Sunsets: I have shot at least a couple of thousands. And I never tire of them.
From my very early days doing the mistake to just wait for the sun to come close to the horizon and then point in its direction before it disappears. If I was smart enough, I would have at least a subject in between so I could end up with a silhouette, of dubious quality.
As film could not hold the high contrast too well I then tried to wait for a softer light, post sunset, if my subject was back-lit. Suddenly the colors will start to show up in my slides, way more pronounced that my eyes could see. Little I knew that our eyes adapt to the changing light temperature and what might have looked "normal" with my eyes, film would record as very warm tones as the whole landscape was lit by candlelight.


adapted C-mount Navitar 75mm f1.3 @ f2    1/25sec

With digital photography things change a bit: one can adjust the color setting and the sensor can capture way more details in the shadows than any film ever could. But the soft light remains the same.
I wait, knowing that the real show will happen when people are gone :-)


* and thanks to technology I was able to create this image that otherwise would have been totally blurred in my film days: 1/25sec on a 150mm lens!

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From the beach

The long weekend holiday made most places swarm with people; I needed to escape and have a bit of green time instead of screen time. Luckily my favorite beach was rather quiet.


Helios 44-7 58mm f2   1/640sec



Zuiko OM 200mm f4   1/2500sec

With my friend Melt, I walked the beach at low tide, each of us interested in different beach-combed treasures, laying low on the foreshore exploring and capturing the light.


Zuiko OM 200mm f4   1/1250sec



Zuiko OM 200mm f4   1/100sec

And just like fishermen trying to harvest from the sea we chased the sun, instead of fishing rods we had cameras in our hands.

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The softer light

Living in Queensland I rarely get to experience the softer light that I remember growing up in Europe. The morning mists and the filtered sun through the forest's canopy are experienced but a few times  throughout the year.
When in Europe I admire the lifting fog and the clouds clinging to the hills after the rain.


M.Zuiko 45mm f3.5  1/2000sec

Walking in the forest towards high alpine lakes I was able to capture images that I often try but fail when in Queensland.


M.Zuiko 14-42mm  EZ   f3.5  1/80sec


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Around the stables

My girlfriend is mad about horses, for me is something new. There was a local event that I went to visit on invite from my friends and wondered around the stables not knowing what to look for, photographically.


Nikkor-P 105mm f2.5 RF  1/1600sec

I had to be cautions enough to know when a horse was not happy having my big lens pointed too close to his body.


refitted Sony Precision Projection 60mm f1.5  1/200sec (adapted here)

 I loved the people around the horses: genuine and unpretentious, friendly and approachable. A warm rural atmosphere pervaded the event.


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4   1/500sec 

I was also there walking around with the most ridiculous refitted lens that I have tried to date. It was awkward to handle as it was never intended to be fitted onto a camera but the results I achieved were worthy of the trouble.


refitted Sony Precision Projection 60mm f1.5 (?)  1/1250sec


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Romantic evening walk

At an open space in the city, just before sunset.


adapted Pentax-110 70mm f2.8    1/160sec

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Crossing the bridge

Crossing the bridge that connects the city to the open space.



M.Zuiko 40-150R  f5.6  1/250sec

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Fence post

I live in a city but I long for the country.
It is so difficult to find some open space with tall grass and an old fence.


Cintagon 35mm f4.5  1/500sec


Cintagon 35mm f4.5  1/320sec

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Fluffy and Tiger

Time over I have observed a similarity of appearance between dog and owners.
This scene seems to fit  :-)


Nikkor 105mm f2.5 RF  @f2.5 1/6000sec

Vintage portrait lenses

Only recently I have started to explore portraits.
I am not that great with photographing people close-up as I feel that I am bossing them around when I ask to pose a certain way to get the image I want.
Petra however is happy to accommodate my request while I futz with old vintage manual focus lenses: she understands and enjoys manual lenses herself :-)


Jupiter-9 85mm f2 @f4 1/250sec
I could use an auto-focus lens but I am not too fond of the clinical look I get from them: too sharp and the bokeh is often not as "creamy" as old, simpler optical-design lenses.
It's the quirks and faults of the Russian lenses that I seek in some of my images.
The challenge however is to make them work in demanding light conditions as they tend to flare badly in back-lighting.


Jupiter-8 50mm f2  @f4  1/250sec
I often miss the focus since I like to use them rather wide open and the depth of field on longer lenses is very shallow.
There is no way I can get satisfactory images of fast moving subject but for slower type of photography, I enjoy the feel and look that I get from lenses sometimes older than myself :-)

I wanted to see how 4 different lenses perform in similar lighting, time of the day and conditions.
My favorite look comes from the extremely popular Russian lens (copy of the German CZJ Biotar) : the Helios 44-2. At 58mm f2 it is just the right focal length for portrait. Easy to focus (contrasty enough) and the background blur (bokeh) is very much to my liking.


Helios 44-2  58mm f2  @f2.8  1/20sec
The more compact looking (I have a thing for small camera/lenses) but longer focal length of the Jupiter-9 85mm f2 is a very low contrast lens and not that sharp (at least my copy).
I have to work on my images after I shot them as out of the camera they look very milky.


Jupiter-9 85mm f2  @f4 1/1500sec
In the mix of these old Russian lenses I tried also a very long lens: a Vivitar (made by Komine) 135mm f2.8. It was an impulse by on eBay but a very pleasant surprise.
I find it sharp even wide open and the bokeh is rather pleasant even tho not as creamy.


Vivitar 135mm f2.8   @2.8 1/20sec!
Last but not least I do realize that these lenses are easier to use today than when they were designed for film cameras. The incredible image stabilization on my diminutive Olympus cameras allow me to take images with incredible low shutter speeds. At 270mm (film camera equivalence) I shot the above image at 1/20 sec!    If that was on my Nikon camera many years ago, it would have been a total blur, unrecognizable image :-)

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Park session

Only now that I am rediscovering the joy of manual focus lenses I started to seek locations where action is not the essence to create an image.


Russian lens, Jupiter-9 85mm f2  (@f5.6)  1/180sec

The hidden natural little gems of the numerous parks in my city allow me to explore the creativity and challenges that vintage manual focus lenses offer.
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Top dog

Like in an old-school duel: at dawn, on the edge of the sea cliff they established who is the top dog, err.., top kangaroo.
A few kicks, a couple of punches (really) but no loss of blood, to verify the pecking order.


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9  @f5.6  1/750sec

Scottish thistle

Often despised because of its prickly nature, the Scottish thistle can show its beauty in the right light.


E.Ludwig Meritar 50mm f2.9   @f4 1/4000sec

Water Dragon

He allowed me to get pretty close before puffing up just a bit and then running away.


M.Zuiko 40-150mm R   f6.7 1/350sec

Tropical ice

Like a block of ice melting in the sun, reflecting the late afternoon light.


M.Zuiko 40-150mm   f11  1/750sec


Meyer Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 @f11   f11  1/3000sec

Leaves

It has been years, actually more than a decade, that I took a visit to the botanical gardens, however I clearly remember that photographically I could not "see" the beauty around me then.
This time the shapes and light on the little things caught my eye much easier.

Blood leaf, Iresine species

Helios 44-2 50mm   f2  1/1000sec

Never Never Plant, Ctenanthe species

Zenit Helios 44-2  58mm   f4  1/180sec

Fascination with the web

There are things in nature that are so delicate and incredibly masterly constructed, without any plans.
Perfectly spaced tiny strings of silk at the mercy of the elements, relentlessly reconstructed over and over again as wind and passing animals seem to carelessly ignore.
The art of the spider is grossly unappreciated.


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4  1/750sec


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4  1/3000sec


SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4  1/1500sec

Fatal attraction

Lured by the sweet secretion of the Sundew plant the fly doesn't know it will be its last moments.


Olympus Macro 60mm  f5.6 1/350sec
carnivorous plant  Drosera Pallida