Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Every now and then, I'll put an ultra wide angle lens on my camera, and walk around town, just to look at things a different way. I like the challenge of using the ultra wide angle lens to take shots that don't necessarily scream "ultra wide in use!" You know what I'm talking about -- the seriously misshapen things that can appear near the edges of a wide angle shot. You can't avoid these things, but I try to frame the shot so that the misshapen item does not accidentally become the only thing the viewer sees.

This particular lens is a Rokinon 14mm, f/2.8 lens on a full frame camera. Nice lens, surprisingly inexpensive. Not known to be particularly robust, but I'm generally very kind to my equipment. The lens is manual focus, only, although this one has the AE chip in it, so it is not completely manual.

I took a couple of shots of this scene, one in landscape orientation, and this one, in portrait orientation. The landscape orientation shot was okay, but not really memorable. The portrait orientation, however, struck me, immediately. I was drawn to it, but really didn't know why. I finally figured out that it was probably all the leading lines that pointed up the path to the stairs. The log on the ground, to the left of the path parallels the path, pointing to the stairs. My sister even noticed that the wispy clouds even seem to point to the stairs. The leading line that captured my attention, though, was the huge limb, on the tree. It is like a giant, crooked, wraith's finger, pointing to the path/stairs, commanding me to go there.

I think, in this case, the fact that the lens used was an ultra wide enhances the effect of the leading lines because, on the edges everything is overly large, and they get smaller, toward the center.

Anyway, I like this one because it is unusual, for me.

(Download)

deer2ker Loc: Nashville, TN

I think it is really really nicely composed and interesting. I love playing with the wide angle lens this way.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Depth and distance are nicely accentuated. It would probably be even better if the path in the distance was a bit less shadowed, and the sky directly above the path looks a bit too darkened.

The EXIF data has the hyperfocal distance at 0.82 meters. And that's at f/8. I think we can assume that everything in view will have "perceived sharpness".

Joe Blow

Very nice. I think opening it up a half stop or so might add more depth and detail.

Enjoy your lens. This is a great shot.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The light and colors are very pleasing. I agree with your attraction to the tree limb - very engaging. My only reservation is the foreground log is so massive (and shadowed), it kind of restricts me from easily entering the scene. However, once I get past the roadblock, all is smooth sailing

I loved my featherweight, plastic Canon ultra-wide angle lens (for my APS-C T3i).

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Thanks for all your comments.

The foreground log is pretty massive, and I guess it does block the entrance, but I thought that it gave some extra character and mystery to the scene. Now that I think about it, perhaps one of the reasons I like the photo is that it shows some conflict. All the objects forming the leading lines are telling me to go that way, yet there is something -- the foreground log -- trying to get me to stay away. Temptation? Conscience? Of course, this interpretation is completely after the fact. None of that occurred to me while I was taking the shot.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

I’m viewing this on my ipad so didn’t really notice the steps in the distant pathway until I downloaded and enlarged. Everything is sharp and in focus and I really want to climb those stairs and see where the pathway leads. The processing is very nice as well. Overall I like it very much.

Walt

ediesaul

[quote=Anvil]

I think it's interesting that you chose a wide angle lens and then decided to make a vertical image. You didn't turn the camera to a vertical position, did you?

If the lens had not been wide angle, what would the image have looked like, I wonder.

In any case, I do like the log in the front because, for me, it's the most interesting part of the photo and I like the light.

I can't see the stairs unless I enlarge the photo. If you play with the darks and lights in pp, I think you can fix that.

My only qualm, and this goes not only for this image but for all images with leading lines, is what does the leading line lead to?

Sometimes leading lines lead to spaciousness, but that's not the case here.

If the leading line is leading to the top of the stairs and the two trees there, then I would make those trees a bit more interesting.

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

Thanks for your comments.

I did turn the camera into a vertical position. The photo is not cropped.

I've taken shots of this scene, before, in other times of the year. If the winter is a wet one -- this winter has not been very wet -- the foliage can go wild, and the shot can almost get spooky, if the light is right. The area is rather small, so if I'm not using a wide angle lens, I can't move back far enough to get everything I want into the frame.