I was thinking about this for the last couple of days…the weather here for the past few days has been cool, but sunny, great weather to walk about in mid-May, especially as the bugs and insects haven’t got going yet. It seemed to me a good time to take my Sony and Helios out for a ramble with the sole intention of spending an hour with them to create some abstract images.
A bit of background first, I’ve had the Helios for almost two years now, it is an M42 screw mount that I mount to my A mount Sony via an adaptor. I believe my copy was made in 1969 and is a copy of Zeiss Biotar. I know it works best on my full frame Sony, the light needs to be right, plenty of sun and specular highlights coming through the foliage of the wood. I’ve used this lens of my crop sensor cameras, however, they use the centre portion of the glass and it’s around the edges where the glass is softer and not as sharp, where the images from a full frame camera take on an extra dimension. The lens is at its most spectacular when shot wide open (F2), it is also hardest to focus when it’s wide open too (not to mention a bit soft!), with the depth of field so shallow, the slightest moment of your subject or yourself and focus is gone! I’ve noticed that I’m not as steady as I used to be and when I’m attempting to focus on fine detail, with an open aperture, I sway a little. The lens itself renders scenes “out-of-focus” pretty well, and this was on my mind that today, with these two old timers, this was going to be an hour looking for abstracts (mostly) with a focus on the out-of-focus, and a bit of light and composition.
The focus throw on the Helios is very long and depending on which way you look at it, is either a good or bad thing. Think about focusing on something quickly? It won’t happen here! This is a lens that requires you to take your time and is best suited, for me, for more abstract photography, though I have used it to good effect for taking peoples portraits, when I’ve been out walking in the woods. I think that there were six factories making this lens, years ago, and some were better than others – as to whether or not I bought a good copy – I do not know, as I have no other to compare it with. However, the copy I have seems to work quite well and the results have mostly been good. You do need to work a little harder with this lens. Though, shooting in favorable conditions with this lens, one can become quite invested with it and time seems to fly by!
My Sony and I have travelled many miles together over the last ten years and it is the camera that I have used the most – by far and has given me sterling service. It is still a joy to shoot with and my main problem now with the camera, apart from its size and weight, is that my arsenal of batteries are really feeling their age and trying to find third party batteries – good ones, is really proving tough! However, using the Sony with my Helios and the Super Takumars I own, really is a good and satisfying shooting experience. The Helios, in the right light, creates better bokeh swirls than the Takumars.
One last thing about the Sony, whilst it’s not a mirrorless body, it’s not quite a DSLR – it is in fact an SLT – the mirror doesn’t flip up, it’s translucent and as such, the viewfinder is electronic and focusing with manual lenses is aided by the fact that it has focus peaking and you can “zoom in” on your subject too. I do this by assigning a button (just at the bottom right of the lens mount) for my left hand and depending on whether I press, once or twice determines the level of zoom. A handy feature to have.
The photos here, in this post today, are an exercise in disciplining oneself in making the most of only using what you have with you – using your experience and skills you have acquired and always looking and trying for a good image. Certainly, if you have looked at any of my work, or read any of my previous posts, you’ll see that there’s nothing new here and certainly nothing amazing...it is as I say, an exercise. I have also said, “practice, practice, practice!”, the importance of this cannot be stressed enough.
Whilst out this morning I shot 146 fames, some of them were very similar, as I tried a slightly different angle or exposure. There have been other days when out with this same combination that I have taken better images, but this is all about the hour I spent this morning with this combination and these are the images you’re seeing here today. Just a few of them.
For the most part today I have not tried for pin sharp images, quite the contrary, I’ve been looking to shoot this lens with my subjects out-of-focus to varying degrees and also making the best use of the lens’s softness wide open. Keep in mind, when you’re shooting, you’ll need to decide just how much out-of-focus you want to have your images to be. Another factor here is that you’re also looking for interesting shapes, patterns, something that doesn’t stand out when in focus can make for a more interesting composition when it’s slightly out-of-focus. Distance between you and your subject as well subject to background and specular highlights will also be crucial. You’re working with a number of factors here and you’ll need to use them together to create images of interest. Take the time to look and observe your surroundings, revisit them (perhaps at different times in the day), it helps if you can visualize your images when your post editing them. I don’t feel that to convey a good image to the viewer it needs to be sharp or even in focus – the images here are mostly abstracts, some are better than others, but I hope they conjure some sense of what the images are and evoke some degree of feeling whilst viewing them.
Lastly, you have gone out to create your images and you’re now back home…this is the part of your creative process where you post-edit your images. Keeping in mind that they are mostly abstract, as in my case, you’ll want to post edit them in a way that befits the images you have shot, in your style and personality. We are all different and see the world through our own eyes…yes, take inspirations from others, it is important to do so. But it is even more important that as you shoot, evolving and growing that you develop your own style and allow your own personality to shine through your photography. Not everyone will appreciate your work, however you have a firm grasp on the creative process and you can always smile as lesser mortals impart their critique. Time to get creative!
A bit of tongue and cheek, but you get the idea! Get creative!!