One of you asked for examples of my first foray into night photography. This one was taken with the 35 Cron (sorry, not a Lux photo) @ max aperture, slow shutter speed, handheld. The slide may or may not be in perfect focus (software bugs/ Nikon). I will re-post this image if that is the case.

It may not be D.A.H. league but it sure was fun!!!!

-- John Chan (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), December 25, 2001

Answers

I assume it's the ASPH version.

-- Bud (budcook@attglobal.net), December 25, 2001.

What film?

-- Fergus Hammond (fhammond@adobe.com), December 25, 2001.

Answers:

1) No, not the ASPH version. It was the 4th gen wide open.

2) Film was Kodak Elitechrome 400. Made the mistake of developing it 1 hour @ an older lab with E6 facilities. Skanky, skanky machines!

-- John Chan (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), December 25, 2001.

Under mixed lighting like this, I wouldn't worry too much about the developing being perfect. Of course, machines/operators that scratch your film are evil.

I like the arches. Guy in the foreground looks like he's freezing; he needs to get moving. . .

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), December 25, 2001.

Actually Mike, this was a "fluke shot". A person adjacent to me was using a cheap disposable camera and his flash happened to go off the moment I took the image. That's why the foreground guy is "adequately" exposed.

I guess you could say I was "stealing a little bit of his fire".

-- John Chan (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), December 25, 2001.

Nice work, John! It's hard to see how the Asph would improve this picture. Or, for that matter, the Lux or Noct. Why not get all these lenses together and give us a comparison!

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 25, 2001.

Frank,

I'm getting the 35 Lux soon so I can't wait to try it out. Regrettably, I will be giving up the Cron and the 24 mm Elmarit in the process (just don't use that focal length very well, and I'm not motivated enough to give it time... especially when the 35 returns me consistent keepers). The Noctilux...

Ahhh, I'll have to talk to Pam (my banker) about increasing my overdraft limit... ;-)

-- John. (ouroboros_2001@yahoo.com), December 26, 2001.

John:

I really like this shot, and in fact think it is one of the best you have posted recently! As far as how it could be improved upon, I can think of two ideas to experiment with next time: It looks like you focused on about where the skaters are... I like to have some main subject in focus when using lenses wide open, so I would have probably tried to focus on the guy in the foeground a bit more carefully -- or panned with the skaters during the long exposure, blurring the background.

I agree that it is tough to imagine this image significantly enhanced by the 35asph 'Lux, other than you'd have had one additional stop to work with. The Noct would have been too tight, however the 24 might have worked... And FWIW, I would advise against selling the 24 unless absolutely necessary. It is a great tool once you learn to use it; get in a bit closer and the guy in the foreground above doesn't even know he's in the shot!

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 26, 2001.

John

I like this photo. It has several things going for it: the lit buildings are a nice backdrop and the arches frame the skaters well. In addition, the blurring of the two figures in the foreground (due to a long shutter speed relative to the speed of the skaters) creates the feeling of movement.

As to how it could be improved, I think the amount of blur is a little too much for my taste, you only need to "suggest" movement. The main thing is that the seated man on the lower right is very distracting and detracts from the photo. Better framing could improve the shot.

Anyway, good job. It appears you're getting better at this.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), December 26, 2001.