Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 02:51 +0000 11/02/99, John S Doherty wrote: > Could someone give me some pointers on using a perspective control > lens ? I want to do a project this Spring of shooting old New > England churches. Many of these buildings are now in fairly > densely developed areas and it's often not possible to find a > vantage point which avoids converging verticals. If you're rich and enjoy equipment that someday would be worthwhile to museums, there's the beautiful Hasselblad ArcBody with either a 35mm or 45mm piece of German optics... A 4" x 5": whew ! Altogether different, but probably a very intelligent move if you have further uses for it, if you don't become cross-eyed in the process. In 35mm format, a very wide lens could be an alternate, and a PC variant, the 28mm PC-Super-Angulon for instance, CAN do the trick. As far as light is concerned, you are 100% right: extreme lighting, with possible fill in flash to liven dead shadows, preferably in the first and last hours of the day, to enhance the clapboard as much as possible, at the time of year when the sun is at the proper angle for the proposed shot. Use slow speed film for maximum impact, AND a tripod. Perhaps should you consider RENTING if this happens to be a one time event or marginal pursuit relative to your usual photo interests. This is also an application where special effects filters can be most welcome. Try no to forget "human interest" elements in your shots, the shortcoming of most such architectural work. And, many seem to neglect their foreground / middleground / background rules and to properly "populate" their images. Think SPACE ! One alternate would be to use extreme wide angle and make creative use of abusive converging lines against a dramatic sky, say pola in Agfa Ultra 50 or 25 red in Ilford Delta 100 or Agfa APX-25 B&W... if you can manage to get the camera to the right vantage point. Beware of lens flare if your lighting scheme is 3/4 or backlit. If there is a lot of greenery, the filtering will have to be more strategic, unless you take-off on infra-red, an altogether different approach. Enjoy ! Andre Jean Quintal