vincentoiseau

Hi Pierre,

 

thank you for your nice comment and appreciation! Kind regards, Vincent

Hi G & V,

 

amazing colors and composition! I like the butterfly in the center of the image, although it is supposed to be 'against the rules'. Into my favorites! Kind regards, Vincent

Hi G & V,

 

an intriguing abstract that started as a spin-off (pun in my language, spin=spider) from the view of the whole web. It would do well hanging on a wall. I like the patches of green coming through. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Franz,

 

this one has more space and a wonderful asymmetrical balance, I like it. Have you tried putting the treetrunk in other compositions? Colors are great indeed. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Bill,

 

thank you for your writing this friendly comment, well appreciated! Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Giangiorgio,

 

thank you for your valuable comments and your support! You know by now I can't resist grazing light on old French walls. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Wayne,

 

an appealing composition leading the viewer's eye straight to the young women, who, while looking at the exhibit, seem to check the outfits they're wearing too. That sums up an important aspect of fashion: it's (among other things) a way to measure up your own looks against the fashion. I like the coarse strokes on the planes and the very bright spot forming the background behind the women. The fact that there is an 'anthology of fashion' exhibition seems to establish both a past and a present, reflecting whatever period the fashion's from. Well done! Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Franz,

 

the mix of natural elements (plants and branches) works very well. The geometrical shapes and their colors are beautifully 'psychedelic' (as we used to call it). A pleasing composition too, well done! Kind regards, Vincent

P.S. Will light festivals still be organised with prices of energy going through the roof? Of course they will, it's paid for with public money.

Hi Franz,

 

thank you for your friendly comments and for favoriting this photo! The place and the light made this easy. Kind regards, Vincent

I think I have written about Castellane in my comments more than once, but for those interested in this southern French town: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellane . I love the late afternoon / early evening light in these parts. Your comments are very welcome.

Hi Evgeny,

 

this 'hidden spot' must be hard to reach; with easy access, everybody would take photos there. There is nothing that I don't like about this image. The clean white and blue of the landscape is enchanting, the perspective appealing with the two natural lakes on different heights. I like the fact that the human figure you have placed in the photo for measure is not very noticeable. It's a matter of taste , but I would crop a part from the sky, maybe a square crop would work well here. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi G & V,

 

a very effective way to show a wonder of nature; between plants, almost hidden in the green this intricate natural edifice displays its splendor for a short period of time and for an obvious reason. Well done 'against the light'! Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Franz,

 

a simple, straightforward composition with a touch of color to create extra interest against the moderate tones of the background, well presented! Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Giangiorgio,

 

thank you for your -as always- relevant comments and your support, which is greatly appreciated! I really worry about the future of our beautiful Europe .PN is not the community it could be; 'banal photos' as you call them, get lots of attention while serious photos by people who put thought and effort into creating them, are largely neglected. I guess that's a side effect of the Instagram way of looking at photos. Instant gratification, no time to waste on comments (what would these people write about anyway?). By the way, what you see on the image is the surface of a weathered leather fauteuil. Don't worry about 'missing out' on my Greg Adams photos. I know you well enough by now to have seen that you're an 'old school' photographer (I mean that as a compliment) genuinely interested in exchanging comments and suggestions. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Charles,

 

you've captured great light on this lizard! The photo clearly shows the different colors and the animal goes very well with the surface of the tree. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Franz,

 

a nice still life in a place full of memories and sorrow where (hardly) anybody looks . Love the colors and the OoF fore- and background. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Rich,

 

a beautiful work of art! The fading lily against the white background works very well. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Giangiorgio,

 

a family scene that looks nice enough when you've never experienced the voracity of these young birds yourself. Often the young almost physically attack the parent for food in a very aggressive way. The composition and the light are beautiful, even if the bright whites are on the edge of overexposure; I also like the background. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi Franz,

 

an appealing composition with rich colors. I like the marks of the saw that have become a part of the treetrunk. Kind regards, Vincent

The title of this abstract could be explained in more than one way: the future of Europe, the state of our environment and the situation on PN, just to mention a few. The future of Europe is in the hands of an unelected elite, which doesn't bode well and the destructive decline of many things Europe's formerly independent countries could once be proud of has inevitably set in. About PN: my latest uploads (two versions of a concert photo of Greg Adams) got hardly any attention: a handful views, only one like (thanks Mitch), let alone any comments. I hope you will comment on this image.

Hi Mitch,

 

thank you for noticing this photo and liking it! Kind regards, Vincent

It must have been 1992 (the year after the release of the album ‘monster on a leash’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_on_a_Leash, I decided to try my luck at making some photos in a small concert hall that was known fort he opportunities it offered to make photos). If I tell modern photographers using the ‘state of the art’ stuff, they generally don’t believe me if I tell them I shot this on a second hand set of 40 DFL (equivalent of less than 20 €, but even with current inflation still a cheap combination), they generally can’t believe it, not because the photo is so good, but because of the fact I wanted to make concert photos with this old gear. On the photo you see Greg Adams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Adams_(musician), deeply concentrated on the solo that was in the song they were playing at that moment (‘You can’t fall up’). Not so long after the concert this long time member of Tower of Power quit the band (maybe he had become annoyed by photographers with old gear :)

These are links to the gear I used for this photo:

Ricoh singlex tls: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Ricoh_Singlex_TLS

Meyer Orestor 135 mm: https://vintage-camera-lenses.com/meyer-optik-gorlitz-orestor-2-8-135/

I present these links for people who might ask why I didn’t just use AF auto tracking or bumped up the ISO. This was shot on a Fuji SHG 1600 color negative film that produced terrible amounts of noise, so editing these was quite a job.

Prices have gone up: for the lens, I paid the equivalent of € 10 around 1990, now you pay €150. Once digital cameras entered the market, I spent whatever I could miss (which wasn’t much at that time) on old cameras and lenses, being sure of the fact that they still were more than decent. I serviced the Ricoh (I replaced the light seal foam and made the light meter needle move after many years of inactivity and it was good to go, I just cleaned the outer elements of the lens).

This might be the time to share one of my ‘pet peeves’: The Pentacon is, as the article states, a good alternative (exact same lens design,greater availability, lower prices bcause of the ‘lesser’ brand name; Meyer Optik Görlitz has become a famous brand again through the interest people with mirrorless cameras have in older manual lenses from bygone times, which is very understandable). Very young and obviously inexperienced photographers, all ‘newbies’ at using manual lenses, all ‘test’ the same set of lenses with the inevitable same outcome: they all buy a Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 (also popular for video use), the Jupiter 9 85mm 2.0 with the ‘red P’ and of course the Helios 44-2 58mm 2.0 with its ‘swirly bokeh’ (something all the Helios’ 58 mm versions are capable of to some extent, but they haven’t got the time to discover that themselves, because it’s a lot easier to make money on YouTube cashing in on people who try to make good choicesby watching videos. They also tell the unsuspecting viewers of these ‘what vintage lens to buy’ videos that the old lenses are especially good at their maximum aperture, which is absolutely rubbish, stopped down they all perform better, any lens will. They generally also forget to mention the fact that these lenses perform differently on crop sensors, which seems like a relevant thing to tell people about (if they’re aware of that themselves, which in many cases may not be the case). This lack of the willingness to find out stuff for yourself has driven the prices of some of these old lenses up considerably; apart from the aforementioned Meyer Optik Görlitz 135 mm imagine prices of the Takumar, the Jupiter and the Helios (although still widely available) as going up:

(Takumar) from € 10 at the beginning of the nineties to $ 350 for a mint copy now

(Jupiter) from the equivalent of € 15 thirty years ago you have to pay around $ 370 for a mint copy with an M39 filter thread that is potentially dangerous for beginners who might mistake it for an M42 thread (which is much more common).

(Helios) from the equivalent of € 5 in the past, you have to pay a staggering $ 100 for mint copies of these lenses (as said earlier, still widely available); ridiculously inflated prices if you ask me.

I hope my efforts of telling you a true story and giving my honest opinion will result in more comments than I have received lately; as always I’d like to know what you think and why. Let’s start with the easy question: which of the two versions you like better, color or B & W (some of the people around me had clear reasons to like one of the two better)?

It must have been 1992 (the year after the release of the album ‘monster on a leash’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_on_a_Leash, I decided to try my luck at making some photos in a small concert hall that was known fort he opportunities it offered to make photos). If I tell modern photographers using the ‘state of the art’ stuff, they generally don’t believe me if I tell them I shot this on a second hand set of 40 DFL (equivalent of less than 20 €, but even with current inflation still a cheap combination), they generally can’t believe it, not because the photo is so good, but because of the fact I wanted to make concert photos with this old gear. On the photo you see Greg Adams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Adams_(musician), deeply concentrated on the solo that was in the song they were playing at that moment (‘You can’t fall up’). Not so long after the concert this long time member of Tower of Power quit the band (maybe he had become annoyed by photographers with old gear :)

These are links to the gear I used for this photo:

Ricoh singlex tls: http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Ricoh_Singlex_TLS

Meyer Orestor 135 mm: https://vintage-camera-lenses.com/meyer-optik-gorlitz-orestor-2-8-135/

I present these links for people who might ask why I didn’t just use AF auto tracking or bumped up the ISO. This was shot on a Fuji SHG 1600 color negative film that produced terrible amounts of noise, so editing these was quite a job.

Prices have gone up: fort he lens, I paid the equivalent of € 10 around 1990, now you pay €150. Once digital cameras entered the market, I spent whatever I could miss (which wasn’t much at that time) on old cameras and lenses, being sure of the fact that they still were more than decent. I serviced the Ricoh (I replaced the light seal foam and made the light meter needle move after many years of inactivity and it was good to go, I just cleaned the outer elements of the lens).

This might be the time to share one of my ‘pet peeves’: The Pentacon is, as the article states, a good alternative (exact same lens design,greater availability, lower prices bcause of the ‘lesser’ brand name; Meyer Optik Görlitz has become a famous brand again through the interest people with mirrorless cameras have in older manual lenses from bygone times, which is very understandable). Very young and obviously inexperienced photographers, all ‘newbies’ at using manual lenses, all ‘test’ the same set of lenses with the inevitable same outcome: they all buy a Super Takumar 50mm 1.4 (also popular for video use), the Jupiter 9 85mm 2.0 with the ‘red P’ and of course the Helios 44-2 58mm 2.0 with its ‘swirly bokeh’ (something all the Helios’ 58 mm versions are capable of to some extent, but they haven’t got the time to discover that themselves, because it’s a lot easier to make money on YouTube cashing in on people who try to make good choicesby watching videos. They also tell the unsuspecting viewers of these ‘what vintage lens to buy’ videos that the old lenses are especially good at their maximum aperture, which is absolutely rubbish, stopped down they all perform better, any lens will. They generally also forget to mention the fact that these lenses perform differently on crop sensors, which seems like a relevant thing to tell people about (if they’re aware of that themselves, which in many cases may not be the case). This lack of the willingness to find out stuff for yourself has driven the prices of some of these old lenses up considerably; apart from the aforementioned Meyer Optik Görlitz 135 mm imagine prices of the Takumar, the Jupiter and the Helios (although still widely available) as going up:

(Takumar) from € 10 at the beginning of the nineties to $ 350 for a mint copy now

(Jupiter) from the equivalent of € 15 thirty years ago you have to pay around $ 370 for a mint copy with an M39 filter thread that is potentially dangerous for beginners who might mistake it for an M42 thread (which is much more common).

(Helios) from the equivalent of € 5 in the past, you have to pay a staggering $ 100 for mint copies of these lenses (as said earlier, still widely available); ridiculously inflated prices if you ask me.

I hope my efforts of telling you a true story and giving my honest opinion will result in more comments than I have received lately; as always I’d like to know what you think and why. Let’s start with the easy question: which of the two versions you like better, color or B & W (some of the people around me had clear reasons to like one of the two better)?

Hi Michael,

 

a well composed arrangement of lines,shapes and textures with a hint of color, that might be discarded altogether; the colorful pictures (?) on the wall are competing for attention with the rest of the image that doesn't have much color, imo one of the best features of this abstract. Kind regards, Vincent

Hi G & V,

 

if you do get any sun again and it's not windy, you could use focus stacking as a way to get (almost) everything in focus. Five or six pictures at f11 easily yield satisfactory results, with shorter shutter speeds (less motion blur) and stacking is pretty easy with today's software, so it wouldn't take much extra time. Kind regards, Vincent