Clik here to view.
A LOT OF LITTLE, FOR NOT A LOT
About three inches away with stacked diopters equivalent to 7x magnification. Manual focus, 1/200 sec., f/4.5, ISO 100, 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS EVER SINCE I FIRST READ STORIES ABOUT THE ARCH-VILLAIN...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FROM TOY TO TOOL
Selective focus can help direct your viewer’s eye. Taken with a Lensbaby Spark lens at 1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 320, 50mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS A LONG STANDING BIT ON THE DAVID LETTERMAN SHOW, rather than...
View ArticleClik here to view.
JOINTS
Try the special. Heck, it’s all special at the lunch counter at McAlpine’s Soda Fountain in Phoenix. 1/100 sec., f/1.8, ISO 100 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS BETTER MINDS THAN MINE HAVE LAMENTED THE...
View ArticleClik here to view.
YOU ARE THE CAMERA
Dark Days for the printed page. 1/80 sec., f/1.8, ISO 100, 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS THE MOST ANNOYING COMMERCIAL ON TELEVISION AT PRESENT is the one from Apple reminding you that more people take...
View ArticleClik here to view.
STILL GRAND, STILL CENTRAL
Grand Central Terminal, New York City. 2:11PM, June 21, 2013. By MICHAEL PERKINS AMERICA’S ROMANCE WITH RAIL TRAVEL MAY NOW JUST BE A SORT OF CASUAL ACQUAINTANCE (hey, we can still be friends), but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
PARADOX
Where is the main story here? Far away, or up close? 1/60 sec., f/1.8, ISO 400, 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS EVERY SET OF VISUAL ELEMENTS, CAPTURED AT OPPOSITE EXTREMES, DELIVERS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SECOND SIGHT, SECOND LIFE
Pragmatically “useless” but visually rich: an obsolete flashbulb glows with window light. 1/80 sec., f/5.6, ISO 640, 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS A DECADE-AND-A-HALF INTO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, we are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
OF BIRDS AND BARRIERS
Zoom lenses, while great, price many shooters out of the market for making shots like this. 1/160, f/5.6, ISO 100, 300mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS PHOTOGRAPHY IS ART’S GREATEST “DEMOCRATIZER“, a medium that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
TATTERED BEAUTY
By MICHAEL PERKINS ONE OF THE MOST MIRACULOUS FEATS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, TO ITS ORIGINAL 19TH-CENTURY AFFICIONADOS, was to freeze time, to arrest or isolate the continuum of progress. Indeed, if you think...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FAR AWAY, AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE
“Fake” macro done with a zoom at 300mm. Actual object is about six feet away. 1/160 sec., f/8, ISO 100. By MICHAEL PERKINS OVER YOUR LIFETIME AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, IT DOESN’T TAKE A LOT OF EFFORT TO...
View ArticleClik here to view.
YOU ARE PHOTOSHOP
By MICHAEL PERKINS EVER SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF THE DIGITAL DARKROOM and its attendant legion of post-production fixes, the world of photography has been pretty evenly divided into “befores” and “afters”,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GO TO YOUR GO-TO
Simple tools are often best, like the 35mm f/1.8 prime lens used here. By MICHAEL PERKINS THE EVOLUTION OF ART IS SOMETIMES ABOUT SUBTRACTION RATHER THAN ADDITION. We reflexively feel that the more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NEW WINE FROM OLD BOTTLES
Wide-angle on a budget, and in a time warp: a mid-70’s manual 24mm Nikkor prime up front of my Nikon D5100. By MICHAEL PERKINS MANY OF US WHO BEGAN THEIR LOVE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE DAYS OF FILM have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE
The Mutant: Stanley Kubrick’s unbeatable light sucker, the Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 lens. By MICHAEL PERKINS IF THE SUPREME BEING IS CORRECTLY QUOTED, at the dawn of time, as having proclaimed, “Let There Be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
UP CLOSE AND POISONAL
Gee, this 300mm telephoto shot has it all. Terminal mushiness, hazy washout, crappy contrast. Who could ask for anything more? You could. By MICHAEL PERKINS THERE MAY BE A STATISTICAL TABLE SOMEWHERE...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE BEST KIND OF SECOND-GUESSING
You don’t need a dedicated macro lens to shoot this image. Just maximize the average glass that you have. 1/100 sec., f/2.8, ISO 100, 35mm. By MICHAEL PERKINS I TRY MY BEST TO ANTICIPATE EXACTLY WHAT...
View ArticleClik here to view.
THE GENTLE WELCOME
By MICHAEL PERKINS But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? —Shakespeare OKAY. AS IT TURNS OUT, IN THE ABOVE LINE, ROMEO WAS ACTUALLY RHAPSODIZING about his main squeeze, rather than ideal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WIDE, WIDE WORLD(S)
Shooting from a low crouch with a 24mm ultra-wide jacked up the natural drama of this shot to a greater, almost excessive degree. By MICHAEL PERKINS ULTRA-WIDE LENSES HAVE ALMOST BECOME AN UNAVOIDABLE...
View ArticleClik here to view.
RUN WHAT YA BRUNG
Didn’t bring a close-up or macro lens on this shoot, so had to ask my 24mm wide-angle to do double duty. And it could. By MICHAEL PERKINS NORMALEYE PHOTOGRAPHIC PARADOX No.346: You have to think hard...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GLASS DISTINCTIONS
It went “zip” when it moved and “bop” when it stopped, And “whirr” when it stood still. I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will. Tom Paxton, The Marvelous Toy My antedeluvian Minolta...
View Article
