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Challenging long telephoto lens photography

Long telephoto photography moon over Thachers
The harvest moon rises over Thachers Island in Rockport, MA   Camera Settings – ISO 4000  0.5s  f 5.6  347/521mm  7:02PM

Challenging long telephoto lens photography can be a deal breaker with landscape photography. Imagine if you will, walking out to a rocky out cropping to make a photo of a moon rising next to a light house at a half hour before sunset with the wind blowing 20+ mph. The thoughts going through my head went something like this. How the heck am I going to keep this lens steady with it blowing as hard as it is IN THE DARK!

Well this is a story of how I did this. A friend of mine was already standing next to his tripod contemplating the same issues at the highest point above the water as I approached. When I got there I suggested that we move lower down to minimize the wind. We found a more sheltered spot and indeed it helped, a little. The next step was to lower my tripod even lower and hang my camera bag underneath the head of the tripod and immediately things started to settle down. I was shooting with the Fuji X-T3 and the XF 100-400 and had the OIS on the lens turned off. Now thinking back, if there is movement, why not keep the OIS on and set the camera IS setting to shooting only. This might very well have solved the motion problem altogether! I will have to keep this in mind.

Harvest moon rising just after sunset at Thacher’s Island 10/01/20 Camera settings – ISO 4000  1/10s  f5.2  290.6/436mm   6:53PM

The solution to challenging long telephoto lens photography

So the challenge was keeping the camera and lens steady at ridiculous shutter speeds while keeping the ISO as low as possible, in the dark. This is not easy! With the electronic marvels we have in the camera field now a days, I could have done some electronic hocus pocus like make a shot of the north tower when it was quite bright out and merged the shot of the moon in later. But in my view that is CHEATING! So I chose to go with a high ISO and take my chances with the slow shutter speed with a giant lens. In full frame terms well over 400mm. So I used my electronic cable release and put my hand on the top of the lens and pushed down lightly which helped to alleviate the movement caused by the long lens and the wind. With the shutter speeds approaching a half a second this is tricky business. But the Fuji gear responded marvelously. The images I got were outstanding.

The harvest moon rises next to Thacher’s Island on Oct. 1, 2020. Camera settings – ISO 4000  1/6s  f5.2  290.6/436mm   6:55PM

As the time got closer and closer to 7:00PM I experimented with taking my hand off the camera at the shutter speed at .5 sec because I was worried about too much shake and was surprised to see that the images were blurry when I did. So I put my hand back on the top of the lens for the last few shots as the moon started to light up the water and the fresnel lens in the north light.

The harvest moon rises over Thacher’s Island north light on Oct. 1, 2020. Camera settings – ISO 4000 .5s  f5.0  203.7/306mm    7:04PM

So here is the prognosis. When shooting in lots of wind get down low and lower your tripod. Hang your camera bag under the tripod and use an electronic cable release. Using the 2 sec. timer is a problem as you can’t time the wind gusts. Finally, because you are using a veeery long lens any movement creates a problem at slow shutter speeds so use the highest shutter speed you can. I used my hand on top of the lens to calm things down a bit which seemed to help. One last thing, use a very heavy tripod in these conditions!!! A small travel tripod is almost useless. My carbon fiber smaller tripod was too small I needed to bring out my aluminum Gitzo for this shot and I didn’t a big mistake. By keeping these techniques in mind for challenging long telephoto lens photography your next outing can be made much better.

 

Documentary Photography – Sylvina W. Beal Project

Harold Burnham
Harold Burnham looks over plans for the Sylvina W. Beal.

I am a history and vintage sailing buff! So when I get the chance, I am all in when it comes to documenting a project that involves both. Wooden schooner builder Harold Burnham of Essex is working on a long term project rehabbing a wooden schooner that is over 100 years old. So back in February I was over at his shipyard working on a video about the beginnings of this project as he cut red oak planks. After he was finished cutting planking we ventured up to the third floor of his house to look over the plans for the Beal. I was using my Fuji X-T3 and the Fuji XF 16mm f 1.4 for the tight space he was working in. This lens was perfect for shooting in the tight confines of his office.

Half models, ducks and whales
A half model of the Sylvina W. Beal and naval architectural tools wait to be used.

This lens is beautiful for this type of work it’s f1.4 aperture is wonderful for dimly lit scenes. In this case the lighting was not bad as there was a window and a lamp providing some great lighting. The image above was made at f 5.6 which is optimum for this lens. I just love how the depth of field flows out into the background. The close focus ability of this lens is another outstanding feature as you can see above. The whale weight used in holding splines in place is only about three or four inches long so I was pretty close.

Initials of naval architect William Duggan
Harold Burnham reveals a story about how he obtained his naval architectural tools.

the image above was made at f4 and also shows the closeup ability of this lens. It was a great couple of hours with Burnham over at his shipyard and some of the images I made are very nice. Photographing documentary projects is a great experience for folks to learn to use their gear in varied circumstances. Problem solving while working in a fast paced environment is something all photographers need to learn. In the video below Harold tells a wonderful story of how he obtained the naval architecture tools he uses for every boat he works on.

 

Using Vintage lenses on Mirrorless Cameras

Rockport Harbor
Still clear morning at Rockport Harbor

Using vintage lenses that were manufactured many years ago has always fascinated me! For photo geeks it’s intriguing but for most people they just care about the image. So recently I went out to test a lens that was made in 1958 the Leica 35mm f3.5 LTM (thread mount) Summaron. I was given this lens when I was 15 years old along with the external viewfinder. A few years ago I had the lens cleaned of fungus and started using it on my Leica M-P 240. The unfortunate thing is that the thread mount to bayonet mount I have on it is for a 90mm not a 35 so the wrong frame lines come up in the viewfinder. I am sending mine to Tamarkin Camera in Chicago in return for a 35mm one. It will be fun to be able to see the frame lines correctly for once.

Rockport Harbor
Still clear morning at Rockport Harbor

This lens has a very nice vignette to it as you can see in the image above. It’s like a piece of jewelry all cleaned up. What a gem! I was curious to see how the color would be an I was pleasantly surprised at the images I got.

Dinghy's
Dinghy’s at the Gloucester Maritime Center

The black and white conversions were outstanding as well meaning that the contrast was top notch. I found very little wrong with the results they were outstanding.

Dinghy's
Dinghy’s at the Gloucester Maritime Center

Finding compositions over at the Maritime Center is a breeze as they are everywhere. I just loved poking around the old hulls etc. The combination of this little lens and camera brought me back to the old days of shooting with my Leica M3 with this lens. I can’t wait to shoot some film with that combination later on this summer it should be fun. Below is a video I did on this little project.