Hidden Pond

[Jon Buffington]

This is one I am pleased with, captured this past Sunday at a hidden spot. Conditions were right for this planned shoot and this is one of maybe 10 frames I shot. I used a telephoto because I wanted to compress the trees in the background. Captured on Kodak TMX 100 film on a Nikon FM2n with Nikon series e 75-150 At f16 around 1/2 to 1 sec exposure. Developed in hc110 dil B, scanned with a Kodak Pakon f135+ scanner with minimal LR6 adjustments (white/black point, sharpening, etc).

 

[AlanLichty]

Almost takes a moment to orient myself looking at this with the reflections and telephoto lens but the result works really well. Nice work in planning and executing this composition.

 

[JimFox]

We have missed you Jon and missed your photography! This is so awesome, love the composition and I like the B&W film.

please post more!

 

[Jon Buffington]

Almost takes a moment to orient myself looking at this with the reflections and telephoto lens but the result works really well. Nice work in planning and executing this composition.

Thank you Alan. The reflections were hard to beat, photographed this pond last year about this time (it dries up in the summer and later in the spring, the mosquitos are horrendous so really late winter best time to shoot) but couldn't get what I wanted. Went out with a full kit of primes and this telephoto on Sunday but realized that the 75-150 would work best. This was probably at 140-150mm.

We have missed you Jon and missed your photography! This is so awesome, love the composition and I like the B&W film.

please post more!

Thank you kindly Jim and I will be sure to

 

[JimFox]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Post Jon!

@Jon Buffington

 

[Amy Earl]

Mesmerizing. This is an awesome shot, thank you for sharing your process. Did you take that length exposure in order to create a blurred effect on the water or because you needed the light? I don't know if the water was calm or not, but I can imagine it would be also interesting with a sharp reflection, though I like how this came out to make a nice distinction between the trees and their reflections.

 

[Jon Buffington]

Congrats on the Daily Featured Post Jon!

@Jon Buffington

Thank you Jim, I am honored!

Mesmerizing. This is an awesome shot, thank you for sharing your process. Did you take that length exposure in order to create a blurred effect on the water or because you needed the light? I don't know if the water was calm or not, but I can imagine it would be also interesting with a sharp reflection, though I like how this came out to make a nice distinction between the trees and their reflections.

Thank you! I needed the light and DOF hence the longer exposure. It was very overcast with just the slightest drizzle. There was a slight breeze and I could hear ducks at the far end of the pond making a ruckus so I am sure there was just a bit of a ripple on the water. With a wider view, it is easier to make the reflections more of a mirror here but I chose to have a more compressed feel which led to more of a distinction between reflection and real. I hope that makes sense. I shot here last year, always with a wider lens and the reflections were great, but I just couldn't get the "feel" right to me. Hence a return to keep shooting this scene again this year.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Nicely done Jon. It took me a while to fully grasp the scene. Like the processing here as well. Congrats on the feature.

 

[Amy Earl]

With a wider view, it is easier to make the reflections more of a mirror here but I chose to have a more compressed feel which led to more of a distinction between reflection and real. I hope that makes sense. I shot here last year, always with a wider lens and the reflections were great, but I just couldn't get the "feel" right to me. Hence a return to keep shooting this scene again this year.

Yes, though I'm not able to compare with a mirror-like reflection, I can see how this exposure adds to the compressed feeling because the water's depth is reduced to its surface, flattening the image and creating the distinction. In B&W the dark water marks also pop out and contrast with the vertical lines of the trunks. Very nice photo.

 

[Jeffrey]

Telephoto lenses do not compress anything. It's a myth. All they do is provide a narrower angle field of view.

 

[Jon Buffington]

Nicely done Jon. It took me a while to fully grasp the scene. Like the processing here as well. Congrats on the feature.

Thank you kindly.

Yes, though I'm not able to compare with a mirror-like reflection, I can see how this exposure adds to the compressed feeling because the water's depth is reduced to its surface, flattening the image and creating the distinction. In B&W the dark water marks also pop out and contrast with the vertical lines of the trunks. Very nice photo.

Thank you!

Telephoto lenses do not compress anything. It's a myth. All they do is provide a narrower angle field of view.

Yes, I am aware of this technicality so let me re-phrase to say, the telephoto creates the ILLUSION of compression vs. a standard/wide/superside lens due to the narrower FOV.

 

[Jim Dockery]

Nicely captured and processed. Really draws you in.

 

[Jon Buffington]

Nicely captured and processed. Really draws you in.

Thank you Jim