The Spirit Of Lomography

Sharpness: Upon close examination of any of these Morning Walk photos. it is easy to see that these images are in focus, but not particularly sharp. I accept this, simply because it brings me closer to the limitations of my original carry camera, an Olympus 35SP. Sadly, it never lived up to the hype about the sharpness of its lens. And since the negatives were being enlarged using an ancient Solar 4X5 enlarger and a pre-war Schneider enlarging lens, my soft negatives were softened further. It wasn't until I upgraded to a Pentax Spotmatic camera, an Omega X22 enlarger, and a 50mm F 2.8 Nikkor enlarging lens that I started to see a major improvement in sharpness. Until that point, I was in my happy place, finding solace in my Father's advice: If I couldn't make them (my prints) sharp, make them small. In those days, 5" x 7" was considered my standard sized print. Getting a sharp 8" x 10" print from a 35mm negative was a challenge until I upgraded to a 2 1/4" Mamaya twin lens reflex whenever print quality was important.

Going Digital: My standards for satisfactory sharpness have lowered considerably since going full digital for input (creating my images) and output (posts on my blog). When viewed on a laptop, my resolution floor of 300 dots per inch and standardized crop of 8"x12" is overly dot-dense. When such an image is uploaded to my blog, it is reduced to less than 1/5 of its original pixels. There are bound to be compromises throughout the journey to a digitally published product, and if I adopt the attitude that all digital images are by their nature ephemeral, the only lasting impression will be the qualities that the photographer chooses to elicit in the viewer, which for me distills down to the joys of color.

Lomographer At Heart: The Pandemic drastically reduced the number of photographic assignments, and with it, the critical need for super sharp images. Since the start, I began making photographs during my morning walks using inexpensive, manual focus lenses in an effort to both distract me from the physical lockdown and to see what all the fuss was about Fuji's Focus Peaking feature. It also brought me closer to my analog roots, resorting to a more careful approach to composition and critical focus. These photos were taken with my 10mm F 4.0 Loawa, a lens that had received some good press. The above photo is shown with a cropped portion, demonstrating that the lens is capable of satisfactory images when viewed online.

My Sister's Influence: My sister has always been a traveler, and I suspect the reason for her becoming a teacher was her summers would be free to explore the world. Before her camera of choice was a Nikormat Ftn with a 43-86mm zoom lens, she carried a Konica C35, a compact camera whose primary claim to fame was its compact size. She used the  C35 to make the photo that has always been my favorite. Somewhere in the Mediteranian, she photographed an inverted yellow rowboat on a background consisting of early morning skies and blue, still waters. It was underexposed, making the yellow boats almost too saturated to believe. I can still visualize the photo, even though the original transparency has been lost to the ages. Without realizing it at the time, this simple snapshot was my first lesson in complimentary colors.

In some ways, these photos, taken with my collection of inexpensive manually focused lenses, are an homage to her memorable image where sharpness took a back seat to the simple joy of color.

Polarizers

Shortly after I received my 10mm F 4.0 Laowa lens, I started wondering if the polarization kit I assembled for my collection of manually focused lenses (MFL) could include this little super-wide. The kit was built on the premise a single, 49mm polarizing filter could be adapted to all of my Fuji-mount MFLs. I had dreams of adapting my Nisi Filter System, but instead went with a series of step-up rings that would mate my current collection of MFLs to a single 49mm Hoya polarizer. I also purchased a 37mm to 49mm step up ring for the Laowa, hoping that the Hoya wouldn't vignette the corners of the frame. In this sample shot, you can see that the corners were clipped by the smallish 49mm. In the spirit of full disclosure, the camera had been set to simulate the characteristics of Velvia, a slide film manufactured by, you guessed it, Fuji  Film.

There is a science about how polarizing filters are to be used. It suffices to say that in the days before through-the-lens viewing and exposure metering, shooters would view their subjects while rotating polarizer in their hands until the desired effect was achieved. A hand-held light meter was the, aimed through the filter to determine the "proper" exposure. The shooter would then locate the indexing dot (or post) and then screw the polarizer onto the camera lens until the index mark was in the same orientation. Several exposures would be made, alternating between over and under exposure from the base image.

My first targeted shot was this pair of Valentine's Day hearts decorating a home known for its elaborate holiday decorations. The homeowner treat Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas as opportunities to go "all out" on the decorations to the delight of the neighbors and passers-by. If you look closely, you can see that the shadow of the lamp post in the street tells me that the sunlight was hitting the subjects at a 45 degree angle. Its significance will be explained later.

Here's a view of the entire  house. If you examine the shadow cast by the large flowerpot at camera left, you can see that the light is coming from camera right at a 90 degree angle.

This photo was the most dramatic of the ones I made that day. I normally shoot my Fuji in Aperture Priority mode with exposure compensation set to - 1/3 stop. I don't know if the exposure was biased in favor of the darkened sky, but building seems a bit blown out. Also, this shot was made with the sun behind me and slightly to my left. For the moment, I am concluding that subjects that are front-lit, or nearly so, benefit the most from the effects provided by a polarizing filter. 

Next Steps: I have ordered a new 55mm B & W Polarizer and a generic 37mm to 55mm Step Up Ring just for the Laowa lens. The pair is schedule to arrive this week, so I'll return to the field to see if my "front light" theory holds up.  I also hope the larger diameter filter will help to prevent my fingers from wandering into the frame, as the frequently did when using the 49mm. As a final note, I know I have sharper lenses and more expensive polarizers to play with. And I have my doubts about whether these inexpensive MFLs are rendering colors accurately, or if they are contributing tints of their own. But in truth, I enjoy the simple act of making images that are more about color and composition than about sharpness and detail. And I may eschew the white balance presets in favor of customized white balance readings made through the polarizer at the time of exposure. Sounds like an interesting way to spend an afternoon.