Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser

I was a bit apprehensive about my photo session with conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, Artist in Residence and Community Ambassador of Symphony Nova Scotia, and for the moment a guest conductor at the San Francisco Symphony. His is known for his passion for introducing music to new audiences, and was featured in a movie "Disruptor Conductor". Along with my research into his accomplishments, I also checked to see what sorts of photos had already been taken of him. He had the appearance of a man with a ready smile, which I found reassuring. Also, he didn't wear glasses, which for a photographer is a gift from the heavens.

I entered the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall through the Musicians Entrance as instructed. Once I was signed in, I was taken to the Ready Area behind the stage, where my escort and I would wait until Mr. Bartholomew-Poyser completed his presentation. This was also where the dressing rooms and administrative offices were located, and the halls were lined with photos of the dozens of artists who graced the San Francisco Symphony's stage. I was surprised to find photos of George Takei, Patrick Stewart, and Leonard Nimoy beside those of Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, Bernadette Peters, Beverly Sills, and Leontine Price, the first African American soprano to achieve world-wide recognition. 

When we were introduced, I mentioned that i had seen the trailer to "Disruptor Conductor", and asked if I should address  him as "Maestro". I smiled and told me to call him Daniel. This exchange had a very positive effect the session, since he knew that I understood the driving force behind his creativity. I also asked if ever "air conducted" (think air guitar), which elicited a chuckle, and a definite "no". While we spoke, he proceeded to use his baton as a prop, give me multiple opportunities to capture Daniel in a relaxed mood.

Throughout the session, I showed Daniel the images I was making, and that I thought the session was progressing nicely. Good thing I checked the images because several were out of focus. This is not uncommon when cameras are used in high contrast lighting environments. I've noticed this happens when the background is brighter than the foreground subject. It is not apparent in the final photo because the flash balances the two disparate exposure levels. We went ahead and shot a few more frames. My last, best frame can be seen at the top of this post.

Selected Shot: This is the photo that  my editor chose to accompany the article. It was made at the start of the session, and perhaps better portrayed a conversational encounter, rather than, dare I say, Air Conducting.

Lighting Details: Normally I would use a  Godox AD200 equipped with a bare bulb mounted inside a collapsible softbox. When I decided to gel my flash, I removed the AD200 and replaced it with a standard speedlight (upper left). Going clockwise, I next I mounted a Godox Round Adapter, then installed a CTO gel pre-mounted in a round gel holder, and finally mounted a Godox Dome Diffuser. This was not an ideal solution, since the Dome Diffuser greatly reduces the effective light output of the flash. Since I was working indoors, i didn't need gobs of light, and the CTO gel was essential to match the color balance of the subject and the background light. The effect was worth the effort, as the photo has a natural look, completely hiding the fact that two different light sources, the ambient stage lighting and the foreground subject key light, were used. If you're wondering, the round Godox S2 Speedlight Bracket has become my favorite when I have the space to carry it. It normally nests in a carrying pouch along with my collapsed 24" soft box.

Time Limits: I was given a limited amount of time to photography Daniel, and I had committed myself to a 15-minute session starting around 12:30 and a hard completion time of 12:45. As it turned out,  I needed a few minutes more preparation than I planned, but once set up, my first record shot (after my introduction) was at 12:37, and the final shot made at 12:42.  Everybody was pleased with the final shot, and for the first time a subject of mine actually offered to buy the photo outright. That was the ultimate compliment, and the offer was compelling enough to justify a "victory lap", which for me was getting a Shrimp Tostada at Joe's Taco Lounge in Mill Valley. 

Good job!

You Already Have A Lens!

Buy yours here.

How Many Wide Angle Lenses Do You ALREADY Have? Throughout the Pandemic I have indulged my lust for wide angles by purchasing inexpensive Chinese-made, manual focusing lenses with brand names like TTartisan, 7artisans, Meike, and Pergear. I actually went upscale once and purchased a Samyang lens, a 12mm F 2.0, due to its larger aperture. Metaphorically, I now own a closet full of four-dollar shoes,  adjusted for inflation.

Now a new lens, made by Laowa, has just caught my eye. Unlike the first four brands mentioned in the previous paragraph, lenses from this manufacturer can be found in some retail outlets. The reason is simple: Price. Laowa lenses tend to be better made and possess better optical design, and are therefore more expensive. Profits from sales could be enough to justify carrying them in stock. But a smart retailer would be wise to stay with lenses with focal lengths that are most likely to sell, steering clear of those who are too long, or too short.

This 10mm F 4.0 manually focused lens was purchased for several reasons:

• Size: The lens is compact: 2.4" in diameter, 1.0" tall.
• Filter Thread: The lens can accept a 37mm filter.
• Angle of Acceptance: 109 degree field of view.

Raison D'être: For many years I relied on a Fuji 10-24 F 4.0 as my go-to lens. Unfortunately, I tended to leave it at the 10mm setting, and in doing so, created many images that exhibited perspective distortion, or "stretch face", associated with extreme wide angle lenses and short shooting distances. I have since made the 16-55 F 2.8 lens my first choice, thus eliminating the ability to shoot at 10mm. With its shortest focal length of 16mm, it forces me to work at longer distances, reducing the possibility for conspicuous perspective distortion. At some point, I replaced the 10-24 with a 50-200mm zoom, thinking it a more versatile choice.

Judgement Day: Things went smoothly until Halloween 2022, when I found myself without an ultrawide lens. I needed it to capture several visual elements. and a 10mm would have been fine, if I had one. As luck would have it , I had a Pergear Fisheye, with which, through brute force, I managed to make a barely satisfactory image. "Brute force" is not hyperbole, since the lens had only three zones of focus (near, far, and farther) and a fixed aperture of F 8.0. The shot required adjustments to the ISO and subsequently the flash output settings to compensate for the fixed aperture.

In my mind, this would never have happened if I had a compact, emergency super-wide rectilinear (renders straight lines straight) lens stowed away in my camera bag as a backup. Ownership of this lens will forever eliminate the specter of not having a lens wide enough to use whenever unusual background-foreground perspectives must be addressed. Sounds suspiciously like I am rationalizing a pending acquisition.

Update: February 1, 2023: The lens arrived on time, and while I haven't spent a lot of time working with it. I did take it on an outing in Mill Valley,  Ken Rockwell's evaluation of the lens can be seen here.

The perspective distortion of this super-wide angle lens is apparent. However, the shot was made using estimating the subject-to-camera distance. At F 5.6 there was plenty of focusing depth to work with. Perhaps this will become my ultimate point-and-shoot.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of detail rendered by the lens. Even the moon appears reasonably sharp when the image is enlarged.

So far I've been satisfied with the performance, especially for a lens as wide as this. I must remind myself that it goes with me on location as an emergency lens, one that can be called upon when an extremely wide field of view is required.

I plan on taking it to the final Lunar New Year celebration in  Redwood City on the weekend of February 4. I plan to relying on the distance scale if I find actual focusing too difficult.