Ultra-wide Again

I have done without an ultra-wide angle on my Canon 5D Mark II for some time. And for the most part, I wasn't missing it. But several friends advised me that I would appreciate (need) a wider view for some of the locations I planned to visit during my October Utah trip. I was able to borrow a friend's 17-40mm, and enjoyed using the lens. In fact, some of my best shots from the trip resulted from that lens. So, I began shopping for my own. After months of considering and researching all (yes, ALL) the options available from Canon, Zeiss, Nikon with an adapter, etc., etc., I decided on the Canon TS-E 17mm f/4 L. Why? Well, it certainly wasn't price! Ouch! This is an expensive lens. But image quality and tilt-shift were the deciding factors, for me. And all the reviews I read, led me to believe that I would not be disappointed.

I'm not going to go into a full review. You can find those elsewhere. But what I will say is... This is a superb lens. Absolutely top-notch build quality. A joy to use in the field. Outstanding image quality - sharp corner to corner, no vignetting and no chromatic aberration. I would recommend this lens to anyone.

I went out to my familiar stomping grounds, Chautauqua Park, this morning lucked out with some spectacular sunrise light. So here is one of the first images off my new 17mm. Its going to be fun to again play with the ultra-wide perspective...

The Joy of Printing

One of my favorite photo activities, second only to spending time in the field, is creating prints. There is just something I love about crafting a product that can be held in your hand, or (better yet) hung on a wall.

This evening I'm working on a 16x20 print of the image below for a client. The digital file was produced from a 4x5 drum scan, so the detail is just amazing. You can see individual water droplets on the brightly colored blades of grass. And the aspen bark has a texture that you can almost feel.

And here's a cropped section of the lower right corner with some water droplets clinging to the blades of grass. Just for you, dionysis! ;-) (See comment below)