Seasonal Fisheye Fun

craig_dcraig_d Registered Users Posts: 911 Major grins
edited November 29, 2009 in Street and Documentary
I recently bought a Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens, and I'm having so much fun with it that it hasn't been off the camera since the day it arrived. (Unfortunately, my wife hates fisheye shots -- she says they give her headaches.)

I find that the fisheye changes the way I think about visual composition because of the way it tends to wrap curves around the center. Ordinary contextual structures become much more dramatic and directional, and the only way to keep a straight line straight is to run it through the exact center of the image. I expect that this experience will have a beneficial effect on the way I look at things with rectilinear lenses too -- whenever I get back to them!

This is a shot of a Christmas display in an open area of a local shopping center, complete with a giant Christmas tree and a place for kids to get their picture taken with Santa. I made this image last Tuesday during the early-afternoon gap between lunch and when the schools let out, which is why there aren't that many people.

One interesting thing about this mall is that it contains several large sculptures by the Italian-American artist Beniamino Bufano (1898-1970), commissioned specifically for this mall when it was originally constructed in the 1950s. Two of these sculptures, both made of black granite, can be more or less seen on the ground floor in this shot. On the left, there is a penguin with its beak pointing straight up; near the lower right corner, there is another one, which is either a cat or a bear cub (I forget which). I've had it in mind for a while to go in there with a 50mm prime and photograph the lot of them.

PP on this shot was limited to white balance, tone curve adjustment, and lateral CA correction.

C&C welcome.

723146277_MceKm-L.jpg

Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
1/8 sec. (hand-held) at f/11, ISO 100
http://craigd.smugmug.com

Got bored with digital and went back to film.

Comments

  • allensfotoallensfoto Registered Users Posts: 67 Big grins
    edited November 29, 2009
    love the shot .. this is one of my favorite ways to observe the crowds.. i like how the fisheye catches it all
    Curtis
    Failure is not an option for me,
    So i just keep pressing the shutter and trying again.
    http://allensfoto.net
    :gun2
  • Mark LedinghamMark Ledingham Registered Users Posts: 104 Major grins
    edited November 29, 2009
    You know, I've never tried a fisheye before, but shots like these definitely make me want get hold of one. Really interesting perspective - and good storyline!
    All the best from northern Norway,
    Mark Ledingham

    Please visit Mark Ledingham Photography ...You might just like it!
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