[Leica] #4 assigment B&W PORTRAIT==FEMALE!!! ALAN

[Alan Magayne-Roshak]

On Thu, 8 Jun 2017 "Ted Grant" <tedgrant at shaw.ca>wrote:

>Hi Alan,
>Very beautiful "BUTTERFLY LIGHTING!"
>I'm not  sure whether it's my eyes failing? Computer screen failing? Your
>lens creating the super gentle "softness" I think I'm observing overall???
>But I see it as a plus factor in the attractiveness of this lady subject?
>But it's much like a super gentle glow???
>Now if nobody else see's this effect??? I guess I'm gone to the "Great
>Spirit's" land and haven't realized it yet!
>Regardless? I see a photo of a very attractive female portrait! Good on
you!
>cheers,
>Dr. ted  O.C.
===========================================================================================================================
Thanks, Dr. Ted.  Your eyes are fine.  I purposely used a ca. 1910 9" f/4
Wollensak Verito Diffused Focus lens for this picture because I like the
combination of sharpness overall with a bit of glow, especially in the
highlights.  The best stop for this is f/11.  Anything from f/4 to f/8 is
too soft.  The aperture blades in this old lens are getting irregular, so I
cut a piece of black paper with an f/11 opening and inserted it next to the
diaphragm.  In 1985 I found this lens at a camera store with a tag that
said "paperweight?" and at a price of $12.50 USD.  I knew what this lens
could do so I snapped it up, and the next day went out and bought a 1909
4x5 Revolving Back Graflex to use it on.  To make it more useful, I added
electronic flash X-synch by using slot car pickups and microswitches on the
mirror cocking mechanism (so a 100-year-old camera can use the latest
studio strobes).  I think Veritos are going for more than twelve dollars
these days.

...oh, at the same time I bought this lens I also purchased a brass French
Victorian focusing loupe for another $12.50 USD.  I guess the store didn't
know what they had.
-- 
Alan

Alan Magayne-Roshak, Senior Photographer
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Photo Services
(Retired)
UPAA Photographer of the Year 1978
UPAA Master of the Profession 2014
amr3 at uwm.edu
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Alan+Magayne-Roshak/

"All the technique in the world doesn't compensate
 for an inability to notice. " - Elliott Erwitt