Pancake Fever! Light and Shade
Liverpool, 3rd of March 2013: Carlos is more and more in love with the Canon 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens.
That guy is part of a troupe of somewhat creepy street performers, who cover themselves in white sheets and make-up and give children candy. I’ve taken photos of some of them in Manchester, but they’re usually quite uninteresting. This guy, however, was in a patch of (harsh, wintery, almost horizontal) sunlight, surrounded by shade. I converted to Monochrome, and then increased the contrast to really make him stand out from the shadowy crowd.
There is probably a lot to discuss in terms of manipulating your shots to bring out a specific detail. Maybe you don’t like it; maybe I should try to create a shot that is as faithful to the reality my eyes saw as possible. That’s interesting, but beyond what my eyes captured, what my brain actually interpreted from the shot was that harsh contrast between light and shade. That’s what I tried to express here.
Well done! If you had not written that you have manipulated the photo is some way, I would have thought it was straight out of the camera. It is very natural, the light, the presence of the street performers appearance out of the darkness… Dr Who any one!
Thank Jeff! I tried to make sure the manipulations didn’t lead to a “fake” look. I wanted it to look plausible, if not necessarily realistic.
Sorry for my ignorance, but whats the main purpose of the 40mm pancake lens?
I can’t say there is a purpose as such. You do with it what you want. The advantage is it is small and light, and has very good optical characteristics. As a result, I think it works pretty well in a street photography context.