Re: JMC lens was/Re: dreamy Nikon lenses
Hi Judy,
My house can match most for disorder, particularly around my desk and
computers, so yes, I do sympathise.
One reason I asked rather than looking it up is that I can't find the
copy I have (or had) of a book about her, in fact the only stuff I can
find easily are things I've already put on the web, where I didn't say
much about lenses... I picked 9lbs of redcurrants in our garden
yesterday but they are jelly now (jelly as in English English) though I
can't claim responsibility for that part of the process. Lots more still
on the bushes too.
I also have a vague recollection about JMC, which is that she used a
lens with a longer focal length than was then normal for her portraits,
and I think it had a relatively small maximum aperture thus she needed
longer exposure times ( I think she always worked at full aperture.) So
she got more subject movement, as well as limited depth of field because
of the longer focal length thus greater magnification.
But I imagine someone here will know more about it. Or I may even find
that book myself.
Peter Marshall - Photographer, Writer: NUJ
petermarshall@cix.co.uk
_________________________________________________________________
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Judy Seigel wrote:
Oh, lordy Peter,
I can't remember where I put an extremely important letter from a
lawyer last week, or the recipe for the cranberry relish I have
cranberries rotting on the stove to make, and I should remember where
I read a few lines on Julia maybe 20 years ago?
When you're as old as I am and have a house crammed with important
evidence from all your goose chases, you may sympathize. For the
moment, I can say only that it was in something biographical about
her, that it may not have been built specifically for being "bad," but
had a different purpose, that the distortion or softness came along
for no extra effort, and she then clung to it.
I'll check one or two sources aroound here I think of (and can
probably find), but... don't count on getting that particular item...
(I do however count on being sucked in near terminally--- thanks a lot !)
Meanwhile, who wrote the book about her and/or the Isle of Wight...I
think the local historical society. There may have been a clue there.
I have the P-F story by Cynthia Larson of her visit there... I'll
check for a clue,
cheers,
J.
On Fri, 18 Jul 2008, Peter Marshall wrote:
Judy,
I'm not aware of JMC having a "bad lens" specially made - do you have
a reference for this?
She did us a fairly long focus lens for some of the pictures, and did
deliberately manipulate (shade) the light, which resulted in longer
exposures (and thus subject movement) but I didn't know she used any
special lens, though it might well have been a landscape rather than
a portrait lens.
You can put anything in front of a digital camera. I've taken quite a
few pictures with a Nikon D100 body using a pinhole rather than a
lens, and it works rather nicely with a zone plate.
Regards,
Peter
Peter Marshall - Photographer, Writer: NUJ
petermarshall@cix.co.uk +44 (0)1784 456474
_________________________________________________________________
Re:PHOTO http://re-photo.co.uk
My London Diary http://mylondondiary.co.uk/
London's Industrial Heritage: http://petermarshallphotos.co.uk/
The Buildings of London etc: http://londonphotographs.co.uk/
and elsewhere......
Judy Seigel wrote:
I've enjoyed this thread, while reflecting that these things (duh!)
do go in cycles... I remember reading Gernsheim's furious contempt
for Julia Margaret Cameron's "dreamy" tableaux, tho he did like her
portraits of famous men.
Somehow the matter came up in a class I was teaching in the '90s, I
mentioned that Julia Margaret had a lens *specially made* to be
"bad," and the class leapt up, almost as one, wanting to know where
to get one...
Nobody mentioned smearing vaseline on the lens, tho I've heard about
that, and a friend of mine sticks a magnifying glass in front of
some camera or other and gets a great "bad" image with that
(wracking my brains trying to remember who that was !!!).
But Rudolpho's e-mail makes me wonder what I was wondering already.
I happen to have a Goertz Dagor, and even (think I) know where it
is. Can I fasten that in front of a digital camera... ? I suppose
the answer is "try it," but... any hints?
Judy
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