Shooting Wide Open

[pico]

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Legend has it that if you shoot wide-open long enough you will go blind.

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The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[jaapv]

I think you are confusing two things.

[jmahto]

It seems to me that a Noctilux is something of a special case, and that while the reasoning expressed makes some sense for a Noctilux, it does not really support the maxim "shoot wide open whenever possible."  You don't buy a Formula 1 car to go grocery shopping, but nor do you redline your Toyota on grocery runs.

 

My Noctilux f/1.0 is not my only 50, and usually if I'm not going to be shooting at f/1.0 I will have a different 50 on the camera.

Highlight mine...

 

I did when I was young and stupid.

[abrewer]

I think it is obvious, after looking at Thorsten's images for nearly twenty years, that he shoots that Nocti wide open more often than not. Perhaps that's why he gets such superb results with it, as opposed to the rest of us who get frustrated at the shallow DOF and the weight and chuck the thing in the bag to get some relief!

 

As to personal practice, I never stop down to more than f5.6 and rarely to more than f2.8. That's it. I've never budged from shooting either wide open or just slightly stopped down on the 35mm/f2 ASPH.

 

A wise old Leicaphile once told me "You don't use f8 on an M unless it's an emergency." He never explained what an "emergency" was, but the point stayed home: Leica's love full aperture.

[jmahto]

One advantage of shooting wide open is that you will never have to clean your sensor.

[Alberti]

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I just can't find anyone yet to learn from and admire among current portrait photographers. I'd rather walk to museum and look at Rembrandt and Picasso to learn about portraiture. 

From what I have seen, wide open, shallow DoF portraits are nothing special...

 

 

Agree (as someone who once worked in a museum):

& Neither are soft portraits or portraits with a lot of coarse grain (remember the CCD . . ? )

[frame-it]

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i always shoot f1.4 with the 50 and f2 with the 90APO

 

 I was reading some Thorsten Overgaard and he mentioned he always shoots wide open. His theory is, why pay for a Noctilux if you are always stopped down to f/4.  So it got me thinking, does everyone generally subscribe to this same idea? Shoot wide open whenever possible?

[lct]

Last time i checked the aim of photography was not to show what the gear we own is capable of. HCB's favorite aperture was f/5.6 or f/6.3 if i remember well. Fast apertures were made for low light then. Curious era... 

[Paul J]

So you did care about responding to Thorsten, just not by name.

 

Jeff

 

 

 

No, I don't share your need to drag someone Jeff.

 

I know what Thorsten is saying and it relates to his work and style, that is all.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Paul J

[Peter H]

It would be nice if we could talk about our own ideas about photography without it being interpreted as an attempt to tell other people what they should do.

 

 

Anyway, the question of subject isolation interests me. Very occasionally it might be necessary in specific circumstances, but generally isn’t it more interesting or satisfying when you can compose a photo in such a way that the various components, foreground, background, subject, light, colour, shapes and lines and so on work together? If so, and obviously it’s not always possible, shooting wide open to isolate the subject becomes the emergency last resort.

Edited February 8, 2018 by Peter H

[lct]

Emergency last resort... you mean as a fig leaf? Just kidding but composing properly is difficult indeed. The masters i revere did excel in that. I'm glad to have fast apertures to hide my poor skills though. Now going so far as shooting systematically at fast apertures on expensive lenses looks like another way of bragging rights to me. Look how long my... is (fill in the blank)  .

[Paul J]

I think Subject Isolation comes from things like composition, colour and lighting.

 

Extreme bokeh is just another tool in the box and as much as you are allowed to shoot anyway you want, I feel like I am denying all the other interesting tools in the box by only shooting wide open.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2018 by Paul J

[Exodies]

Why don’t we get treads praising the virtues of small apertures and delighting at the beautiful diffraction?

[Peter H]

 

 

I think Subject Isolation comes from things like composition, colour and lighting.

 

Extreme bokeh is just another tool in the box and as much as you are allowed to shoot anyway you want, I feel like I am denying all the other interesting tools in the box by only shooting wide open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agreed.

 

Though more often than not, in my opinion, context adds interest to a subject, and so subject isolation is not often desirable.

 

I can see that in some cases it can be necessary, certainly in some commercial or illustrative applications. And there are creative opportunities too, of course.  But to me, an isolated subject generally feels like a lost opportunity or a failure of sorts to get to grips with the visual reality of what confronts us. But I accept it's no more than a personal preference, and an interpretation of what constitutes reality too I suppose!

Edited February 8, 2018 by Peter H

[Lonescapes]

It's all about what people are accustomed to seeing.

 

For a very long time, shallow DOF was what distinguished photographers with access to better equipment from amateurs and hobbyists. People learned to associate that aesthetic with high production values.

 

Now, anyone can access shallow DOF with fast lenses on affordable APS-C bodies. Post-processing is also well on its way to making PP bokeh widely available and visually believable to the average viewer.

 

I genuinely believe that after a while under these circumstances, bokeh will become less photographically desirable, since people will have grown accustomed to seeing a lot of terrible, over-used bokeh taken by photographers who are using it for no particular reason.

[Mr.Q]

I shoot wide open with all my lenses, including the Noctilux 0.95. 

During the day I slap on a 4-stop ND and only stop down if I need DOF. 

 

That's how I shoot and it's been that way for ages.

[Steve McGarrett]

A wise old Leicaphile once told me "You don't use f8 on an M unless it's an emergency." He never explained what an "emergency" was, but the point stayed home: Leica's love full aperture.

 

Folks like Bresson or Capa or Haas did shot a lot in an "emergency", then... 

[sml_photo]

When I first "discovered" him, I was intrigued by the soft images with narrow depth of field.  I grew tired of that quickly.  The photos look the same.  And the "trick" is used over and over to the point where I feel it loses its impact.

Furthermore, over time, I've found that I don't agree with much of what he says.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[StevieB]

Re photography kit and technique, I like to see the work of the person who is giving the advice, before I take it. Many people have no visual clue whatsoever.

It would be useful if forums members had a link to their website etc.

Edited February 8, 2018 by StevieB

[frame-it]

a few who give the most "advice" have never posted photos here

Re photography kit and technique, I like to see the work of the person who is giving the advice, before I take it. Many people have no visual clue whatsoever.

It would be useful if forums members had a link to their website etc.