"Image as Painting"

[jsherman999]

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Kelly (PiRaTE) has posted some very nice VL Nokton images that look like
impressionist paintings - the bokeh looks 'painted', beautiful, not strictly 'smooth'
but with watercolor-blended colors and a pleasant blur.

Does anyone else have images from any lens that they think is painting-like?
Preferable shots with minimal PP, looking for native lens output.

I like the distinct look of different lenses, and the 'painting' effect is one of
my favorites.

I'll start with a shot from the FA 50 1.7 - The background looks to me like a Monet:

[maxwell1295]

You need to check out Rosemary's (rmtagg) Zenfolio page. She's done some amazing impressionist work with little or no manipulation.

2daysphotos

[Nesster]

I have a Yashinon DX 35/2.8 that has this quality - but can be sharp as well. Unfortunately some of the better samples are home, haven't loaded them to flickr yet.

[kenyee]

That reminds me...wandered into an art studio by mistake while on vacation recently and noticed some landscape pics that looked like actual places. When I asked, it was a process called "g'lay" (not sure how it's spelled but that's how it's pronounced). Apparently, they load up oil into ink jet printers and print away. It looks like an oil painting at slightly higher detail because the oils blend into each other, but it's not as sharp as the 8 color ink jet printers you have nowadays.
Just FYI in case you want to make your photos look more like oil paintings ;-)

[hinman]

I have one that quickly comes to my mine, it was done by my p&s with Fuji F30

Thoughts on Fuji F30 - Hin's Tech Corner

[Nesster]

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

this pic of our maine coon kitten shows the impressionistic quality that I like about the Yashinon 35.

[Mechan1k]

Here's a couple that maybe classed as painting like:

[jsherman999]

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This bokeh isn't for everyone, but I'm growing to love it (K 55 1.8) :




Look at the green in the upper right quarter of the shot - It really does it for me.


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[thePiRaTE!!]

Thanks for the praise J, and I have to say that I like the shots you're showing us here. This image is very much in the vain I'm trying to achieve myself, though you are correct in noting the bokeh is different. I've only recently converted to the church of bokeh. I used to be a tacksharp minister. I still like it if a lens can do sharp, but once you've got three or four lenses that can render to the max, other things start to set them apart.

Like fine wines, savouring the flavour of a lens bokeh gives each a reason to exist in the collection, but in the interest of having what I know with me when I need it, I'm limiting myself to one or two lenses to represent the best of bokeh and/or sharpness in wide, normal to short-tele and medium tele.

As it stands, for me I eagerly await the return of the T*25 to put its wide-angle, close focus to work on the life-as-art front. The 58mm Nokton is my only brush at the moment. The 90mm Lanthar is not compelling in this field, which I'm starting to feel is a race for fast horses only (ie f1.X) The FA31 showed me another face in these regards, but is actually too damn clear and legible wide open to fool anyone into thinking they're looking at anything but a good photograph.

I'm strongly considering adding another fast lens strictly for the purpose of 'painting'. One more option for speed. I've been researching user photos now, not MTF data for the first time. In fact, thats partly a lie... I've been looking for 'soft' MTF performance wide open. The vaunted 'dreamy' quality. Further to this, it seems that close-focusing, my old friend in generating astonishing bokeh, is sort of restrictive when generating 'normal' image perspectives in an arty way. A lens needs to have the perfect balance of gentle bokeh rendition, MFD (minimum focus distance) and wide open IQ 'loss'.

Right now the temptation leader is a lens I had no interest in only a couple weeks ago. With a MFD of 100cm (no danger of macro-osis here), the lowly Zeiss Planar 85/1.4 made a sudden surge into my interest for this purpose. It has been shot down in a couple of online resolution test sites for weak 1.4 sharpness. Hooray! Photozone noted a 'dreamy' quality at this aperture - huzah! And user images have shown painterly bokeh to burn.

Another Zeiss entry, the CZJ Pancolar 50/1.8 looks to fit the bill from a lot I've seen, and at a much more attractive price. Sadly, I think I'd be loathe to tote it with it sharing the bed with the 58. And I doubt it would justify much camera time in my case due to my overwhelming new love for the 58.

The Takumar 50/1.4 M42 has caught my eye... same as above. I could use my VL125/2.5 for longer shots in this vain... its the best option in a Lanthar for this.

But I keep coming back to the 85mm Planar. Anyone have any suggestions or affirmations on my direction with this? Any users of this lens in here?

EDIT: And how could I forget? The K50/1.2 Would enjoy someone to employ theirs to the ends sought here and post up some samples.

[benjikan]

Originally Posted by maxwell1295

You need to check out Rosemary's (rmtagg) Zenfolio page. She's done some amazing impressionist work with little or no manipulation.

2daysphotos

If you want to make your images more abstract, I suggest you read my PP article and adjust the sharpening tools and shadow highlight settings to their extremes.

User Photo Gallery - Architecture

Ben
Benjamin Kanarek post processing method | PentaxLife

[danielchtong]

Originally Posted by jsherman999

.


Kelly (PiRaTE) has posted some very nice VL Nokton images that look like
impressionist paintings - the bokeh looks 'painted', beautiful, not strictly 'smooth'
but with watercolor-blended colors and a pleasant blur.

Does anyone else have images from any lens that they think is painting-like?
Preferable shots with minimal PP, looking for native lens output.

With 200mmF2.8












Daniel

[Ron Boggs]

Here's one from the 100/4 macro for Pentax 67.

[Igilligan]

jsherman999 a great thread and your photo is a beautiful example of a photo as painting. I really like it.

I have a couple of ones that kind of work. The first is with my K100 and vivi 105. It is a bit harsh, but some of the impressionists were bold colorist's too. haha




The second is with my sony H2 and new 1.7tele. Not Bokeh, but heatwaves. It was a 105 degree day and I shot these folks across a field. It looked blurry on the lcd and I almost erased it. But when I got home I could see it was blurred from the 1/4 mile of heatwaves between me and them.
Still one of my favorite mistakes. Not a Monet, but my Phonet

[axl]

I have one picture which I think looks like painting. But it was all done by circumstances (heavy fog) and PPing. Not lens. The lens itself was Sigma 105. Anyway enough of talkink, here is the pic.:

[mickeyobe]

I must take issue with you.
Paint artists, indeed, all humans see everything sharp unless they are wearing the wrong type of eye glasses because our eyes focus automatically wherever they are directed.

What I see here are some lovely pictures in which the depth of field has been controlled either by serendipity or carefully controlled artistic photography. In some cases the lack of sharpness may have been achievedled by soft focus or out of focus lenses or camera and/or photographer and/or subject movement or even photoShop.
My favourite of all the pictures shown here is of the farmers in the field which was caused by shimmering heat waves. It comes much closer to an impressionist's painting than the others.

Mickey