Stained Glass, Mausoleums in Rock Creek Cemetery

A final post of images I made during my recent visit to Rock Creek Cemetery.

 

There are a lot of mausoleums at this cemetery, and some of them have lovely stained glass windows, usually in the rear of the building. I decided to shoot some of them using my new Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS lens. This lens allowed me to get sharp images of the stained glass, but blur the distracting front glass and iron gates of the mausoleums. I like how the shallow depth of field isolates the images from the rest of the scene.

Mausoleum Stained Glass, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS Lens at f1.2

 

I also like the reflections of the trees in the front glass.

 

This lens provides the opportunity to do some very unique things with my images.

 

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Another Example of How Technology Affects Vision

I've posted this picture before, taken with the Nikon Df and Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS lens.

 

Here's the same statue, shot with the Reality So Subtle 6x17 panoramic pinhole camera.

 

 

I love figuring out how to use different tools to make images that appeal to me.

 

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How Technology Affects Vision

Each and every camera and lens we choose brings with it a unique vision, and unique constraints. It's the combination of these influences, and creative vision, that interests me the most. Here are two shots of the same subject, made from approximately the same distance and location, but with very different cameras.

 

First, an image made with the Nikon Df and Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AF-D Lens.

 

 

And now, one made with the Reality So Subtle 6x17 panoramic pinhole camera, on 120 (medium format) film.

 

 

Quite a difference, I'd say. I like them both.

 

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Adams Memorial Statue by Saint-Gaudens - And Connections

Adams Memorial Statue, by Reed A. George

Nikon Df, Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS Lens

iso 100, f1.2, 1/2000 sec.

 

My friends Charlie and Bill introduced me to this beautiful piece of art in the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC. It was made by Saint-Gaudens in memory of the wife of Henry Adams, Marian "Clover" Hooper Adams.

 

The first connection with photography is the fact that Mrs. Adams perished after drinking potassium cyanide, which she normally used to process photographs. Another photographic connection is that the statue was inspired by the Buddhist Bodhisattva of Compassion, Kannon. Kannon (Kwannon) was the namesake of the Japanese camera company Canon.

 

Adams felt very strongly that this statue should never be named. In fact, he cursed anyone who names it. (Click Here) to read his wishes, and the full history of the memorial.

 

I am pleased with the way my new 50mm f1.2 AIS lens rendered the statue. I used out of focus regions resulting from the very thin depth of field the lens produces wide open to bring attention to the shrouded face. The hand also serves as a compositional element that leads to the face.

 

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