Surrealism in Landscape Photography can be enhanced by using a non-standard lens. I built a super-wide angle lens hack assembly specifically designed to produce a circular image on film.
I like that the full circle creates a frame for the subject.
After trying several variations, I settled on this version which has a nice roll off of sharpness and linearity at the edges.
A friend, upon hearing that we were going to visit the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, recommended the cactus garden area. Living in a desert region myself, I was loathe to shoot yet more cacti, but, the Huntington Gardens cactus collection is fabulous in every way.
The POV (Point of View) with any very wide lens can be challenging. With a full circle ultra-wide, where everything will show (read: NO CROPPING) camera position is critical. Note how well it works in close-ups as well as landscape wide shots.
I mounted the lens assembly on the great Nikon F100 camera body.
This rig allowed me to retain metering and manual focus with viewfinder clarity.
Neat, sweet, petite.
This particular lens hack produced the best images on film. Digital sensors require a different configuration for best imaging and resolution. (maybe the subject of another post?)
Cheers,
Ken Storch
they look great on the monitor!!!!!!!!!!!!
In real life too!
I love this work.
Thanks, Steve.
I’m thinking of doing another run of prints from these. I haven’t really worked with them for 2 years now.
Glad you like ’em.
these are really cool. i like the light falloff at the edges.
the falloff definitely adds to the aesthetics of this method. cheers.
would you be willing to share more information on how you created the Surreal Circular Landscape camera, especially how to do create an Ultra-Wide Lens Hack. I am currently digging deep on the internet to try to find DIY ways to create a camera that creates circular images. My preference is to use 120 film. I have a kiev, pentax 67II. any ideas?
Hi Susan,
I’ll respond to you offlist.
Ken