6X12 in Jerusalem

[Ben Rubinstein]

Finally one from the 5D3 and 50L.

Haturim area of Jerusalem right near the shuk.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Took my class to the Bet Zayit reservoir in the Jerusalem Forest to teach them landscape photography. I taught them the concept of getting into position, choosing a composition and then waiting for the light to be right. No great sunsets or anything today but I had to show them something landscapey so I took this. OK job done.

The usual f16, tripod, mirror lock up, yada yada boring usual.

But the picture I really wanted was this one, f1.2 on the Canon 50L.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Walking in and around the Municipality buildings around 8pm last night. Funny to think about all the hassle people get photographing anywhere near government buildings in the US or UK but in Jerusalem where the security threat is far more immediate, me and my students could walk around the entire complex photographing, the only security guard to come up to me was a guy I had been in school with 15 years ago back in the UK who recognised me and came over for a chat For anyone in Jerusalem City Centre at night I can highly recommend a stroll through the municipality complex, beautiful architecture cleverly lit, a very peaceful stroll.

Iriya
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Canon 5D3, 50L @f1.2 iso 3200

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I processed the above picture in full from the RAW file, about an hour of tweaking and layers in PS. Then I realised I'd opened it as an 8 bit file. In the past I've gone back and done the whole thing again from scratch. This time I didn't bother. It works, the gradations are gentle and pleasing. To be honest I'm just not going to bother being anal about it.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

opinions please? I think the light is wrong, thinking of going back when the shadows are longer under that rock then hope to heck a kid walks past

 

[Shashin]

Ben, I am not sure the light is bothering me. It is not soft like the others in the series, but it does have that luminous quality. I think the plane of focus is creating something disconcerting. The wall seems in focus, but also the foliage in the tree in front of the boy, but the foliage has the effect it is closer like the wall. My mind is just having a hard time with it.

As far as the boy, since he is out of focus, you could just put a cardboard cutout there.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

So I hadn't been out shooting for waaaay too long, I had a really tough day in work today, at the end of it I said 'screw it', hopped on my bike and rode to the Old City. Spent about 2 hours there, got home really dehydrated but I got some pictures I'm pleased with. This is the first of them...

Zion Gate​

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Here is another I like. Hardly needed any work, it just came out perfect, great light will do that, it becomes almost a sin to dodge and burn.

Remembrance Steps
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[Ben Rubinstein]

Private. Old City Jerusalem. Please excuse horrendous jpg compression on the sign.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Today arguably the leading Rabbi of the Jewish people, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, passed away. The burial ceremony was to take place some 100 yards away from my studio and with an estimated million people coming to the ceremony (yes I said a million, police reporting over 10% of the entire country there!) I skedaddled about 3 hours before the start otherwise I would have been stuck there till midnight. I biked over to David's Tomb in the Old City of Jerusalem, the site where King David is said to be buried. There have been extensive renovations at the site over the past couple of years and the architect was a genius of lighting. The tonality and lighting they have created there is to die for. I need to spend far more time there but until then...

David's Tomb, Lensbaby Composer, f22, handheld at a 1/100 iso 6400 on the 5D3 which is remarkably film like. I could not believe just how much I could pummel that iso 6400 file and still hold the tones. We are blessed to live in this age of photography IMO.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Spent an hour today trying to calibrate the focus on my 50L which is driving me insane. I went out today to do some shooting with the hopefully fully calibrated lens. The light was gorgeous an hour before sunset and I captured a bunch of shots with the great light. Of course dufus here had forgotten to switch back to AF from the testing, the one shot which by chance had the focus exactly where I wanted it was also the shot which I liked the most. Phew, wipes brow. Not bad getting the focus perfect by chance at f1.2!

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Was in the UK for my sisters wedding, took a couple of days with the kids in the very rainy Lake District. Got up before dawn (who am I kidding, dawn was 8am! ) to shoot this image. My first fine art image with the A7r. Shot at iso 25600, yes, quarter of a million iso, about f2 on my 50mm Super Takumar handheld pre-dawn. It's a very fun camera to do this stuff with. Tiny old feel camera in hand, pipe in the side of my mouth pre dawn by a wet roadside. Not sure that life gets much better in the photography world....

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Was teaching a class on perspective sitting on this bench, the walls and trees there are perfect for explaining the concept. By the end of the class it was getting really cold. The kids were too busy complaining to notice the literally just two minutes of golden light but I borrowed my camera back and shot this quickly. 28mm has never been a focal length I 'see' in so please forgive what is for me a rather over easy/technical composition. This was a Pentax Takumar SMC 28mm f3.5 lens a friend gave me. First time taking it out to be honest. A7r handheld at f16, iso 3200. 36 megapixels, 50 year old wide angle lenses and handholding are not really the best recipe for landscape photography to be honest. The detail is around the 10 megapixel mark.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

One from today at David's Tomb. A7r with 50mm f1.4 Super Takumar @ f8 handheld iso 5000. I used to have to stitch with big DSLR's, L lenses on a sturdy tripod with MLU, cable release, iso 100, etc, etc to get pictures even approaching this level of sharpness, detail, DR and tonality that I get with a 50 year old lens. Just unbelievable how far we've come and how little PP work is needed now.

Mincha

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[Ben Rubinstein]

and another one, same location. Been chasing this particular picture for a while, taken me 3 visits to nail it though. Incredible to know that this picture (@f1.4) and the one above are from the same lens!

Flame
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[JednaChwila]

great photos and interesting point of view

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

Some of you may remember this shot from way back, using the lensbaby. They were building at the time down the left of the narrow alley and for the longest time the alley was just unpleasant to walk down. Finally though the building is finished and this is the view of the left side as you walk down. I had intended taking a serene image but instead ended up with one filled with ghosts to my eye. In any case I'm very happy with it.

Serene Ghosts, A7r, 50mm Tak Super @ f1.4
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[MichaelLee]

Old is Gold Awesome Shots.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I posted this in the Sony forum but it really belongs here, a return to 6X12 for me and in colour! Only ever shot 6X12 in colour once before and that picture is framed big over my bed. Was biking home in a driving hail storm (really painful when you're biking downhill into it) when I saw this scene. First thought was 'um, I don't really do that kind of thing these days' but the realisation that what would once have required setting up a tripod, stitching, bracketing etc, etc could now be taken in a single shot handheld with the tiny A7r in just a few seconds, I pulled over to the side of the road, leaned out over a tall steep wall and took this. The detail, DR and tonality of this single frame at iso 1000 is beyond belief.

 

[Ben Rubinstein]

I live opposite the Jerusalem Forest seen in the picture above, I've never gone for a real explore as my feet don't do walking so well. I had a day off today, was supposed to be at a photo conference in Tel Aviv which fell through at the last second. I had taken the day off work anyway so I decided to go for a bike ride through the top part of the forest. The weather is gorgeous, light beautiful and diffuse. I was actually scouting for a location for a model shoot but I came across this.

Jerusalem Forest, A7r, Pentax 50mm Super Takumar f1.4 @ f11 handheld.​