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Aperture Series: Painted Rock
This series was taken in blowing wet snow. It adds a subtlety to the scene which is best appreciated at larger size. The rock, wetted from the snow, acquire a contrast and color saturation that would not exist in dry conditions. It’s difficult to capture the feeling of being in such a place at such a time, the cold, the quiet, the sense of impending change, but perhaps this gives a stark sense of it with a 'concrete' subject.
Painted Rock
Adobe Camera Raw 9.4 (548). ACR settings. Camera Profile = Adobe Standard.
The Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 at f/1.4 is not at its best, as can be seen from the crops* , but it has a rendering that over time comes to be appreciated. Here its wave-type field curvature which is evident in its MTF chart puts it a bit at odds with the relatively planar subject, but with stopping down it delivers an outstanding result, rich in color and detail and high in contrast, yet maintaining a clean separation of in-focus from out-of-focus areas. See the crops for specific characteristics.
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