Today was another day devoted mainly to the 24mm PC-e lens. I set off for one of my very favourite places, Deepdale. This is a lonely valley accessed from the road to Patterdale. Despite easy access, very few people make their way there in comparison with the standard Lakes honey pots. In 7 hours I only saw one walker heading up the valley. This provided an interruption and distraction free time in which to develop greater experience with this challenging lens. I understand the general principles of Tilting and have read all that I could find in terms of practical usage advice. I was also helped enormously by Andy Phillips who generously shared with me his precise step by step process.I felt that the only way to develop was simply to use it a lot until some of the thinking was replaced by feeling. That's what I've been doing since buying it. Not all situations lend themselves to a T&S lens or indeed to 24mm however and I havent tried to 'force the issue'. Today was the first day in which I have felt the balance shift towards a majority of success rather than failures. Today I made progress in a number of aspects. I think I am beginning to get a 'feel' for the tilt and refocus process; when things look right, they are increasingly right. I also chose use the viewfinder more than live view in the initial setup. I had also been focussing on the nearest point before tilting for the distance but today I've been focusing on a point a little further out and the number of iterations seems to have decreased.Probably the key gain today is that I felt the lens was working with me and not against me. I was enjoying using it and not fighting it. Perhaps the peace and tranquility of the location helped, perhaps it is just another inevitable step. The attached image was made with the 24mm f3.5 PC-E, 30s at f11 with a Lee Polariser and 3 stop ND.
Lee Seven5 storage solution
A quick Google of cases and storage solutions for the Lee Seven5 filter system swiftly reveals many people seeking in vain for a sensible way of keeping their filters safe when in the camera bag.This is particularly so when one owns a rare and valuable Lee Big Stopper which, being glass, is prone to emerging from the camera bag in pieces. Lee themselves have no sensible offering and the alternative manufacturers have yet to decided that the numbers warrant the design and investment in new products.It is easy to find a huge case and even easier to find something that lack the necessary protective qualities. However there seems to be not a single advertised, usable solution.Enter the humble 2.5" external hard drive case, These are sold for a few pounds on the usual sites and to me seem to do the job very well until a more specialist item appears. One half of the clam shell holds adapter rings while the other holds at least three and perhaps as many as five Lee Seven5 filters. There is little wasted space and I think just about enough protection for the glass filters. I would prefer a specialised model that holds the filters separately and without their Lee wraps but for now this seems a great solution. if anyone has found a better solution, I'd be really keen to hear.
Refining the process
This image was made three weeks ago. The revised workflow that I came back with has begun to change the nature of the output. The combination of CS5 and Silver Efex Pro has begun to allow me to produce the image that I had in my head.The initial RAW file came out of a Nikon D700, Nikon 16-35mm VR and Lee Big Stopper.