Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

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single frame: Drive carefully

Jim Grey
15 comments on single frame: Drive carefully
1 minute
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Wrecks Inc

Drive carefully
Pentax Spotmatic F, 35mm f/3.5 Super-Multi-Coated Takumar
Kodak Ektar 100
2017

I photograph this sign a lot. I love it! And I drive by it frequently as it’s on the way to Margaret’s.

This time I photographed it from the driver’s seat of my car. The 35mm lens I used let me do that easily from the side of the road, where I had pulled over. Whenever I photograph this sign with a 50mm lens, I have to back way up from it to fit it in the frame.

The more I shoot 35mm lenses, the more I like them. It’s such a useful focal length for road-trip photography. I don’t have to back up nearly as much to get things into the frame, yet when I want to move in close I can still do so credibly.

Comments

15 responses to “single frame: Drive carefully”

  1. Tim Carlson Avatar
    Tim Carlson

    Lovely picture. Just curious if you have any thoughts on the 28mm focal length? I find that I appreciate it a lot more than I do a 50mm for almost everything.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I shot a couple 28 mm lenses and love how much I can get into the frame with them. But the ones I’ve used have had such wicked distortion that it puts me off them. I experience far less distortion with 35 mm lenses, and so I tend to gravitate to those.

      Reply
      1. Andy Umbo Avatar
        Andy Umbo

        Lot’s of pros I know, like using the 35mm, as a “wide” without much “effect”, and allows you to get a little closer to the subject, and then the 24mm, when they’re really looking for the “effect”, or need to get a lot in the frame but feature something in the foreground. The 28mm was sold to a lot of amateurs, who were just looking for one wide, that’s why there’s so many used ones in the market place and they’re so cheap! Lot’s of “street shooters” swear that the 28mm is their favorite tho…

        Reply
        1. Jim Grey Avatar
          Jim Grey

          I can imagine that 24/28mm distortion adds drama for street photography!

          Reply
      2. Tim Carlson Avatar
        Tim Carlson

        Thanks for the thoughts. I have a Takumar 28mm f/3.5 that I use quite a bit. Also have a Canon AF10 that has a 26mm lense that tends to be with me when I travel and need something light and small. I may have to find an m42 35mm to try now!

        Reply
        1. Jim Grey Avatar
          Jim Grey

          Oh, you should. Coming up Monday: a review of my Spotmatic F, and more photos from this lovely lens. You’ll see.

          Reply
  2. Russ Ray Avatar
    Russ Ray

    I used to love seeing this sign at night driving home to Lafayette… I didn’t know it was still there!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Yep! Surprising as the junkyard has been out of business for at least 15 years. I bought a part here once, after I knocked the side mirror off my first wife’s car. I’m trying to remember if the sign still lit at night then. I can’t pull it out of my memory bank.

      Reply
  3. Reinhold Graf Avatar
    Reinhold Graf

    Hi Jim,
    I fully agree, that 35mm is a great focal lenght .. followed directly by the 28mm class ;)

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      You just have to know when best to use that 28mm!

      Reply
  4. rgiwfreenetde Avatar
    rgiwfreenetde

    Indeed … and always willing to zoom by foot ;)

    Reply
  5. peggy Avatar
    peggy

    Your composition of the subject works a treat with the lens. And as an unqualified film snob the Ektar 100 completes the photograph. :)

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Yeah, it’s easy to see Ektar all over this photo! Dirty little secret: this is the first photo I where I ever played with selective color in Photoshop. It really strengthened the color. Here it is before I made those changes:

      https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilene/35387185870/

      Reply
  6. roykarlsvik Avatar
    roykarlsvik

    35mm lenses… Couldn’t live without them.
    I got a couple of them for my Nikon cameras, and also to put on the rangefinders when needed, which is pretty much all of the time.
    And as always, it’s a totally brilliant road sign you got there. Never getting tired of this scene :))

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Yup! 35mm is fast becoming my favorite!!

      Reply

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