I recently acquired a Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. A second hand lens, but owned by someone I knew, a person who takes good care of their hardware. I had actually used the lens a few times to shoot custom cars at local Cruise-In events. Super wide lenses like the Tokina are super specialized. Good ones are not cheap so to get any value out of them the photographer needs to have an application where nothing else can be substituted. The lens worked great for shooting those custom cars in situations where it's hard to get distance, and where a little dramatic perspective can be a plus.
This week I decided it was time to try the Tokina on landscapes. I thought the waterfalls and cascades at South Mountains State Park would be a good test. No panorama views to be had here. This is all temperate forest where you have to get close in. It's a situation where getting some drama in the shot is always a challenge. I had previously shot some of these scenes with the Sony 16-50 f/2.8 kit lens. That lens is a great all rounder, but the problem with all these general purpose lenses is that by definition they have to be a compromise. As such their best performance is not likely to be at the extremes. If you love your subject, get a lens that's going to be great at the focal length that works best for that subject.
This first shot is of the highest cascade of the High Shoals Falls system. It's only a few hundred yards from the base of the falls, and maybe 50 feet lower in elevation. Just out of the frame to the left is a bridge where the trail crosses the stream. To get a shot where the wide angle is going to be of value means ignoring all the " Danger: Stay on the Trail" warning signs and getting down on the rocks and close to the water. I hadn't seen another soul that morning, so I had to be careful in finding a good spot. The humidity was above 90% and every surface was wet and slippery. Hurt yourself here and it may be hours before a hiker would find you, and more hours before the paramedics would be on scene. Not a huge deal, just take as much time as you need and use caution.
On this particular day the whole park was in the clouds. So the light was like being inside a giant softbox. The shot was taken at 10:30 am, so it was reasonably bright, but you could not see the sun, just a brighter part of the completely white sky. I had a vision of what I was after, and this quality of light would be perfect. To achieve that end I brought along a collection of neutral density filters.
For most of the shots I took on this excursion I used a Tiffen 1.2 ND filter. That's four stops. I tried a few different combinations to get the look I wanted. This one was at f/5.6 to get that near infinite depth of field. I used ISO 100 to avoid noise, especially since there were a lot of deep shadows and dark, wet rocks. Using low ISO also extends dynamic range. I also set the DRO, dynamic range optimization for non-Sony folks, to level 4. In Sony-speak the exposure range adjustment consists of lifting darker areas. With a setup like this, every little bit helps.
The cool thing about using the ND filters is that you set the aperture right in the zone where the lens performs best. You get great clarity, while slowing things down just enough to get that silky look to the water. All in all I'm pretty happy with this shot. I like the slightly desaturated color, all the textures in the rocks, water and foliage, and the combination of detail and blurred movement. All in all, a decent representation of what it was like to be there. And for me, that's what having a great lens is all about.
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