11
445 Tenth Avenue, NYC, 2024
(fedia.io)
445 Tenth Avenue, NYC, 2024
Enough pixels for a house of mirrors at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53997928594
#photography
Captured with the Rodenstock 138mm/6.5 HR Digaron-SW lens (@ f/8), Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50, 1/30 sec), vertically shifted 15mm.
The glass curtain and reflection reminded me of Saul Bass's iconic title sequence for North By Northwest (imitated in Mad Men), though this is across town. The film also used a somewhat different perspective, looking downward, and at a sharper angle. Here, our focus is on the impressionistically rendered Times Square skyline rather than the street below.
The Rodenstock 138mm/6.5 is unusual for a larger-format lens in that it has a floating internal element that has to move as it's focused. This means it has to be focused with a helical ring (like an SLR lens) that moves both the focus and the internal element, rather than simply by moving it back and forth with a bellows. This makes the lens big, heavy, and cumbersome (not to mention spendy), but it's an extremely sharp design.