Nature Photography with Robert Zhao Renhui and the Petzval 85 Art Lens

Singaporean nature photographer Robert Zhao Renhui took the Petzval 85 Art Lens on a trip to Iceland and captures native animals in their habitat.

In this unique shoot with the Petzval 85 Art Lens, we marvel at Robert's skill and vision.

Please introduce yourself to the Lomography community and the readers of the Online Magazine.

I am an artist working with photography and I have been documenting the nature for the past few years with my camera.

How did you get started with photography?

I picked up my dad's camera at a very young age. There was a forest being cleared right outside my apartment window and when I realized it was going to be gone forever, I started frantically to photograph the trees, or what was left of it.

Any pointers on capturing moving subjects?

I am usually too slow for my subjects, which are animals. So I don't bother. It's easier to just observe and watch.

Can you tell us a little more about your Petzval 85 Art Lens experience? Any interesting things you encountered or challenges?

The gold lens looks really strange on the SLR, to be honest! I think some of the animals at the zoo was really afraid of this shiny thing. I was in Iceland trying to photograph little narratives of nature in the white landscape. The lens was great in isolating the main subject out against the very cold landscape. The depth the lens creates adds to the isolation of some of the subjects. I didn't really need a lot of details in the landscapes I was photographing, as it was mainly all snow and ice. So the Petzval was a really unique in providing a little hint of mystery to the images.

Any tips for first-time shooters using the Petzval 85 Art Lens?

Be patient and be slow.

Any advice on how to fully utilize the Petzval 85 Art Lens?

Try all the aperture settings!

Do you have ongoing or upcoming projects that you would like to tell the community about?

I'm trying to photograph all the scenes from a book 'Camping and Tramping in Malaya'. This involves a road trip from Singapore to Malaysia. The book was written 100 years ago and I'm trying to photograph the changes.

Robert used the Canon 5Ds-R camera for this shoot. To keep updated on his work, follow his Instagram.

written by crissyrobles on 2017-06-08 #gear #petzval-lens #art-lens #lomography-art-lenses #petzval-85mm #petzval-85