Daniel Schaefer on Untold Street Stories with the Lomogon Art Lens

The New York-based photographer Daniel Schaefer a.k.a. outlierimagery is a loyal user of Lomography's growing Art Lens collection. A fond experimentalist when it comes to unique photographic gear, Daniel's first run with the Lomogon 2.5/32 Art Lens leaves him pleasing first impressions.

The portraitist and street photographer is all about finding distinct and unique narratives on the streets of New York. Having a more cinematic approach to his craft, Daniel prefers to be armed with equipment that will give him the nice middle ground between a portrait and landscape lens. For Daniel, a 32 mm lens such as the Lomogon 2.5/32 Art Lens seems like the best balance, as it mimics exactly what the naked eye perceives. The focusing distance of 0.4 m allows the user to capture every tiny detail of a picture.

Moreover, the lightweight and compact lens is advantageous to his routine. Daniel shared:

“Working with equipment that's nice and compact gives you this flexibility to be able to carry neither a significant amount of equipment if you like, or bring all you need in a relatively small package. I'm definitely a believer in packing light... Now, the nice thing about the Lomogon Art Lens is that when you have the coupling of that round aperture with that softer vintage design, you're able to get an incredible amount of detail and then have this beautiful transition from sharp to soft as you go from the eyes of your subject, back to the background.”

Having already tested the Minitar-1 Lens and the Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens, the Lomogon 2.5/32 Art Lens provides another unique feature to his creative street photography as it recreates the classic retro LC-A look.

“The other nice thing is that you don't get that off of almost any modern lens. Having that coupling of the perfectly circular apertures with that vintage optic really, really does sing as a song. Yes, one of the nicest things is it has a pastel look to it. I remember a portrait I shot of my friend Luna, a nice soft sunset in the background. The blue skies come across as this almost like pastel blue-green that's just absolutely stunning and just the colors that you don't get off of these digitally designed optics. Using that vintage design gives you this, I wouldn't say advantage, but color consistency and clarity that you just don't get with modern designs.”

Such a look has been a favorite aesthetic to mimic, even among digital camera users. Everything is possible now with the Lomogon 2.5/32 Art Lens.

Check out our coverage of Daniel Schaefer as he takes the Lomogon 2.5/32 Art Lens for a spin around New York City:

Visit Daniel's website and LomoHome for more of his works.

written by cielsan on 2019-02-20 #news #people #videos #artlens #lomogon-2-5-32-art-lens #lomogon #embracingexploration #art-lens #lomography-art-lens