Wedding Portraits with the 135 ART

[Destin]

Sharing these partially because I think they're decent shots, and also to continue my mini series on what I think of the Sigma 135 ART. I was a shooting a wedding and had hoped to use it for the majority of the day on one body, but the layout of the venue didn't lend itself to a prime lens.

I still pulled it out for some of portraits though, because I knew it would perform well there. All shot on the D810. Settings listed with the shots. First time shooting a wedding in the winter, and really like the falling snow in the portraits.

I'm really, really starting to enjoy this lens for portrait work. It's becoming my go to. I'm using it to shoot portraits in the snow with a local TF model this weekend, so I'll share those as well when it happens.

@Derrel, figured you'd like to see this.

1.) iso 90, f/1.8, 1/2000. They requested this pose and I thought it was cute. Pretty heavily cropped in because of where I had to stand, so the DOF would have been even thinner if I this is how I had framed it in camera.

2.) iso 100, f/1.8, 1/200. Again, slightly cropped in so I was farther than it looks from them, otherwise the DOF would have been even thinner.

3.) iso 125, f/4, 1/400th. Virtually no crop here.

 

[SquarePeg]

That lens has pretty results. I like your framing in these except for that butt ugly railing! What a bummer.

 

[Destin]

That lens has pretty results. I like your framing in these except for that butt ugly railing! What a bummer.

Yeah, I was trying to use the railing as a leading line of sorts. Not sure how well it worked :/

 

[jcdeboever]

Has good subject separation. Is it me or does it look sterile? Maybe I've been shooting to much film.

 

[smoke665]

Nice, though as others have mentioned that railing us terrible. Between the rust and the missing finals, it's a real distraction.

I like the first one more because of the OOF building.

 

[Destin]

Nice, though as others have mentioned that railing us terrible. Between the rust and the missing finals, it's a real distraction.

I like the first one more because of the OOF building.

Yeah, the railing is starting to piss me off the more I look at it.

I have other shots where it’s not in frame or is less noticeable. But I haven’t edited them yet.

 

[smoke665]

Yeah, the railing is starting to piss me off the more I look at it.

Just a thought but have you experimented with more of a head and shoulders shot? You gave some great color there with that orange bouquet especially. That would also make the snow more visable.

 

[Destin]

I have. I like it a lot. But I’m on my phone and can’t post it easily right now. I’ll share later.

 

[SquarePeg]

Very quick edit to remove the railing in photo #1, needs work but you could take some time to do it right. The other photos might be more complicated.

 

[jcdeboever]

Very quick edit to remove the railing in photo #1, needs work but you could take some time to do it right. The other photos might be more complicated.

View attachment 153151

Wow, what a wonderful improvement! I am not bothered so much by the coldness now. Super PEg!

 

[Destin]

Aright, here are a few that don't include the railing from this shoot. The first two were shot with the 135, and cropped in to remove the railing. The ability to make huge crops on the D810 files is super helpful in cases like this:

1.) taken at f/4

2.) taken at f/1.8. And this is a very heavy crop (taken from #2 above, which was already cropped)... really shows the detail captured by this camera/lens combination.

3.) While this one includes the railing, it isn't a focal point and doesn't really bother me.

4.) This one was actually taken with the 24-70 G2, but it really shows off their personalities to me (he was picking her up constantly), and I love the blowing snow so I figured I'd share it. Wish I hadn't cut off the top of the arch, but that's the kind of small thing that I struggle to catch in the moment.

 

[Derrel]

What I like about a 135mm f/2 lens (I've owned three different ones since the mid-1980's) is that is has a very rapid transition from the focused zone into the defocused zone at normal "people picture" distances on a 24x36mm capture size; used on APS-C, the smaller field of view tends to push you wayyyyyyyyyyyy far away, and so there's less of that IN-focus/OUT-of-focus transition when used on a crop-sensor body.

The thing is, when shooting on a full-frame camera (24x36mm image capture size), the 135mm lens has shallow depth of field AND it also literally "magnifies" the size of the background items, compared against a shorter lens like a 70mm zoom top end, or an 85mm prime, or a 105mm prime; the 135mm length has what I call a "lensy" look to its photos. For many people who've never shot a high-quality 135mm "speed lens" like the 135/2 Ai-S Nikkor, or the 135mm Defocus Control Nikkor, or Canon's nifty 135/2-L USM, they cannot seem to grasp the rationale behind this specific prime lens length; similarly, this is NOT a good lens to use on a crop-sendor camera for people work....the lens is NOT the same on a crop-body...

I dunno...this lens is VERY well-corrected for chromatic aberration; it's better than the older 135 DC Nikkor as far as CA goes; some people, OTOH, like a little bit of that CA on wide-open shots...but this new Siggy is very,very "clean" in the way it images a scene.

This lens is a modern optical marvel; not a miracle, but certainly a marvel.

 

[Destin]

What I like about a 135mm f/2 lens (I've owned three different ones since the mid-1980's) is that is has a very rapid transition from the focused zone into the defocused zone at normal "people picture" distances on a 24x36mm capture size; used on APS-C, the smaller field of view tends to push you wayyyyyyyyyyyy far away, and so there's less of that IN-focus/OUT-of-focus transition when used on a crop-sensor body.

The thing is, when shooting on a full-frame camera (24x36mm image capture size), the 135mm lens has shallow depth of field AND it also literally "magnifies" the size of the background items, compared against a shorter lens like a 70mm zoom top end, or an 85mm prime, or a 105mm prime; the 135mm length has what I call a "lensy" look to its photos. For many people who've never shot a high-quality 135mm "speed lens" like the 135/2 Ai-S Nikkor, or the 135mm Defocus Control Nikkor, or Canon's nifty 135/2-L USM, they cannot seem to grasp the rationale behind this specific prime lens length; similarly, this is NOT a good lens to use on a crop-sendor camera for people work....the lens is NOT the same on a crop-body...

I dunno...this lens is VERY well-corrected for chromatic aberration; it's better than the older 135 DC Nikkor as far as CA goes; some people, OTOH, like a little bit of that CA on wide-open shots...but this new Siggy is very,very "clean" in the way it images a scene.

This lens is a modern optical marvel; not a miracle, but certainly a marvel.

I never would have guessed how great of a portrait lens it was prior to getting my hands on it. I mean.. I knew it would be good if I got a sharp copy of it. But I didn’t think it would totally make me stop using my other lenses for portrait work.

What amazes me is how much is separates the subject from the background; even at f/4 or 5.6. I don’t need to shoot it wide open to get the effect. Which is weird.. because my 70-200 zoom lens at 135mm and the same aperturea doesn’t seem to cause nearly as much background separation. I know the DOF doesn’t change at all there, but the way the 135 renders sure makes it look thinner.

I don’t claim that my photos with this lens have been anything very special, but I’m in love with the look I get from it. I really need to make an effort to find reasons to use it more.

 

[smoke665]

@Destin I like the crops, to me it gets rid of a problem and adds intimacy to the shot. #1 is great, #2 is great though I might try to spend a little time in post cloning, so as to get the crop below the man's cuff a fingers. #3 is great I think your right on the railing. #4 I'm not a fan of, sorry. The pose looks awkward at the best. The long gown covers her feet such that at first glance it appears that she is a giant compared to him.