Bob Eckert Photography
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    • 2022 New Mexico Treasures Calendar
    • 2022 Pic of the Day
    • 2023 Pic of the Day
    • 2024 New Mexico Treasures Calendar
    • 2024 Pic of the Daly
    • Abandoned Buildings Series
    • Abiquiu Dam
    • Abiquiu Livestock Sale
    • Adjective Challenge
    • Aerial Photos
    • Agricultural Profile: Christopher Bassettt: Freshies of New Mexico Farm, Velarde, NM
    • Aircraft - BW Portraits
    • Agriculture
    • Albumen Prints
    • Albuquerque Aquarium
    • Albuquerque, New Mexico, Murals
    • Albuquerque Sunport Lowrider Show
    • Alt Fashion
    • Alt Portraits
    • Amish, Kalona, Iowa
    • Angel in Albuquerque
    • Art-o-Mat
    • Astro Zombies Murals
    • Behind the Scenes at the Circus
    • Birds
    • Black and White Photos
    • Black Mesa, San Ildefonso Pueblo
    • ​​Book Review: "Orale! Lowrider: Custom Made in New Mexico"
    • Breakdancing (b-boying or break-boying)
    • Brothers
    • Cabezon Peak
    • Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak Fire
    • Carlton, Oregon
    • Car Portraits
    • Cesar Chavez and the UFW
    • Cell Phones
    • Cerro Pedernal
    • Chama River (Rio Chama) Overlook — New Mexico
    • Chiaroscuro: Light and Dark
    • Chicano Park Murals
    • Children Portraits
    • Churches
    • Circus Behind the Scenes
    • Classical Gas Museum
    • Close Up Photos
    • Cloud Photos
    • Colors
    • Comic Con New Mexico
    • Computers
    • Concorso Santa Fe
    • Contrast
    • Crosswalk Painting
    • Cumbres Toltec
    • Day of the Dead, Albuquerque's Marigold Parade
    • Descansos
    • Design photographs in the style of Charles Sheeler
    • Detroit Street Photos
    • Dogs
    • Dragonfly Bus
    • Emma Eckert's Pendants
    • Explora Albuquerque
    • Fisheye Lens Portraits
    • Fisheye Lens Photos
    • Fisheye Lenses Discussed
    • Fog Smoke Haze in Photos
    • Gay Pride Parade
    • Ghost Ranch
    • Goggles Sunglasses and Masks
    • Goofing Around with mime Mark Wenzel
    • Gordon Tooley, Apple Guru
    • Hasselblad XPan Modification
    • Hats
    • Highway 550
    • Horizont Camera Panoramic Images
    • Humor
    • Industry
    • Indian Market Native Costumes
    • Infrared Photos
    • Infrared with a Leica M8 Camera
    • In Praise of Kit Lenses
    • In Praise of Manual Lenses
    • Insects
    • Instagram
    • International Center of Photography
    • Isabro Ortega, Truchas, NM, Woodcarver
    • Isolated Trees
    • Isolation Photos
    • Jeff Brock and Bombshell Betty
    • John Lea's Painted Truck
    • Juxtaposed
    • Kaleidoscope Photos
    • Lady of Guadalupe
    • Landscape Photos
    • License Plates
    • Light Quality
    • Lomography Spinner 360
    • Lowriders
    • Lowrider Day Espanola, NM
    • Lowrider Show 2013 Revisited
    • Lowrider Show Story August 2012
    • Lowrider Summer
    • Lowriders: Vintage San Francisco Bay Area Show
    • Luck in Photography
    • Luck in Photography vers 2.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 3.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 4.0
    • Luck (or Timing) in Photography vers 5
    • Luck in Photography vers 6.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 7.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 8.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 9.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 10
    • Luck in Photography vers 11
    • Luck in Photography vers 12
    • Luck in Photography vers 13
    • Luck in Photography vers 14
    • Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
    • Matachines de Alcalde
    • Mirror Images
    • Moody, Dark, Mysterious Photos
    • Moon Photos
    • Mountains
    • Moving Arts Espanola
    • Moving Landscapes
    • Murals in Espanola, New Mexico
    • Murals: Santa Fe, New Mexico
    • National Museum of Nuclear Science and History
    • Natural Dyeing with Glenna Dean
    • New Mexico Press Association 2022 Award Winner
    • New Mexico Press Association Award Winner
    • New Mexico Press Association 2024 Award Winner
    • New Orleans Street Photography
    • Nicholas Herrera El Rito Santero
    • NM Treasures 2023 Calendar Image
    • Northern New Mexico
    • Norteno Artist Portraits
    • Olympus Pen FT Half Frame First Photos
    • Owl Cafe, Albuquerque
    • Panoramic Mosaics
    • Panoramic Photos
    • Patterns in Photography
    • Pet Store Animal Photos
    • Photographers
    • Photographing Lowriders
    • Pic of the Day
    • Pink Cadillac
    • Plants and Flowers
    • Polaroids of Northern New Mexico
    • Portfolio of Ten
    • Portraits
    • Port of Portland
    • Portraits of Strangers
    • Published Favorites
    • Repetition in Photos
    • Resurrecting Film
    • Rio Arriba: A New Mexico County
    • Road to Pedernal
    • Rocket Heads Jewelry
    • San Francisco Chinatown
    • Santa Rosa de Lima Church Rluins
    • Scale in Photography
    • San Francisco Street Photos
    • Service People Portraits
    • Sequential Series Photos
    • Shadows
    • Shadows
    • Shooting Into The Sun
    • Snow Photos
    • Spanapalooza
    • Stand Alone Photos
    • Still Life Photos
    • Storm and Rain Photos
    • Street Photography
    • Sunset / Sunrise Photos
    • Sunrays
    • Surplus Love
    • The Yin/Yang of Families
    • Tibetan Monk Sand Painting
    • Timing in Photography
    • Trailer Landscapes
    • Trees
    • UNESCO Creative City - Santa Fe
    • United Farm Workers
    • Urban Landscapes
    • Variations on a Theme
    • Very Large Array Radio Telescopes
    • Vibrant Saturated Images
    • Vintage Ford and Cadillac Manufacturing
    • Vintage - Pre -digital photos
    • Water
    • Why I Take Photographs
    • Widelux F6: First Roll
    • Widelux Panoramic Photos
    • Working
    • WWII Reenactment
  • Archive

Fisheye Lens Portraits

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There is a fellow (grEGORy) who writes and photographs. His website is www.ultrasomething.com/ and in one of his posts he was talking about the Widelux panoramic camera.

Egor (I refer to him as Egor but he uses grEGORy) is a terrific writer and often offers a unique perspective on photography.
In this Widelux article he talked about the wide-angle lens being a “Contextual” lens.

“It discussed how I work with wide-angle lenses and why I prefer to call them ‘contextual; lenses,” grEGORy wrote (he uses unique lettering for his name). “With their extensive depth of field and wide angle of view, they enable me to frame my subject within the context of its environment, rather than isolating the subject from it.”

Egor and I share a fascination with wide angle lenses and panoramic images, and his use of the word “contextual” resonated since it is a term I have been using for years to describe my wide-angle work.
​
I’ve used ultra wide-angle lenses, panoramic cameras such as the Widelux and the Russian-built Horizont. I have used the panoramic feature on some of my digital cameras, a Lomography Spinner 360 and I also have used a number of fisheye lenses; my favorite being the Sunex 185 degree circular fisheye.

Similar to composition with the Widelux camera, I try to fill the image completely but, at the same time, avoid putting extraneous things into the frame, which with a lens that covers 185 degrees, is sometimes a challenge.

The circular fisheye lens is something of an acquired taste and perhaps even more than a lot of lenses lends itself to particular subjects, so it's not an everyday lens for a lot of folks.

One of the tricks I've learned is to include something that acts somewhat like a frame that surrounds the subject, such as the plant arbor around the two boys in the backyard swing or the overhead shade structure around the portrait of the four cousins.

I also try to keep the subject of the portrait centrally located as the edges add a lot of distortion and the central portion of the circular fisheye is relatively distortion free.
​
I recently started compiling a series of portraits using the Sunix and the main reason I’ve done this is to include as much of the surrounding area, or environment, as I can in the portraits.
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To contact Bob Eckert for assignments, consultations or workshops, please email [email protected]
​or use the contact form on the About page
  • Home
  • About
  • Clients
  • Projects
    • 2022 New Mexico Treasures Calendar
    • 2022 Pic of the Day
    • 2023 Pic of the Day
    • 2024 New Mexico Treasures Calendar
    • 2024 Pic of the Daly
    • Abandoned Buildings Series
    • Abiquiu Dam
    • Abiquiu Livestock Sale
    • Adjective Challenge
    • Aerial Photos
    • Agricultural Profile: Christopher Bassettt: Freshies of New Mexico Farm, Velarde, NM
    • Aircraft - BW Portraits
    • Agriculture
    • Albumen Prints
    • Albuquerque Aquarium
    • Albuquerque, New Mexico, Murals
    • Albuquerque Sunport Lowrider Show
    • Alt Fashion
    • Alt Portraits
    • Amish, Kalona, Iowa
    • Angel in Albuquerque
    • Art-o-Mat
    • Astro Zombies Murals
    • Behind the Scenes at the Circus
    • Birds
    • Black and White Photos
    • Black Mesa, San Ildefonso Pueblo
    • ​​Book Review: "Orale! Lowrider: Custom Made in New Mexico"
    • Breakdancing (b-boying or break-boying)
    • Brothers
    • Cabezon Peak
    • Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak Fire
    • Carlton, Oregon
    • Car Portraits
    • Cesar Chavez and the UFW
    • Cell Phones
    • Cerro Pedernal
    • Chama River (Rio Chama) Overlook — New Mexico
    • Chiaroscuro: Light and Dark
    • Chicano Park Murals
    • Children Portraits
    • Churches
    • Circus Behind the Scenes
    • Classical Gas Museum
    • Close Up Photos
    • Cloud Photos
    • Colors
    • Comic Con New Mexico
    • Computers
    • Concorso Santa Fe
    • Contrast
    • Crosswalk Painting
    • Cumbres Toltec
    • Day of the Dead, Albuquerque's Marigold Parade
    • Descansos
    • Design photographs in the style of Charles Sheeler
    • Detroit Street Photos
    • Dogs
    • Dragonfly Bus
    • Emma Eckert's Pendants
    • Explora Albuquerque
    • Fisheye Lens Portraits
    • Fisheye Lens Photos
    • Fisheye Lenses Discussed
    • Fog Smoke Haze in Photos
    • Gay Pride Parade
    • Ghost Ranch
    • Goggles Sunglasses and Masks
    • Goofing Around with mime Mark Wenzel
    • Gordon Tooley, Apple Guru
    • Hasselblad XPan Modification
    • Hats
    • Highway 550
    • Horizont Camera Panoramic Images
    • Humor
    • Industry
    • Indian Market Native Costumes
    • Infrared Photos
    • Infrared with a Leica M8 Camera
    • In Praise of Kit Lenses
    • In Praise of Manual Lenses
    • Insects
    • Instagram
    • International Center of Photography
    • Isabro Ortega, Truchas, NM, Woodcarver
    • Isolated Trees
    • Isolation Photos
    • Jeff Brock and Bombshell Betty
    • John Lea's Painted Truck
    • Juxtaposed
    • Kaleidoscope Photos
    • Lady of Guadalupe
    • Landscape Photos
    • License Plates
    • Light Quality
    • Lomography Spinner 360
    • Lowriders
    • Lowrider Day Espanola, NM
    • Lowrider Show 2013 Revisited
    • Lowrider Show Story August 2012
    • Lowrider Summer
    • Lowriders: Vintage San Francisco Bay Area Show
    • Luck in Photography
    • Luck in Photography vers 2.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 3.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 4.0
    • Luck (or Timing) in Photography vers 5
    • Luck in Photography vers 6.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 7.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 8.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 9.0
    • Luck in Photography vers 10
    • Luck in Photography vers 11
    • Luck in Photography vers 12
    • Luck in Photography vers 13
    • Luck in Photography vers 14
    • Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego
    • Matachines de Alcalde
    • Mirror Images
    • Moody, Dark, Mysterious Photos
    • Moon Photos
    • Mountains
    • Moving Arts Espanola
    • Moving Landscapes
    • Murals in Espanola, New Mexico
    • Murals: Santa Fe, New Mexico
    • National Museum of Nuclear Science and History
    • Natural Dyeing with Glenna Dean
    • New Mexico Press Association 2022 Award Winner
    • New Mexico Press Association Award Winner
    • New Mexico Press Association 2024 Award Winner
    • New Orleans Street Photography
    • Nicholas Herrera El Rito Santero
    • NM Treasures 2023 Calendar Image
    • Northern New Mexico
    • Norteno Artist Portraits
    • Olympus Pen FT Half Frame First Photos
    • Owl Cafe, Albuquerque
    • Panoramic Mosaics
    • Panoramic Photos
    • Patterns in Photography
    • Pet Store Animal Photos
    • Photographers
    • Photographing Lowriders
    • Pic of the Day
    • Pink Cadillac
    • Plants and Flowers
    • Polaroids of Northern New Mexico
    • Portfolio of Ten
    • Portraits
    • Port of Portland
    • Portraits of Strangers
    • Published Favorites
    • Repetition in Photos
    • Resurrecting Film
    • Rio Arriba: A New Mexico County
    • Road to Pedernal
    • Rocket Heads Jewelry
    • San Francisco Chinatown
    • Santa Rosa de Lima Church Rluins
    • Scale in Photography
    • San Francisco Street Photos
    • Service People Portraits
    • Sequential Series Photos
    • Shadows
    • Shadows
    • Shooting Into The Sun
    • Snow Photos
    • Spanapalooza
    • Stand Alone Photos
    • Still Life Photos
    • Storm and Rain Photos
    • Street Photography
    • Sunset / Sunrise Photos
    • Sunrays
    • Surplus Love
    • The Yin/Yang of Families
    • Tibetan Monk Sand Painting
    • Timing in Photography
    • Trailer Landscapes
    • Trees
    • UNESCO Creative City - Santa Fe
    • United Farm Workers
    • Urban Landscapes
    • Variations on a Theme
    • Very Large Array Radio Telescopes
    • Vibrant Saturated Images
    • Vintage Ford and Cadillac Manufacturing
    • Vintage - Pre -digital photos
    • Water
    • Why I Take Photographs
    • Widelux F6: First Roll
    • Widelux Panoramic Photos
    • Working
    • WWII Reenactment
  • Archive