Kevin Thom - Hamilton, Toronto, Ontario Photographer

Hartblei 65mm f3.5 Super-Rotator lens.

I had some fun today. It was a beautiful spring morning, and the parking lot at my building was mostly empty. I decided to play with my new car and my Hartblei Super-Rotator lens. I picked up this lens on eBay last year, but haven’t used it a lot. The Hartblei is an f/3.5 65mm tilt-shift lens that can rotate both tilt and shift segments 360 degrees. What does this mean? It basically means you can put together some pretty crazy focal planes.

Tilt-shift lenses are great at creating a “miniature” effect. It’s the perfect effect to make a fun statement about how small Pepper, my little MINI Cooper S is. I parked Pepper rakishly in the middle of the lot, and climbed the metal ladder to the roof of my building, because the tilt-shift miniature effect only really works if you’re shooting from a high angle.

Because the Hartblei is a completely manual lens, it doesn’t communicate with your camera body at all. The camera’s display told me that my aperture was f/00. I dialed in f/3.5 on the barrel of the lens, and then used the camera’s meter to determine the right shutter speed.

I shot a few different angles, experimenting with different combinations of tilt, shift, and rotation. I have to admit, it’s a bit hard for me to predict how the different tilts and shifts will affect the final image, but half the fun is in the trying.

In the end, I found the miniature effect to be pretty convincing. The unexpected planes of focus and unusual depth of field created some fascinating results, and made Pepper look like a die-cast metal toy.

I have some more examples of this miniature effect in my photos from the bell tower in Xi’an, China.

I picked up Pepper yesterday. That’s what I’ve decided to name my new car. She’s not pickled and she’s more than a peck, but Pepper packs a punch. She’s a 2010 MINI Cooper S Mayfair Edition in, of course, pepper white. Sure, she’s cute, but she’s spicy too. Push the “Sport Mode” button by the shifter and she growls with anticipation for the next curve. Pepper’s also rockin the upgraded harmon/kardon sound system. Best. Upgrade. Ever. I have always enjoyed a good car stereo, and this one sounds fantastic. I spend so much time in the car, and cranking the tunes on this system makes time fly by.

My life has changed so much since I first picked up Emeril four years ago. I’ll miss Emeril’s all-weather AWD capability. In fact, Pepper’s the first non-Subaru I’ve had in about 12 years. I’m not saying I’ll never go back to driving a Subaru, because they’ve served me so well and gotten me through so many foul-weather scrapes, but now that I’m a full-time photographer, I just don’t need that kind of utility. If the weather is truly awful, there’s no need for me to leave the studio. I thought it was time to drive a car that went a bit further on a tank of gas, and suited my personal style a bit better.

Driving Pepper takes a little getting used to. The six-speed manual transmission is the first six-speed I’ve driven regularly, so having that extra gear is unusual for me. The spacing between gears is also different than what I’ve grown accustomed to, so I’m still figuring out what gear feels right for different situations. Pepper’s feisty engine is harnessed to the front wheels, and especially in “sport mode” gives a pretty hefty torque-steer twist under heavy acceleration. It’s part of the MINI Cooper S’s character to do this, but it will take a while for me to not to be surprised after having driven those highly symmetrical Subarus for years. The suspension is also quite stiff. Emeril’s suspension rode a pretty fine balance between handling and comfort, so Pepper’s more sporty suspension, combined with low profile tires can be slightly jarring on not-so-perfect Southern Ontario roads. That being said, I’m not complaining. My 39-month leased journey with Pepper is sure to be filled with driving fun.

I have to tip my hat to MINI Oakville, who took great care of me, even though there were bumps in the sales process. I have to admire a company who takes immediately and unreservedly takes responsibility for its mistakes and moves swiftly to correct them. I’m a happy customer, and I’m thrilled to dealing with any of the Budd’s car dealerships in the future.

After picking Pepper up from MINI Oakville, we went for a little spontaneous photo shoot. After all, Pepper’s a photographer’s car!