Capturing Muskogee

Tony Corbell ventures into historic Oklahoma for street photography and a Renaissance festival with the Tamron SP 24-70mm VC and SP 90mm VC Macro lenses.

Article by Jenn Gidman

Images by Tony Corbell

One of the most important elements in his travels across the border is having all-in-one lenses that help him achieve his photographic vision. The Tamron SP 24-70mm VC and SP 90mm VC lenses both fit the bill, providing Tamron's USD (Ultrasonic Silent Drive) for fast, accurate response, as well as the company's proprietary Vibration Compensation feature to ensure sharp, beautiful images every time. The new eBAND coating on the 90mm helps eliminate ghosting and flare. "When you're on the run, you don't want to have to wait to start shooting - these Super Performance lenses are so versatile that I can just pick up and start taking pictures," Tony explains.

For a day of street photography in Muskogee, Tony brought his Tamron SP 24-70mm VC. The 24-70 allows Tony to find his subjects, then fiddle around with the framing until he gets exactly what he wants to get photographically. "It's really important to me to figure out what I want to include in the frame," he says. "I'll set the lens to 24mm, turn on the lock (a feature I love), and bring it up to my eye. Then I'll turn the lock off and start slowly zooming in until I've got the shot I want. I'm able to work superfast this way."

Tony has certain criteria for what might earn a camera click in his street photography forays. "I always talk about four things to look for: lines, shapes, patterns, and textures. If a scene doesn't have something interesting in any of those four areas, it's probably not going to make an interesting picture. Maybe I'm not real conscious of it every second, but it's ingrained in me when I'm scouting out my shots."

Contrast is also critical. "There are different kinds of contrast for me," Tony explains. "There's scene contrast (the contrast inherent in a scene); there's subject contrast, which shows contrast in the actual subject itself; there's color contrast (for example, a bright azure sky with a yellow 'Yield' sign in the foreground). Plus, I've been known for years as the lighting guy, which means I'm also a shadow guy - anywhere there's great light, there are probably nice shadows, and that's what I look for."

Tony found the perfect example of this desirable contrast when he spied a pair of downspouts descending a brick wall. "I was heading back to the car when they caught my attention," he says. "I liked the sharpness and harsh, cutting angles of the rough, red brick, with these two soft, white curves coming between them. It was just a neat little vignette."

His years as an instructor for Disney World's photographers have also sharpened Tony's eye for certain features. "In Disney, they have 'Hidden Mickeys,' which are subtle ways they incorporate Mickey Mouse ears into parts of the park," he explains. "That has basically trained me to look for hidden elements like that. One thing I like to look for, for example, when I do my street photography is faces. I intentionally photographed a wall I saw with branches and exposed brick because it looked kind of like a face with those windows as eyes."

For a day at the Oklahoma Renaissance Festival at the Castle of Muskogee, Tony switched over to the Tamron SP 90mm Macro lens. "There were so many interesting things to see at this festival," he says. "I shot 90 percent of the day with that lens, and it performed beautifully. The sharpness is stunning, I get the bonus of that 1:1 magnification ratio, and it's light enough to carry around for the entire day."

The jugglers, jousters, and jesters who wander the festival proper provide plenty of portrait opportunities with the 90mm. "There are about 200 RVs in back of the fairgrounds - these folks live in there for about four weeks while the festival is going on, then they pack up and move on to the next town," Tony says. "I was able to use the 90mm to get some terrific portraits: I got the details in the faces with optimum exposure, and the backgrounds held up really well. There were a couple of portraits I took that I know I can make big, beautiful prints out of to use for my workshop samples."

One of Tony's goals was to put the 90mm lens through its paces to see how sharp he could get his images. "I was taking a break in the shade when this kid came and stood right next to me with a sword in his sheath," he says. "I said, 'Don't move!' I was thrilled with the results. This image came out ridiculously sharp, and the contrast really came through - it's one of those images you'd want to see in the festival brochure."

Taking advantage of the 90mm's maximum F/2.8 aperture allowed Tony to focus on some of the fair's signature items. "I wanted to test this lens on some of these things, like the helmets and wooden drinking cups and other things they sell in the souvenir shops, to see how the bokeh looked when I shot wide open," he says. "One of my favorite images was of a musical instrument called the carillon. It's basically 38 bells attached with cables. This guy with a mask came out like it was 'Phantom of the Opera' and started playing it. It was the most beautiful music I had ever heard."

The 90mm's Vibration Compensation also enabled Tony to go for shots that maybe he wouldn't have otherwise. "You're more willing to do things you might not do if you're carrying a tripod," he says. "There was one part during the festival when I jumped up on a set of bleachers, took some pictures from that vantage point, then came right back down. I know I wouldn't have bothered climbing up there at all if I had had to go get my tripod out of the trunk. The VC keeps everything steady and sharp and gives me more freedom so I can just enjoy the day."

To see more of Tony Corbell's work, go to www.corbellproductions.com.