Zenobia In Chains, Study #2

Here is a front view of Harriet Hosmer's "Zenobia in Chains" at the St. Louis Art Museum.  The current lighting on her face is unfortunate, but it works for other details like her crown.  The image here is a faux-Fresson (see an exmple), similar to work by Sheila Metzner and others.  I found an interesting comparison of printing techniques at Durbin Photographics.  I'm still adjusting the technique.  For instance, I'm finding that I'll need to adjust the amount of grain noise for print size.

Technical: Nikon D700, AF-S Nikkor 50mm f1.4 G, ISO 1600, Tungsten WB, f/1.4 @ 1/250s, handheld. RAW file processed in Lightroom 2.6 to crop, noise reduction with Nik Dfine, color adjusted with Nik Vivenza and Fresson effect applied with Nik Color Efex Pro.

The center sharpness of the 50mm f1.4 G at f/1.4 is amazingly good.  In fact, it looks as sharp to me as the venerable 50mm f1.8 at f/4.0.  I've seen mixed reviews on NikonGear.com and other Nikon equipment blogs, but I think it is a solid performer.