This was my New Year's Eve 2009 party hat, and it's incredible that this hat survived New Years as it was a wild night, but that's another story.   The image is aptly named 'Party Hat'.  This is my favorite image of everything I've shot w/the VPM.

This is the VPM w/the 286mm FL Positive Meniscus which is WAY SOFTER than either the 235mm or 400mm positive meniscii and it's positive dreamy wideopen, which means you either need to stop it down to get anything sharp, or resort to really subdued light at wideopen.   This shot is wideopen w/REALLY subdued light, and w/low levels.

In terms of Chromatic Aberration/color fringing, this lens is so soft that it makes shooting w/color pleasant/different(at least to me) and so even thought this type of lens isn't designed for color, I feel free to do it anyway.   Whether it works for you, you'll have to be the judge.   I haven't changed or tweaked the original color.

I included the end of my aluminum sheet at the back on purpose as an artistic choice......focusing choices were tough as I had both the top of the hat and the brim to consider.   You haven't lived until you've photographed a 'jet black' hat w/out flooding it w/light to get some kind of detail.   I had to put a 'dash' of illumination here, and a 'dash' there and build up the illumination 'bit by bit' to suggest the contours of the hat.

Framing was also tough because the had didn't know if it was coming or going. 

Take care