Hopefully most who have visited my site have also traveled over to the blog site Prosophos. Peter, the man behind Prosophos often times post a series of pictures that tells a story. Please visit his site if you have the opportunity.
Today, I will start a series of pictures taken while on a hike at Saugatuck Sand Dunes park. I never realized that Lake Michigan was that beautiful!
ISO 200 1/250 sec f5.6 50mm (Leica M typ 240, Leica 50mm summicron APO, LR4)
I pass these trees everyday on my way to work. I’ve many times tried to imagine a good shot of them. This past weekend there was just a faint amount of fog and I stopped my truck and took a few shots. Initially, I didn’t think I would like the shot with the guard rail but I think it gives the image a more 3D appearance and adds to the symmetry provided by the tree’s.
P.S. As you can easily notice, there is nothing “alive” wear I live right now. Hopefully soon, we’ll start seeing some life.
ISO 200 1/350 sec f.95 50mm (Leica M typ 240, Leica 50mm noctilux, LR4)
Unsure if it’s the yellow brick or how the light was shining down but for some reason I was drawn to this.
ISO 160 1/2000 sec f1.4 35mm (Leica M9-P, Leica 35mm summilux FLE, Lr4)
It’s been a few days since I’ve posted any pics. We traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to visit family and then made a one day stop in our favorite city, Chicago. I’m pretty sure I captured a few good pics.
Here is a pic from our travel to Madison’s Farmer’s Market. I’ve been to farmer’s markets before, but none of this size. It completely surrounded the state capitol. Here is a pic of one of the vegetable stands.
ISO 160 1/750’s f1.4 35mm summilux (Leica M9, Leica 35mm summilux, Aperture 3.3)
Believe it or not, it took me 20-30 shots before I got this just right. I wanted to make sure that the one light behind the post was centrally located or at least close. Rangefinder cameras currently don’t allow for live viewing and when looking through the viewfinder, you are not looking through the lens. Because of this, you have to move very slowly either left or right to get the image where you want it (I enjoy the challenge).
I used my Leica 50mm noctilux and neutral density filter for the shot. I then used Nik Color Efex to add the ambient colors. The depth of field is not artificially created (bokeh). You can thank the noctilux and it’s ability to shoot at f.95 for that.
ISO 160 1/4000’s f.95 50mm noctilux
July 4th we spent up in Chicago. Since we only live a few hours away it’s always a great place to vacation. I got up one morning at sunrise and headed out to Alder’s Planetarium to capture pictures of downtown. After shooting over 100 pics with my Leica 21mm super elmar and my Olympus OM-D with the Panasonic 7-14mm lens I decided to get the noctilux out to capture some great depth of field shots. Here is one them.
ISO 160 1/2000s 50mm noctilux ND filter
It’s been a crazy past few weeks. Traveling from Indiana to Iowa and then to Wisconsin and then back to Indiana in 4 days started the craziness. Work has been incredibly busy and to finish everything off, I’m sitting in a hotel room in Chicago taking my surgical boards. Starting next week, I’ll be able to relax (at least I hope I can).
I’m not much of an abstract shooter but for some reason I really like geometric shapes. This shot was actually taken of an old bathroom floor in a restaurant/bar I was at in Wisconsin.
P.S. After 6 months of patiently waiting, I had a Leica 35mm summilux delivered a few days ago and look forward to posting some pics in the next few weeks.
ISO 160 1/500s f1.4 50mm summilux
I don’t shoot HDR (high dynamic range) photography very often anymore. I know some photographers don’t like it because they think they are too “Photoshop” or look fake. I would say that its personal preference. For years people have been manipulating pictures (i.e. Ansel Adams) and to be honest there are probably not too many pictures posted on the internet that haven’t had some editing. I know some will argue but I don’t really see the difference in HDR photography from someone who uses neutral density or graduated filters (i.e. Lee filters).
Even though I don’t shoot many any more, I still find Trey Ratcliff’s shots interesting and inspiring. He also has great comments to go along with his shots. Another photographer, Mark Neal shoots a lot of HDR and is great at discussing his workflow. If you haven’t visited their sites, I would highly recommend you do.
This shot was taken in San Diego. It was September and only weeks before I traded in my Canon 5D Mark II for my Leica M9. My Leica can shoot HDR (can bracket up to 7 shots) and I do from time to time but I’m more interested in shooting people in their daily lives and love the challenge of catching the decisive moment.
