Category: Rangefinder

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The Moment

This past week I’ve been in San Diego teaching. It’s always enjoying going to this meeting because I get the opportunity to assist in teaching future surgical podiatrists. Unlike some conferences I go to, where many of the participants are there to get their CME’s (continuing medical education), these participants (residents) are eager to learn and try to grasp as much information we can give to them. I also enjoy seeing colleagues of mine who are some of the best foot and ankle surgeons in the country.

Unfortunately, even though I get to travel for these meetings I typically don’t get much time to explore, thus there are not many picture opportunities. Fortunately, last year when flying to San Diego I happen to sit next to an airline pilot, Elijah Nicolas. He and I have very similar interests and I think we spent the entire 3 hours trying to one up each other in our knowledge of technology related stuff. Since then, we have kept in contact and I had the opportunity to meet up with him for dinner last night and a quick tour of some of the popular places in downtown San Diego. Elijah has a blog,elijahnicolas.com, if you have time please visit it. Thanks Elijah for a great time and good luck in your triathlon today.

Elijah drove me to Balboa Park to see if I could find any interesting picture opportunities. The area is very cultural and has many beautiful buildings and museums, hopefully I can return some day. As we were walking towards a large fountain in the park, a couple just happened to be standing there and both decided to show their affection for one another. It immediately made me think of my wife and daughter who I haven’t seen for 4 days. I can’t wait to get home and show both of them affection. Here is a picture of that “moment” I was speaking of.

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The Swamp

Here in northeast Indiana there are many nature preserves.  Probably the most well known is the ACRES Land Trust.  ACRES Land Trust is made up of many preserves throughout northeast Indiana.  All are free and have nice trails.

One after noon I drove to one of the preserves west of my home.  This preserve is mostly forest and swamp.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture any exciting shots (the foliage did not have much colors).  I took this one shot of of an isolated tree within one of the swamps.

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The Cross

Recently I decided to sell my Leica 21mm elmarit and move to a 28mm summicron.  This decision didn’t come easily.  I’ve enjoyed  shooting with wide angle lenses (I had Canon 16-35mm on my full frame 5d Mark II) but have noticed recently my interest is beginning to change.  As I have become more educated in photography, I’ve realized that wide angle lenses are not always the best for landscape.  Wide angle lenses can flatten your image and typically have a lot of distortion.  They are best, when you have something relatively close to you in the foreground and are attempting to add some depth of field.  Telephoto or at least 90mm lenses are often times better for true landscape with no subjects in the foreground.

Leica 28mm summicron is still considered to be a wide angle lens but it doesn’t have any noticeable distortion.  On the Leica M9 it also will allow you to use the internal viewfinder versus an external (needed for anything wider than 28mm).  This lens is very popular with journalist because of its wide angle, no distortion, low light performance, and sharpness.  So far i have to agree with their assessment.  Hopefully soon I’ll post a few more pics using the lens.

A few days ago I drove to a small rural Catholic church.  Behind the church lies a small cemetery.  I captured this image using my 28mm summicron at sunset. I really like the sharpness  and bokeh produced.

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Our Future @ 3 months

Continuing with my monthly series of “Our Future”, I’ve captured our baby girl at 3 months.  Each time I setup for this shot, I get scared that she may not cooperate.  As she has gotten older, she sleeps less, and is more in tune with her surroundings, thus it’s hard to get her to stay still for any duration of time.  With this said, it’s actually been easier to get this shot.

I’ve only posted one picture from each photo shoot so far but this time I have two.  Maybe you can comment which one you like best?  Personally, I like her looking forward but I think her mom likes her smiling at the camera.  In either case, it’s remarkable how much she has grown and how she can easily hold her head up now.  Enjoy, we sure have!!!

P.S.  I’ve also posted a comparison of all her previous pics (you can also see the previous post “Our Future“, “Our Future @ 4 weeks“, and “Our Future @ 8 weeks“).

 

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Motion – Silver Efex Pro 2 (short review)

I thought today I would show a before and after picture taken in Chicago using Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 for post processing.  All my pictures that become black and white are processed through Silver Efex Pro.  I’ve been using it since the first version.  The second version is far better because it has more control sliders and has “U point” technology.  “U point” is unique to Nik Software programs because it allows you to edit only certain parts or colors of your picture instead of making global changes.  I highly recommend the software if you are going to be making black and white pictures.

This picture was taken with my M9.  I was hoping to get a since of motion with the car. I was able to get this by making sure the rest of the scene was in focus.  The initial color picture is boring, changing to black and white and adding some vignetting makes it much more interesting.

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Part 2: Pics from Leica Akademie Workshop – Chicago

As I mentioned yesterday, I really enjoyed the Leica Akademie workshop and also meeting with the participants.  Here are a few more pics taken during the workshop. The first one I was trying to focus in on the gal sitting but I think what makes the picture is actually the 3 people all trying to take pictures. The second pic was taken while waiting to cross the street. I usually wouldn’t find this interesting but I like how the crowd of people are so content in looking in different directions. The last pic was taken of a guy near our hotel street corner who was attempting to entertain the crowd with his multiple musical abilities.

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Leica Akademie: M9 Shooting Experience – Chicago

This past Saturday I participated in the Leica Akademie M9 Shooting Experience Chicago.  I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I’ve never met any other Leica users with the exception of speaking to Steve Huff, of Steve Huff Photo (the online Leica guru!).  Simply put, the experience was wonderful and could not have expected a better instructor, Leica representative, and professional photographer to guide us through the workshop.  What made the meeting even more pleasurable was interacting with the other participants.

Before the workshop started, I ran into Steve Huff of Steve Huff Photo.  I frequent his site daily and have spoke to him via email a few times and felt he was a terrific guy and after meeting him, it confirmed it.  He reviews many Leica products and other cameras, mostly rangefinders and micro 4/3’s.  He does a phenomenal job and I have to give him credit for guiding me towards Leica.

The workshop started out by meeting the Leica representative Matt Butzow and the instructor Tom Smith.  Next, Matt allowed us to pick a Leica lens to borrow (I wanted to get my hand on the noctilux but unfortunately someone got to it before me).

Next, Tom Smith spent the remaining morning going through the ins and outs of the Leica M9 system.  All I can say is that I learned a tremendous amount and if you are new to Leica or rangefinders in general this is a must do class!

After lunch, Carlos Javier Ortiz presented on his work as a photojournalist and showed many of his ongoing projects.  Some of these projects are listed on his website.  He also showed us a current project that him and other photojournalist around the country are participating in.  The project is called “Facing Change” (I don’t consider it politically motivated) and you can see pictures from the project here.

Next we went out and shot for about an hour.  Like most participants I followed Tom around and he showed us his perspective in street photography and also taught us some invaluable camera tips.

Last, we came back and Tom showed us his typical workflow when downloading pics from his computer and uploading to Lightroom.  I found this info useful, but I have to admit I’m a die hard Apple guy and use Aperture 3.0.

As stated above, I found the workshop a great learning experience and 100% worth the cost.  I’ve heard rumor of maybe a 3 day Leica course in the future in Chicago, I will definitely be there.

If you are interested in Leica Akademie you can see upcoming events here.

P.S.  I mentioned that we did go out and shoot for a while.  Here are a few pics I took (more in the next few days) and you can go to Michael Sullivans flickr page to see pics he took (another Leica shooter at the course, great guy).

 

 

 

 

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Mother & Daughter

We drove up to Chicago this weekend for a short 3 day vacation and for me to participate in the Leica Akademie M9 Shooting Experience.  I’ll post my thoughts and some pictures from the event in a few days.

We’re staying at the Allerton Hotel.  So far it’s been good.  It’s an old hotel but the rooms are very nice.  Here is a pic of Lyla and mommy resting on the bed after a long day of traveling and shopping.

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Iowa Countryside

I can remember the many drives from Southern Illinois to Des Moines and how much I would complain that there was absolutely nothing to look at. If you’re not familiar with this part of the country lets just say it is extremely flat and all you see for miles is farm land.

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved where I grew up and wouldn’t change it for anything but when you are stuck in a car for 8 hours, it’s nice to have something to look at.

Until recently, I never realized that Iowa actually is not that flat and has many rolling hills. I took this picture just west of Des Moines, it captures the typical farm land scene in this area.


	


	



	
		

	

	





		


		
	



		
		

		

						
		
		
	
							

			
			
						
						
								
		














		
				
			
	
	
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