Tag: Leica M9-P

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View Point

Repost July 2011

I find flowers nice to look at but don’t typically consider them good enough subjects to take pictures of.  Probably, because so many people already take pictures of them.

Another reason why I don’t like taking pictures of flowers is because of the composition.  Composition is a combination of what you have included in your picture and the way or perspective you took it.  For example, when taking pictures of flowers almost always, you stand over them and point down towards the ground.  This allows for the flower to be in the foreground and dirt in the background.  Dirt obviously is not very eye pleasing and rarely allows for enough contrast between it and the main subject.

One way to change the composition is to be creative an attempt pictures from different vantage points, one in which you typically don’t see.  The picture below is an example.  Near our driveway we have an island of landscape that is elevated.  Because of this I was able to lay down and allow for the sky to be used as my background.  This allowed for the tulips to really stick out.

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Streets of Chicago

Keeping my theme from the past few days I figured I would post a few more street shots I took while in Chicago.  Both of these shots were taken from “the hip”.  Meaning, I just set the camera to the proper exposure and started firing shots when I saw something interesting.  Both pics were taken while holding the camera near my waste (shooting from a low angle can give the viewer an interesting perspective).

In the first pic “Keeping it cool”, it’s a candid shot of a guy walking and waiving while holding his smoke.  Even though the subject is out of focus, it gives the viewer a feeling of movement (or at least it does me) and has a three dimensional feel to it.

The second shot “lets go out” is two people having a casual conversation.  In this shot, the sharpness is dead on.  If there was any lost of sharpness here, the shot would be ruined.

Repost August 2011

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Hopewell Church

As I’ve stated many times in the past, I always enjoy taking pictures of old churches.  I’m starting to have a good collection of them (maybe I’ll post them all together some time).

This church is near my home town and was taken early evening.  This is always a great time to capture landscapes because the shadows are not contrasty and you can often times get great exposure of both the foreground and background.

P.S.  I may start reposting some of my post from early last year.  I have a lot more followers and think many will appreciate some of my early pictures (don’t worry, I have plenty of fresh pictures also).

 ISO 160 1/1500 f/1.4 50mm summilux

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Our Future @ 9 months

Here is this months picture of our baby girl.  I know I keep saying it but it’s getting more and more difficult to keep her on the couch for the shot.

Our Future @ 9 months               ISO 160 1/1000 f/.95 50mm

Our Future @ 9 months 2               ISO 160 1/1000 f/.95 50mm

Our Future (birth)            ISO 160 1/360 f/2 35mm

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Leica 90mm macro-elmar user report

About 10 weeks ago, I got an email from Dale Photo telling me that a Leica 90mm macro-elmar with the adapter was available and I was next on the list to have the opportunity to purchase it.  I had the 90mm summarit which I think is very nice and under appreciated.  I opted in buying the macro-elmar because I wanted a telephoto (for a Leica it’s considered telephoto) lens that could be used for portrait and also close-up (even though it’s called “macro” I don’t consider it one) photography.  It’s also collapsable, making it easier to fit in your bag.

I don’t consider my self an expert and I’m definitely not a “specs” guy.  If you do a google search, you will probably only find 1 or 2 reviews of this lens.  It’s hard to find any real world pictures though (flickr has a few).

In the few weeks having the lens I’m extremely impressed.  I don’t consider it a true “macro” because you can’t get any closer than 0.5 meters (0.7 meters without the adapter).  The amount of detail and sharpness at such close proximity to your subject is simply amazing.  My only wish is that it had a lower aperture (lowest f-stop is 4) so that I could shoot at higher shutter speeds and not need a flash or tripod.

P.S.  All images are un-cropped.  If you are interested in seeing the full-size image let me know.  Also, eventually I’ll shoot a few with it attached to my Sony NEX-7.  I’m pretty sure these images will also be amazing (the 35mm equivalent will be 144mm).

ISO 2000 1/90 90mm without adapter

ISO 200 1/30 f/4 with adapter

ISO 2500 1/90 f/4 90mm without macro adapter

ISO 160 1/180 f/8 90mm with macro adapter and flash

ISO 160 1/180 f/8 90mm with macro adapter and flash

ISO 160 1/180 f/8 90mm with macro adapter and flash

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the fallen

Most of the time when I post pictures they are not pre-planned.  I sit and go through the thousands of pictures I’v taken and I try to find something that is interesting, tells a story, or has some sentimental value.  Often times it’s hard to find the “one” picture I want to post.

The picture I’m posting today, was taken last fall at Arlington National Cemetery.  It was a beautiful late fall afternoon and a friend and I came across this large tree with many fallen yellow leaves.  The contrast between the green grass, yellow leaves, and headstones was remarkable.  It’s hard to call a cemetery beautiful, especially one like our National Cemetery but I’m sure most would agree that it is a great place to pay respect to our fallen.

ISO 160 1/360 f/2.0 28mm summicron

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Carrying the little one!

I’m sure some get tired of seeing me post pics of my baby girl all the time.  First, she’s very photogenic and second, she consumes almost 100% of my time right now outside of work.  Last, it’s my blog therefore I guess I can post whatever I want. LOL.

My family has been in Louisville for the past few days and while my wife works, my baby girl and I  have been walking the streets.  I should say, I’ve been walking the streets with her attached to my waist.

This second picture was taken at Maker’s Mark.  It’s a local restaurant that makes its on Bourbon.  I’m not a whiskey drinker but their food was fantastic (it’s seasoned with bourbon).

ISO 1000 1/45 f1.4 50mm summilux

ISO 320 1/30 f.14 50mm summilux

 

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How long will it stand?

Recently, I was taking pictures of an old school building near my home town.  It was in the middle of the day therefore the shadows were to harsh for landscape shots.  Fortunately, I have neutral density filters that allow me to shoot during this time of day and allow for proper exposure of the sky.

This picture was taken of the schools chimney.  It appeared ready to come falling down.  Anyway, I liked the shadow of the tree on the brick.

ISO 160 1/90 f/4 90mm macro-elmar

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