A few weeks ago we went to the Fort Wayne Taste of the Arts festival. For a small city, there were many vendors there. Unfortunately, I didn’t find a whole lot worth taking pictures of. This picture was taken while walking through the crowd with my 28 summicron. Something caught their attention.
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.
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.
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“).
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.
Recently I submitted a picture of our baby girl to Outdoor Photographer “Art of Expression” contest. Fortunately, the picture “Our Future” has been selected as a finalist. Now it is up to the viewers to decide the winner.
Typically, I don’t ask people to do things for me but if you have any interest in voting, click here to register and vote. Last, below is the picture that was submitted. I will have an updated, 12 week picture in a few days.
Thanks,
Gage
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.
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).
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.
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.
