If you are ever in Chicago and enjoy watching sunrises I highly suggest driving to Adler Planetarium. It is a great place to take cityscape shots. This one was taken just outside the planetarium entrance.
ISO 160 1/1500’s f.95 (ND filter) Leica 50mm noctilux
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
I’m sure you are getting tired of Cloud Gate shots. This is my last in the series and also my favorite. This was taken with my Leica M9-P and 21mm super elmar. What I like about it is the amount of detail in the buildings (click on picture to see full-size). The 21mm super elmar was built for sharpness from corner to corner and this image is a perfect example of it.
ISO 1/125s f3.4 21mm super elmar (7 exposure HDR, edited with Photomatix, PS6, & Aperture)
I didn’t just take pics of the “The Bean” with my Olympus OM-D, I also shot with my Leica M9-P and 21mm super elmar.
This shot is not a HDR and was shot handheld. The shot is slightly cropped so that I could remove my self from the picture. I was attempting to get the original sky and the reflected sky to blend.
ISO160 1/60s f3.4 21mm super elmar
Landscape and professional photographers know that if you want to capture great images you should shoot during the “magic hour” (or also known as the golden hour). This is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day.
During my recent trip to Chicago, I woke up early and headed down to Millennium Park to capture pictures of the sculpture Cloud Gate, also known as “The Bean”. I got there around 0530 and began shooting pictures. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay long since I was approached by a security guard (he was very nice) who alerted me that I wasn’t suppose to be there and that the park didn’t open up until 6. Luckily, I was able to capture a few shots.
Olympus OM-D and Panasonic Lumix G Vario 7-14mm lens
ISO 200 f/8 7mm (7 exposure HDR, used HDR Efex 2, Photoshop CS6, & Aperture 3.3)
It’s a blast shooting with my Leica 50mm Noctilux in low light. This was taken last week of a colleague of mine. The bokeh is simply awesome!!!
ISO 250 1/30 f/.95 50mm
I recently posted pics of our baby girl on our couch at nine months. The picture posted was taken with my Leica M9 and Noctilux. I also took a few pictures with my Sony NEX-7 and Zeiss 24mm. Because, Aperture does’t process NEX-7 RAW files currently, I’m using Capture One Express and finally got around to processing them.
I have to say the images in my opinion are comparable to my Leica M9. The sharpness is dead on and the colors are great. I even noticed that the Leica M9 output causes some red tones in her skin that is not seen on the NEX-7 (I’ve heard others comment about these red tones but I never really noticed other than when shooting at high ISO’s). Let me know your thoughts?
P.S. If you want to see the full size images let me know and I can email them to you. Last, even though I speak very highly of the Sony NEX-7, I still love shooting with my Leica. There is something I find fascinating shooting with an all manual camera (I suppose I like the challenge).
ISO 100 1/200 f/1.8 24mm zeiss
ISO 100 1/200 f/1.8 24mm zeiss
ISO 160 1/1000 f/.95 50mm
