Tag: rangefinder

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Leica M9-P (chrome) unboxed

I finally received it, the new Leica M9-P in chrome. I purchased it at Dale Photo but you can also pre-order at Amazon.com and be notified when it’s in stock at B & H Photo. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are no internal changes, just cosmetic changes to the body consisting of removal of the front “red dot” and “Leica” logo and placement of an engraved logo on top, a leatherette grip, and a new sapphire anti-reflective LCD cover. I originally chose the black Leica M9 only because there were no chrome available but I was fortunate to get one this time. Personally, even though not as “stealthy” as the black M9-P, the chrome is much more retro and has a more classic look.

Below are pictures from the unboxing.

I hope to have some pics up in a few days taken with the new M9-P but right now here is another picture of my beautiful wife and daughter at our recent trip to the Drive-In to watch Harry Potter (definitely see the admiration my daughter has for her mother in this pic).

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Old Interior

Last winter I visited the Auburn Cord Duesenburg Automobile Museum in Auburn, IN. It’s located at the original headquarters of the Auburn Automobile Company.  From the outside it looked like a good size building but I never imagined the amount of cars they had.  I’m not a motor head but enjoyed my time looking at their collection.  It’s definitely a place to visit if you enjoy looking at old cars.  I snapped many pics and thought this one in black & white with a little noise worked well.

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Old Xavier Church

High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography has gained a lot of interest in photography.  HDR Photography is where you take multiple exposures of a image and then stack them on top of one another to create one picture.  By doing this you create an image that often times is very similar to what our eyes see.  Most digital cameras can do this by using the auto bracketing function.  For best results you need to use at least 3 exposures.  If you are shooting in very bright or low light then you often times need to use 5, 7, or 9 exposures.  Unfortunately, you typically need a semi-pro or pro dSLR to do this.

After you take the pictures, you then need software to stack the pictures on one another.  The best way I’ve found is using Photomatix or you can use Photoshop CS 5.  If you want to see some great HDR pictures you need to check out Trey Ratcliff at Stuck in Customs.  He does phenomenal work and has many tutorials.

My wife grew up outside a very small town in Southern Illinois called St. Francisville (well known for the scariest bridge to cross in Southern Illinois/Indiana).  In March, we were there for my wife’s baby shower.  There is a very old Catholic church that sits down town.  I decided to take a 7 exposure HDR pic using my Leica M9.  Most of the time when shooting in HDR you want to create a color image, I think in this case monochrome works very well.

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Mother’s Love

Lately, with work I have not had much time to write or upload pictures to my blog. I’m not going to complain because I enjoy working and most of all enjoy helping others.

I don’t like taking “canned” pictures. I prefer when my subjects are not looking into the camera and focusing on whatever task at hand. Personally, I think this makes the moment much more memorable and can often allow the viewer to imagine what the subject is feeling or remind them of a similar time. Also, I enjoy capturing many of these moments in monochrome. Again, I think this adds a much more memorable, and long lasting touch.

Below is a picture of my beautiful wife and now 8 week old girl. You can see enjoyment in my wife’s eyes when looking down at her cherished little one. Even though you can’t see my daughters face, you can imagine that she is showing affection back to her mother. I think the monochrome and vignetting assist in this “real life” portrayal.

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Red Door

Last fall a friend of mine asked for me to take a few family pics of them at a local park.  As I was leaving I came upon a large red barn.  The barn was sitting on a 7 foot stone block base.  The doors were weathered and really stood out because of the surrounding stone.  Here is one of those doors.

P.S.  Recently, I got invited to google+, a new social networking site by google.  I think most would agree there is a lot of potential.  You can see more about google+ here.  Also, you can find my google profile here.
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Abandoned Crossing

If you haven’t noticed I have an interest in railroad tracks. Probably, most photographers do. I think a lot of it has to do with the rust, age, and symmetry of these structures. They often, can make a boring landscape interesting. I also like taking pics of railroad signs. This one was taken on a small dirt road. As you can probably tell, it was not often used therefore there was no need to change the sign.

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Our Future @ 4 weeks

One of my first posts on this site was titled “Our Future”.  Another photographer recommended trying to take the same picture monthly (eventually putting clothes on her) so that we can watch her grow.  Definitely, at one month she has filled out, in comparison to her original pic.  She has a lot of room to grow before she even comes close to filling the couch cushion, let alone the length of our couch.

Click on the picture to see a larger version and also see a comparison shot.

Have a Happy 4th of July weekend everybody!!!

 

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“Bokeh”

If you’re not familiar with Leica, you probably are not aware that they are well known for shooting at low apertures and creating bokeh.  Bokeh is the blur seen in photography or more specifically the quality of the blur.  Each Leica lens is known for there unique bokeh.  Yes, you will find this with almost all other cameras and lenses but many don’t have the quality seen in Leica lenses.  I’ve shot with many Canon dSLR’s and low aperture lenses and have never been impressed as much as I am with the Leica m-mount lenses.

If you would like to read more about “bokeh” I’ll forward you to Steve Huff’s website for an article written by Ashwin Rao’s titled “What is Bokeh?”

Below are a few examples of shots taken with my Leica 50mm Summilux and 35mm Summicron.

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Leica M9-P

As many of you know Leica announced an updated version of the Leica M9 yesterday, the M9-P.  No internal changes, only visual changes to the body consisting of removal of the front “red dot” and “Leica” logo and placement of an engraved logo on top, a leatherette grip, and a new sapphire anti-reflective lcd cover. Definitely gives the camera a more “retro” and “stealthy” look.

Amazon.com  (black or chrome) and B&H Photo now have it listed and for pre-order.

Below are a few pics and video.

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Indiana Sunset

Living in Cleveland, OH for 5 years I got accustomed to grey skies. It seemed as if we would have one blue sky in the winter maybe 1 or 2 times a month. When I moved to Fort Wayne, I was hoping to see more blue skies and fortunately I do but still not as often as I would like (I’m sure others agree in Northeast Indiana). One evening in January, while driving home from work we had one of those rare events. I was driving on the interstate staring at the sun and noticed 2 trees in a field with nothing around them. I immediately took the next exit and drove into the field where they were located. Fortunately, I was able to catch one of these rare Indiana sunsets.

P.S. This is a good reason why you should always carry your camera equipment, you never know when you will find a good picture opportunity.

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