Photography

Plattsburgh Water Tower

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Work takes me to Plattsburgh, NY this week. Leaving dinner around 8:30 this evening, I saw this water tower and thought I’d try to make an interesting photo with the last couple of minutes of blue hour (I have a thing for water towers and power lines). While there was hardly any light where I stood at the base of the tower, the top was caught in the transition from the last few rays of setting sun to ambient street light. Pushing the ISO to 4,000, I’m still pleased with the clarity of the image. The Leica Q2 never disappoints.

1/50 sec at f/1.7, ISO 4000, 28mm, Leica Q2

Wes Anderson-ish

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This year, I gifted a really interesting book to my sister for her birthday and wish I got a copy for myself. The book showcased images with symmetry and balance akin to the scenes in Wes Anderson visually stimulating films. Very inspiring. While driving my son to the babysitter’s this morning, I noticed these shacks and had to stop to make this image.

1/6400 sec at f/1.7, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

Terminal Concourse Building

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This morning, I spent a little time in the Callowhill area of Philadelphia, at the Rail Park, before the rain got too heavy. I’m not overly-jazzed about this image though I do really like this building and look forward to going back under better lighting conditions. This was shot with my Leica MP240 using a 28mm pancake lens. The trade off for the super tiny size of this lens, is the lack of detail in the corners of the frame. The transition from sharp to soft is, unfortunately, quite pronounced.

Golden Hour

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Driving home from the grocery store this evening, I was glad as ever to have my camera with me. Which made me realize that I’ve learned a couple of valuable lessons over the years.

One is that taking my camera with me everywhere I go has given me huge rewards. It’s not that I get “banger” photos every time I use it- because that is definitely not the case. It’s more that I am so happy that I get to use it when I want to. I sometimes have a hard time enjoying a scene when I don’t have my camera with me to capture it. Not always. But sometimes. Like I learned in the Boy Scouts: Be prepared.

The other is that if I want to make great photos, I need to seek the light. Not the subject. So many times I’ve gone to a known subject (truck, building, scene etc) but the light was not cooperating and I left frustrated. Instead, I’m now realizing that I need to go where the light is. Only then, are the possibilities of making a photo available. No duh right?

Travel photos

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Last week’s business trip took me down to Jacksonville, FL and then over to Chicago, IL before returning to Philly. I took my Leica MP and my 23mm & 40mm prime lenses with me. I’m still getting a handle on how to best operate this digital rangefinder but thoroughly enjoyed using it to make the below travel photos.

Leica MP

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Using the last 30 minutes of light, this evening, I was able to get out and test my new Leica MP(240). I am absolutely loving it. Below are just some test images I took, of interesting patterns, while figuring out the best settings and how to manually focus for proper exposure. These are a little dark. Though the evening light was quickly fading. These were shot using a TTArtisan 21mm, f/1.5 lens.

1/1500 sec at f/3.4, ISO 1000, 21mm, Leica M240P

1/1500 sec at f/3.4, ISO 1000, 21mm, Leica M240P

1/500 sec at f/4.0, ISO 1000, 21mm, Leica M240P

More film

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This will have to be a part I of II post. I brought my Leica CL film rangefinder with me this past weekend and tried to remember to pull it out. (I was not too successful!) Nevertheless, I did have fun shooting it and am looking forward to seeing how I did. I’ll get this developed and posted soon.

I am loving this little camera. I blogged about it before and am still happy with it. Although it’s not a true Leica, and was really made by Minolta, it’s solid metal construction and the way it was designed to be loaded and unloaded, makes it fun to load and shoot. A quarter turn of the silver D-ring on the base plate, locks the camera together for a tight & light-proof seal. Love it.

Imp

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I stopped to make some photos of this snowcat just outside of Lake Placid, near the summit of Whiteface Mountain. I just love the vibe of this old machine. It’s an Imp. What a weird word. I had to look it up. The formal dictionary definition is: a little devil or demon; an evil spirit. a mischievous child. This little hellion was Manufactured by the Thiokol Ski-Lift and Snowcat division of Thiokol Chemical Corp in Logan, Utah. That panel light technology, down below, makes me smile. So simple.

1/500 sec at f/5.0, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/500 sec at f/1.8, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 5000, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/500 sec at f/1.7, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/320 sec at f/9.0, ISO 6400, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/400 sec at f/5.6, ISO 6400, 28mm, Leica Q2

Hamburg, PA

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1/640 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/1250 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/500 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/500 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/640 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/800 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

Grave Yard

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This is the second time, I’ve crept around this place. I really dig the vibe of this location. Similarly cool, I would imagine, are aircraft “bone yards”. I’d love to plan out an overland out-and-back venture to someplace out in the desert! Shoot a bunch of planes during golden hour! Maybe get some astrophotography in there; that’d be so cool.

1/200 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/125 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/250 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/200 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/400 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/160 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2

1/200 sec at f/4.0, ISO 100, 28mm, Leica Q2