March 6, 2010
March 4, 2010
March 3, 2010
March 2, 2010
Sonnar signature …
With shots like this I’m beginning to really “get” the Sonnar lens signature that everyone talks about.
Leica M3, Canon 5cm f/1.5 Sonnar, Kodak Portra400NC
f/1.5 @ 1/750 (approx)
February 19, 2010
February 18, 2010
B&W Portraits …
Canon 1D Mk II, Canon 24-70, F/4 @ 1/125
I started my (hopefully) year long project “Mothers and Daughters” this past weekend. Since the paying clients are few and far between I decided to start a project where I get to choose the subjects, the sitting and the shot types. I also wanted to try shooting half digital and half film. Most of my personal photography has been film for the better part of the last year so I wanted to see how it would stack up to digital capture. These images are digital, I’ll post the film shots next week after they’re finished.
Since meeting her I’ve wanted to try and shoot a portrait of this little girl, Naomi. For me, portraits are all about the eyes and Naomi has a positively magnetic set. She’s also a little shy so I knew it wouldn’t be easy to get her to open up in front of the camera. She and her mother Chi Chi were great subjects and I’m happy to have a more than a few keepers from the session. This is the first image I chose to work up and I wanted to share it while I get the rest of the set processed. The top image is a little more contrasty and has a silver tone. The bottom image is a little softer, less contrasty and has a slightly coffee tone.
Which do you prefer and why?
February 9, 2010
January wrap up …
In other news, January is a wrap. Check out the newest family photos.
Use the force Naomi …
Naomi Skywalker and Ezekiel Solo prepare to battle it out with the forces of evil on the deck of the starship Bertha while Princess NaNa 3 watches intently from below.
I’m finding that I really like shooting with the 35 Summaron, goggles and all. I like it so much I’ve almost got myself convinced that I need a second M body just for 35. A black M4-P keeps calling out to me …
My tendency is to always want to get in tight but the wide angle and fixed focal length really force you to change your perspective. In looking at a lot of older family pictures, I’ve realized that a part of what gives them their unique look is the environmental aspect – the inclusion of the wider surroundings as well as the subject. When you see an old picture, you notice so much more than just who it is (in fact, the names of those people are more often than not lost, all that’s known or knowable is the where); you see the buildings, cars, home furnishings and the like that the shooter took for granted at the time. It’s only with the passage of years that those environmental aspects become noteworthy. I hope that I can be varied enough in the types of shots I frame that my girls will enjoy them as much 50 years from now to them as I do now.
M3, Kodak Portra400NC, 35 Summaron @ F/4, 1/500
February 2, 2010
Li’l bulldog …
Ava Rae collecting flowers and sticks in the park
M3, Kodak Portra400NC, 90 Hexanon at F4, 1/250
January 29, 2010
The dude abides …
Isaac taking in the playground scene with the serene gaze of the beatifically bemused.
M3, Kodak Portra400NC, 35 Summaron at F4, 1/125
(BW conversion in Lightroom, finished in Silver Efex Pro)
