Whole Lotta Leica - February Results - W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 With The Woodshedders at Lovettsville Library

 

The Woodshedders at Lovettsville Library, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM Lens

iso 640, f3.5, 1/60 sec

 

One of the benefits of living in Northern Virginia for me is the vibrant local music scene. The Woodshedders are one of my very favorite bands in the area. Ryan Mayo (bass), Jesse Shultaberger (drums), Dwayne Brooke (guitar), Jared Pool (mandolin) and Dave VanDeventer (fiddle) usually play to larger crowds in nightclubs and music festivals.

 

(Click Here) to go to the Woodshedders web page. Don't pass up a chance to see them.

 

On this particular Saturday in February, they played an acoustic show for the local library in Lovettsville, Virginia. The Hello Kitty and Spongebob balloons on the wall are not part of their normal stageshow.

 

My daughter and I attended this show, and it was wonderful, as expected. My February Whole Lotta Leica lens, the W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM, worked quite well for this close up and intimate setting.

 

The Woodshedders at Lovettsville Library, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM Lens

iso 640, f2.8, 1/125 sec

 

Dwayne and Jared, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM Lens

iso 640, f2.8, 1/125 sec

 

The audience was a mix of regular Woodshedders' fans, and regular library patrons. The picture below shows that some kids really know how to mix their sources of entertainment.

Reading (and Music) Are Fundamental, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM Lens

iso 640, f4, 1/30 sec

 

I like how the Nikkor allowed me to focus on the detail of the book page, rendering it sharply, yet include enough in the background to let you know what's happening back there. The 35mm focal length gives a wide enough field of view to include some context, even in a small room.

 

I now know the Woodshedders well enough to coerce them into a posed shot once in a while. I thought it would be fun to get a shot of them studiously reading in the library. I started off by handing them children's books, but a helpful library employee quickly gathered biographies of musicians - much more appropriate.

 

Saturday Afternoon With The Woodshedders at the Library #1, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM Lens

iso 640, f4.8, 1/30 sec

 

Jared took a book on Monk, Dwayne - Django, of course, Ryan - Mick Jagger, Dave - Jimi Hendrix, and Jesse - Sting.

 

Standing on a chair, I closed down the lens to f 4.8 to get a little more depth of field, and shot.

 

Saturday Afternoon With The Woodshedders at the Library #2, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, W-Nikkor 3.5cm f2.5 LTM Lens

iso 640, f4.8, 1/30 sec

 

I always feel a little rushed when I have five people waiting for me to get the shot so they can go on their way. I think these shots turned out well, but I must admit that I held my breath until I got home and checked that I was able to get all of the band members' faces in focus. I should have taken a shot or two at iso 1250, with the aperture closed down another full stop. That would have ensure that no one's face came out blurry. But, I got lucky with f4.8.

 

For me, it's important to learn from each and every photo opportunity. Learning to slow down, make sure I've got the shot, and not be shy about directing my subjects to do what I want to capture are all lessons that I need to continue to focus on.

 

After shooting live music for a couple of years now, I am really enjoying the chance to shoot some more personal shots of the bands that I really like. It adds nicely to the stage shots that I've focused on so far.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Skeletons From The Closet - Super Ricohflex Twin Lens Reflex - My Featured Camera for February

Well, January's over, so my Pentax K1000 will get some rest. You'll be seeing the results from that camera in multiple posts over the next couple of weeks. Simply search for "skeleton" at the top of my blog to find all of the posts from this series.

 

This month's featured camera is a relatively new addition to my collection - the Super Ricohflex Twin Lens Reflex (TLR), made around 1956.

 

February's Featured Camera, the Super Ricohflex

 

If you're not familiar with TLR cameras, they have two lenses, the top one is for framing and focusing while you look vertically downward onto a ground glass screen. The bottom lens is the taking lens, which forms the image on the film. This camera uses 120 film, and makes a 2 1/4" square (big!) negative. This is a fully manual camera - no batteries anywhere. On the Super Ricohflex, focus is achieved by rotating the taking lens.

 

The standard Super uses a red-tinted window in the rear to let you know how far to wind the film - you see an exposure number on the film backing through the window. This works fine, unless you're shooting fast (high iso) film, which can lead to fogging of the film through the window. Mine has the optional auto-stop mechanism, which adds an exposure counter and controlled spacing of the images. This is a very nice addition to the camera. You can see it at the top left of the camera body above.

 

My Super Ricohflex has a Ricoh Anastigmat f3.5 80mm lens, which is a "normal" focal length for this size of negative. It has a three-bladed leaf shutter, with speeds ranging from 1/10 to 1/100 second, plus B. This is a limited range of shutter speeds, with 1/100 not being very fast. Not exactly a sports action camera. Mine also has a flash mounting shoe on the side, and a PC electrical connection for the flash.

 

I've only shot a single roll with this camera in the past. So, I know it works, but I'm not very familiar with it yet.

 

I've got a roll of Kodak Tmax 400 black and white film loaded and ready to go! Wish me luck with the Super Ricohflex!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com