"Welcome to the United States of America" - Ellis Island

I attended the recent LHSA (International Leica Society) meeting in NYC. One of the activities was a boat ride out to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, entry point for 12 million immigrants to the US.

 

Quick - can you tell which two shots are film (Leica M4-2) and which one is digital (Leica M9)? Don't cheat and look at the file names.

 

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Wrapping Up - LHSA International Leica Society Spring Shoot in NYC

 

It's been a while since I last posted, but I think I feel a wave of refreshed enthusiasm coming on. Springtime is here, and there's plenty to get out and photograph.

 

Speaking of Spring, we just wrapped up the Spring Shoot of the LHSA, the Internatioanl Leica Society, in New York City. (Click Here) to check out LHSA.

 

While I mostly shot black and white film on this trip, the image above, from Central Park, was shot on my Leica M9, with the Elmar C 90mm f4 lens. This is a great little telephoto for travel, so tiny.

 

Anyway, the image won second place in the LHSA contest for the Spring Shoot. The prize is a free 16"x20" print from Digital Silver. (Click Here) to check these guys out. They may silver prints from digitial files, as well as offering film processing services. My plan is to get the image above printed for my prize. It will make a nice memory of this event.

 

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Protest!

On October 16, 2015, there was a march and protest against genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and more specifically, against Monsanto, in Washington, DC.

 

Disclaimer: My coverage of this event does not indicate that I do/do not identify with the protester's position on this issue.

 

The event began at the United States White House, in Lafayette Park. The protesters took to the street, and marched from the park to the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

 

The welcome at the EPA (by Department of Homeland Security) was calm, yet firm. This officer informed the protesters that they were welcome to protest on the front lawn, but if they attempted to enter the EPA building, they would be arrested. No one attempted entry.

 

 

Many of the protesters dressed up as honey bees, a species they have identified as being affected by Monsanto's products.

 

 

The honey bees staged a "die in" on the EPA lawn.

 

There was a range of speakers at the event, ranging from the very young (10 years old?) to adult. Their logic ranged as well, and a lot of numbers and statistics were stated without much context, in my opinion.

 

Next, the group marched on to the DC offices of Monsanto. This gentleman was attempting to get into the building, presumably on some sort of official business, when one of the protesters offered him some "Monsanto Bucks," a printed fake currency meant to represent the money that changes hands between government and company officials. He did not accept it.

 

The Monsanto building had prepared well, and had security guards and tape at the doors. They would not let this gentleman in. Apparently disgusted, he seemed to have had no choice but to walk away.

 

 

Interestingly, his security badge lanyard says "Criminal Division." I'm not sure what to make of that.

 

This was the only instance of tension that I witnessed during the protest. The police were present, but as you can see, quite relaxed and friendly with the protesters.

 

 

At this point, the energy of the group started to wane, and I moved on with my evening.

 

This was an interesting shoot for me. I covered it entirely with my Leica M9, 35mm f2 Summicron v.3, and 90mm f4 Elmar C lenses. Great fun.

 

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Yearning for a Trip to the City - the Real City - NYC

 

City Dweller, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Summicron 35mm f2 v.3

iso 320, f6.7, 1/125 sec.

 

It's time. I will start planning my next visit to NYC.

 

It's such a vibrant place, literally full of stories and photographs waiting to be made.

 

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It's Not All About the Camera, but the Camera Matters

Basement Cafe, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 Lens

iso 640, f2, 1/45 sec.

 

As you most likely know, this blog is mostly about the interface between cameras (more broadly, photographic equipment) and creativity.

 

The Leica M9 is certainly one of the most wonderful cameras I've ever owned. It's by far the most expensive. But, it's also quite unique in the world of digital cameras. It makes images that just aren't quite like other digital cameras.

 

I recently went through the experience of being convinced that my M9 had the famous sensor corrosion issue, and as a result planned my exit from the M9 experience. Scenarios included an upgrade to the Leica M240 (which I was not thrilled about), or a complete exit from Leica digital (which I was less thrilled about). But, I could have made it work. My shooting style when using the Leica, any Leica, would not suffer much from shooting only film. I'm still deeply into shooting film, so there's no barrier to me in that respect. The only exception would be for travel, where film has become a large pain in the a$$.

 

Luckily, Leica informed me that my sensor was fine, cleaned it, and sent it back to me. No troubles since then. But, I do still think about the upgrade once in a while. The truth is, none of the features of the M240 really seem like an advantage over the M9 to me, with the exception of high iso capability. Let's face it. I don't need to adapt Nikon lenses to my Leica rangefinder. Nor do I need an electronic viewfinder on it.

 

Anyway, I'll stop rambling and just say that I'm glad my M9 is still chugging along. I'll continue to use it alongside some great Leica film bodies.

 

What got me started on this subject? An interesting post on a blog called "Into the Foto," where the author sent his Leica M-E (same sensor as the M9) in to have the sensor replaced, and reverted back to his Ricoh rangefinder and Olympus SLRs. Very interesting. (Click Here) to read that post.

 

Yes, the camera matters. What matters more is creativity and the motivation to get out and shoot. That's what I'm working to maintain and continuously improve.

 

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Belle of Belle Haven Plantation - Leica M9

During the recent Spring Shoot meeting of the LHSA (International Leica Society), we visited Belle Haven Plantation.

 

I've posted some images of the live oak trees at the plantation. (Click Here) to see those.

 

For our visit, one of our members arranged to have Gail come out to the plantation and model for us in period dress. Here are the shots of Gail that I feel are worthy of sharing;

 

 

All were shot with my Leica M9 and 35mm f2 Summicron (v.3) lens.

 

(Click Here) to learn more about LHSA (International Leica Society).

 

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Live Oak Trees - Belle Haven Plantation - Nature Shot with Leica M9

During my trip to New Orleans for the LHSA (International Leica Society)'s Spring Shoot, we got to visit Belle Haven, a plantation that has been closed to the public for many years.

 

Our visit was wonderful, and I got to spend a lot of time out wading in the wet grass photographing the amazing old live oak trees on the property. Shooting with my M9, I manipulated the images in NIK Software to get the look I wanted. Here they are.

 

Live Oaks, by Reed A. George

 

All of these were shot with the M9 and either the 35mm v.3 Summicron or 50mm f1.4 Summilux (titanium).

 

One thing I don't like (or haven't figured out) in the NIK software is that if I want the same frame effect on a series of pictures, the frames come out looking exactly the same, including the dark and light smudges around the edges, which are supposed to represent the individual results of chemical darkroom techniques. Each one should be slightly different.

 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result. Not everyone agrees with manipulation, but I got the feel from the images that I was looking for.

 

(Click Here) to learn more about LHSA (International Leica Society). The national meetings like the Spring Shoot are great, but there are also many other reasons to join, including a great publication (Viewfinder), newsletter, and local groups and activities.

 

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Walking in the Rain, New Orleans

I met this nice lady one morning at Jackson Square. I informed her that she was wearing the red jacket that every photographer dreams of, especially when shooting on a dreary, rainy day. She actually agreed to walk out into the rain so that I could photograph her under the tree covered in Mardi Gras beads, with the wrought iron fence of Jackson Square in the background. Now that says New Orleans.

 

Walking in the Rain, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, 50mm f1.4 Summilux Lens

iso 800, f3.4, 1/90 sec.

 

She actually emailed me (I gave her my card), and I sent her this image. It's nice to close the loop in that way.

 

My only regreat is that I had to act quickly, and didn't use a fast enough shutter speed to clearly show that it was raining pretty hard at that moment. 1/250 second would probably have capture it well. Of course, that would have meant higher iso and wider aperture, which would have compromised depth of field (I wanted a lot) and digital noise. So, this is the compromise I decided to make.

 

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Live Oak Tree - Lousiana Plantation - From Raw Image to Interpretation

I just returned yesterday from the LHSA (International Leica Society) Spring Shoot in New Orleans, Louisiana.

 

One of our (brilliant) activities was a visit to Belle Haven Plantation, which has been closed to the public for many years. We were extremely lucky to get access. The enormous live oak trees on the property were so beautiful. Here's a raw image that I took of one of them.

 

Live Oak, Starting Image, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Summicron 35mm f2 Lens

iso 400, f5.6, 1/60 sec.

 

I walked out into a huge puddle of standing water to get this shot. I exposed to keep the highlights from blowing out, knowing that I could recover detail from the shadows with the M9 file. Right out of the camera, it looks underexposed.

 

I decided to do a quick edit on the image in Snapseed, on my iPad. Here's the result.

 

Live Oak, Interpretation, by Reed A. George

 

I'm sure that I can make a nice straight image from this file, but I kind of like this manipulated version. I purposefully added the vignetting around the edges, simply because I like the look.

 

Maybe I'll post the same image processed in Lightroom with much less manipulation. It will be interesting to see which version I like best.

 

If you're interested in the LHSA, check us out by (Clicking Here).

 

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Another Panning Example With the Leica M9

 

Bike Taxi, New Orleans, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Summilux 50mm f1.4

iso 800, 1/15 sec.

 

As in yesterday's post, I used the panning technique to show a moving subject at night.

 

In this case, I didn't match the camera motion to the subject's speed as well as I did in the shot posted yesterday. However, this picture says more about being in New Orleans. Motorcycles can be seen virtually anywhere; bike taxis are less common. But, there are plenty of them in New Orleans.

 

So, as a travel photo in which I wantedd to say something about the place, this one works better.

 

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Panning at Night

Panning is a technique in which you set your camera to a relatively slow shutter speed and follow the motion of a moving subject. If you follow at exactly the right speed, your subject comes out sharp. If your shutter speed is slow enough, everything but the subject is blurred due to the motion of the camera. It gives a great sense of motion to the image.

 

Here's a panning shot I made of a passing motorcycle in New Orleans:

 

Panning a Motorcycle at Night, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, summilux 50mm f1.4 Lens

iso 800, 1/15 sec.

 

In this case, the 1/15 second shutter speed was slow enough to give decent motion blur to the motorcycle's surroundings. Based on the fact that you can read the lettering on the motorcycle, I must have gotten the camera motion just right.

 

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Rain Makes Night Photography More Dramatic - Leica M9

Armstrong, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Summilux 50mm f1.4 Lens

iso 640, 1/16 sec.

 

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My Entry for the LHSA Spring Shoot Photo Contest

I'm at the LHSA (International Leica Society) Spring Shoot in New Orleans. We have a couple of contests going on. I'm entering this shot for the "Spirit of Nola" contest.

 

Spirit of Nola, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Summilux 50mm f1.4 Lens

iso 640, 1/250 sec.

 

This city has more than one defining spirit. Bourbon Street bars are one, this is another. The local people are generally very nice, and this lady gave me permission to photograph her saying hi to the neighborhood puppy.

 

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Hello From The French Quarter!

I am currently at the LHSA (International Leica Society) Spring Shoot in New Orleans. Today started with a 6:00 am walk through the French Quarter from my friend's house to the Four Points hotel, where I met up with the LHSA group for a private tour of a gorgeous old Southern plantation, more on that later.

 

Here's the first thing I decided to shoot this morning.

 

Scooter, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Summilux 50mm f1.4 Lens

iso 800, f1.4, 1/8 sec.

 

It is 6:00 pm, and I just caught a short nap. Now, I'll grab a quick bite, and head back to the LHSA event for a photo walk. Then, my friend Ben is picking me up to go shoot a recording session of his band, Deltaphonic. I'm definitely making the most of this trip!

 

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What Was I Shooting a Year Ago? 35mm f1.4 Summilux Version 3

Jammin' Java, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Leica Summilux 35mm f1.4 v. 3 Lens

iso 1600, f1.7, 1/15 sec.

 

I was just thinking about the end of the winter season, and how excited I am to get outside again as the weather gets nice. That got me thinking about what I was shooting at this time a year ago.

 

Apparently, I was shooting my M9 and my most valuable Leica lens - the classic Summilux 35mm f1.4 version 3. At nearly wide open, this lens has character to spare. Sharp yet glowing. Love it.

 

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Leica M9 - Still Something Special About It

 

Teen Style, Morning Light, by Reed A. George

Leica M9, Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 Lens

iso 500, f1.7, 1/15 sec.

 

Yes, there's still something unique about how the Leica M9 sensor renders an image. Nothing in your face, for sure. But, this is basically the tonality that I had in mind when I made this shot on the way out of the house this morning. There's something subtle about the way this camera draws.

 

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Polar Bear Plunge - For a Great Cause

 

Last weekend, I happened into an unexpected event in Reston, Virginia, a polar bear plunge. It was a charity event, for the benefit of Camp Sunshine, a place where families with children battling cancer can go to relax and enjoy time together. (Click Here) to read more about the event.

 

As luck would have it, I had my Leica M9 and my Rolleiflex 2.8F with me. This post will show my color pictures, all taken with the M9 and Zeiss Sonnar C 50mm f1.5 lens, and a few with my new Leica Elmar C 90mm f4.

 

While it was unseasonably warm last Saturday, the water was still plenty cold. Here are the safety divers, clearing the diving hole of ice.

 

 

As you can imagine, an event like this attracts an interesting crowd of contestants.

 

 

When the event started, things got lively. I had a great location to shoot from as well.

 

 

People generally looked happy going in, shocked coming out, and downright uncomfortable after that.

 

 

And now, here are two of my favorites. First, my favorite shot of the jumpers.

 

 

And here's one of the crowd reflected in the icy water.

 

 

It was a very nice unexpected surprise, and I'm glad I was there to photograph it. I think I am indeed falling back in love with my Leica M9.

 

I'll post some images that I made with the Rolleiflex 2.8F tomorrow.

 

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