J – A portrait.

Inspiration, Leica 50mm Noctilux f/1, Portrait

Two distinct moments captured seconds apart, but requiring two different treatments.

(please click on each image to view)

Both images taken with the Leica M9 and Leica 50mm Noctilux @ f/1.

[I just acquired this Noctilux and will be working it into the rotation of daily photos, though not every day, of course.  At some point, I’ll summarize my thoughts on it.]

C – first day of wearing glasses.

Inspiration, Leica 75mm Summilux (Canada 🇨🇦) f/1.4, Portrait

She was self-conscious about her new glasses.  She hates getting attention – any attention, whether good or bad.  So, the glasses are bad.

She was even upset that we took her for an eye check-up, to verify what we suspected – that she wasn’t seeing properly.

But, she looked beautiful and I wanted to get a shot of her on her first day with them.  However, life being life, offered just this moment.

It’s morning.  We’re all headed for school.

All three are about to run.  In a matter of seconds, C will trip, fall, and skin her knee.  So this is the shot that survives for posterity.

Her injury, however, distracted her from her glasses.

Life, being life.

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Leica 75mm Summilux @ f/1.4.

The look.

Inspiration, Konica Hexanon 60mm f/1.2, Portrait, Teaching point

I know it too well.  She’s wondering if she’s ever going to get her coffee.

The lighting was tricky here… mixed natural and incandescent.   On the other hand, the blinds shielded against the harshest of the outside light and things balanced nicely.

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Konica Hexanon 60mm @ f/1.2.

I love how the girl furthest back, by adjusting her hair the moment the shutter was released, has filled out the composition:  her posture creates an inverted triangle that fits like a puzzle piece between the triangles formed by the postures of the two figures closest to us.  It is difficult to explain so here is a visual of what I mean:

She did get her coffee, eventually.

Levels.

Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summicron f/2, Photo Shoot, Teaching point

This shot is unsuccessful.

The scene is from the lobby of the Royal York Hotel in Toronto where an interesting vantage point is afforded by the arrangement of the floors and spiral staircases – it sets up an almost Escher-like effect on the brain.

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Leica 50mm Summicron @ f/2.

My goal was to capture the bustling movement of people, on each level, including the connecting staircase.  The first strike against success was the lens  – I had a 50mm, and I needed a 35mm.  Consequently, the frame is tilted in order to try to “fit” more of the scene into the field of view (this somewhat contributes to the general visual disorientation so it’s not such a bad thing).  The second – and more fatal – strike was that, despite the constant flow of human traffic, there was never any satisfactory simultaneous distribution of people amongst the levels.  Despite waiting for it to happen, it never materialized.

Still, I kept this shot as a token for my efforts.  I do like the fact that the man in mid-step (bottom right) has spotted me, despite being two levels beneath me.

Me, in grade 6.

Inspiration, Portrait

I found this photo button this morning after taking the kids to school.  It was a gift from my grade 6 school teacher, one fine spring day, a long time ago.

I remember the occasion vividly, for no good reason.  Surprisingly, it has survived in the bottom of drawers, in bags, during moves, in times of illness and in times of death.

I can’t tell you what camera or lens was used.  It really doesn’t matter.

(please click on the image to view)

One rung at a time.

Inspiration, Portrait, Teaching point, Voigtländer 40mm f/1.4 Nokton

I captured a few frames during this sequential climb, but this one – with the searching foot – ultimately prevailed.

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.

After studying this for a while, I realized why I preferred this image to the others.

The floating foot, adds a dynamic quality to the image.  We know he’s climbing, but with the foot between rungs, his movement is emphasized and there is a (tiny) sense of drama: will he find his footing?

More than this, the same lower foot, though not connected to the rung, completes a rung-to-limb schematic echoed in the two rungs above, that ultimately converges and directs our attention to his face (see red arrows below):

(please click on the image to view)

It’s interesting to tease these little visual cues out, though I’d much rather enjoy the images for what they are: precious, personal moments… frozen in time.