2nd man out (Cinematic).

2012, Favourite, Inspiration, Portrait, Teaching point, Voigtländer 40mm f/1.4 Nokton

The coalescing of moving figures into a foreground-midground-background composition, the interaction with the observer… the split-second alignment of it all before it vanishes like a dream.

I live — photographically speaking — for moments like this.

(please click on the image to view)

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

The passionate breakfast (Cinematic).

2012, Inspiration, Portrait, Teaching point, Voigtländer 40mm f/1.4 Nokton

I spotted these two when I met Dominic for our 1-on-1 Photography Teaching Session, and they generously allowed us to intrude upon their intimate morning meal.

Winter is thawing, spring is arriving, and the light is finally returning… and you can see it on everybody’s face.

(please click on the image to view)

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

Thanks Dominic!

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

Just finished a Practical 1-on-1 Teaching Session with Dominic this morning and had a great time.  As always, I tried to pass on some photographic pearls of wisdom — hope I succeeded. :)

Thanks Dominic, you are a gentleman and it was a pleasure meeting and photographing with you (I hope your planned solo shooting this afternoon was a success… please send some photos my way!).

Reminder:  if you’re interested in a practical, one-on-one photography teaching session, please have a look here, or contact me here.

—Peter.

You, the viewer.

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

WordPress, which hosts this site for me, has recently added some functionality to their statistical summary pages.

Up until today, I knew that there were just over 1,000 visits to the site a day.  From the comments I receive here and via email, I had a sense of where some of the viewership was originating, but it was all a little vague.

Well now the picture —so to speak — is clearer… and I’m a little bit surprised.  For example, here is a screen shot taken yesterday from my admin page showing the breakdown of visits:

↑Views on Thursday March 8, 2012, as of 8:30 pm.

The visits from the United States and Canada, and even the UK, are not so surprising, but Germany being in the top 3?  That was a pleasant surprise.  As was seeing the presence of Switzerland, Italy, Singapore, Bahamas, Netherlands, Australia, and Malaysia!

In fact, when I access the all-time viewership, I am quite amazed:

↑Distribution of all-time viewers (Total = 189,106) since April 25, 2011.

When I started this site, I knew I wanted to build a platform upon which I could share my images and thoughts to satisfy my creative needs.  I also wanted to establish a web “presence” so that I could build a client base for my photography.  What I didn’t realize at the time was how much contact I would have with people from all over the world… people who share the same passion for “seeing” and ultimately interpreting the world… all within the constraints of a humble still image.

That has been most gratifying.

—Peter.

French braid (Cinematic).

2012, Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE f/1.4, Portrait, Teaching point

I waited until the right moment to click the shutter.

The viewer is being pulled into this image by the vortex of intertwining arms that are, in turn, intertwining the young girl’s hair.  Similar patterns can also be seen in the white sweater and background window treatment.

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Leica 35mm Summilux FLE @ f/1.4.

Alex’s wedding, revisited (Cinematic).

2012, Favourite, Inspiration, Portrait, Voigtländer 35mm f/1.2 Nokton

I was recently reviewing the images from Alex’s wedding, and I realized just how much I like this one.  It’s composed in a special way, and it seems to capture the genuine joy she felt and radiated out to her guests.

As often happens when an image speaks to me, I started viewing it as a frame from the continuous film of life, so I decided to re-crop it and give it the cinematic treatment.

One special frame from a special day in your life, Alex.

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Voigtländer Nokton 35mm @ f/1.2.