Inspiration

Spring is here! (Jump for Joy)

2012, Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Portrait

Spring officially arrives today — its earliest arrival since 1896 — but unofficially it arrived in Toronto over a week ago, as we’ve been under the spell of unseasonably high temperatures.

Better yet for photographers, the light is back again…

(please click on the image to view)

↑Leica M9 and Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH @ f/1.4.

Little boy blue (before and after).

2012, Inspiration, Leica 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE f/1.4, Leica M9(P)/M-E (CCD Lives!), Teaching point

I’m posting an extra entry today, in response to a request from one of my viewers, Mark, who commented on the original Little Boy Blue image (please see the Comments section of that post, which also contains a detailed response from me).

Mark was wondering what the before-and-after images looked like (i.e., before-and-after post-processing was applied).

So Mark, this one’s for you.

Below, you will find the “before” image as it came out of the camera.  This is a DNG file loaded directly from my memory card and converted to JPG in Apple’s Aperture, without any intermediate steps on my part:

(please click on the image to view)

↑Little Boy Blue (before post-processing)

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Note how “flat” the file appears, and how I intentionally underexposed the image at the time it was shot (one of my techniques when working with digital cameras).

Now, here is the “after” shot, following my customized post-processing.  This could have been processed an innumerable amount of ways, but I chose to do it this way:

(please click on the image to view)

↑Little Boy Blue (after post-processing)

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I hope this helps, Mark.  If you ever make it to Toronto from Edmonton, I would be happy to take you on a Practical Photography Teaching session!

Regards,

—Peter.

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.