This self-portrait represents my second lapse in judgment.
As an aside, I was experimenting here with achieving focus with the 75 ‘lux @ f/1.4 mounted on the M2. Ultimately, it’s no different than on the M9… you need to be equally careful in both situations, but it’s definitely doable. Focus here was on my eye.
This was the first frame of a 36 roll of Tri-X.
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↑Leica M2, Kodak Tri-X 400, Leica 75mm Summilux @ f/1.4.
I thought this would be most appropriate for a Monday morning post, but it was pushed aside with all of the announcements yesterday.
Tuesday morning will do nicely however :).
As an aside, I really like the little iPhone Pocket Light Meter app – I’ve been using it for just over a year with my M2 for situations like this, where the lighting is tricky, and it’s done very well.
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↑Leica M2, Kodak Tri-X 400, and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4
I have been trying to photographically capture the essence of Honey, since she entered our lives in December. The closest I’ve come with my M9 (digital camera) is with this shot, taken 3 months ago.
The image below represents my latest attempt.
Now,
…it may be because this time I was using a more than 50 yr old camera with no back LCD screen, no meter, no battery, not even an on/off switch…
…it may be because I then fumbled with the film in a changing bag, trying to blindly load it into a spool…
… it may be because it was then lovingly bathed in a series of mystery chemicals and finally in distilled water, before being hung in my basement-turned-sauna as the hot water ran in the sink, generating steam to get rid of dust in the air…
…it may be because I then delicately handled each strip and spent minutes scanning each frame into my computer…
…it may be because all of these things make me better appreciate the act of image creation…
…but…
…I believe this image has come close to capturing Honey’s soul.
If you don’t see it, that’s OK. I can’t explain it.
But if you do see it, then you know:
—Peter.
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↑Leica M2, Kodak Tri-X 400, and Leica 75mm Summilux @ f/1.4.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
And carry a big stick.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
Well, it’s a search anyway.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
Communing with nature, communing with each other in Algonquin Park.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.4.
A view of adjacent frames on a roll of film, scanned together in the Plustek 7600.
Two incomplete frames in the flow of life’s film strip.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
I always have to remind myself not to over-process my images.
It used to be the domain of poor HDR photography practitioners, but now I see “over-cooked” images everywhere. What’s worse is that few people are objecting to it.
Don’t get me wrong, I shoot in raw format and process ALL of my images, sometimes using various software plug-ins – which I suspect are the most popular tools employed by the offending photo-chefs.
And, especially in my novice days, I have been guilty of over-processing too. Moreover, I’m sure in a few years I’ll look back at my current digital output and label it as garish.
However, I’ve been shooting a lot with film lately. I’m doing this mostly because my mood and creative juices are calling for it…. something to do with the darker, cooler season of autumn.
In doing so, I’m always reminded of how a photograph should look.
–
↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
–
Nothing flashy. Nothing exciting. But real.
I know digital and film, in their native state, look different so I’m not trying to emulate one with the other.
I still go ahead and process the film images I’ve scanned into my computer, though – fortunately – it’s harder to screw around with them… but not impossible.  This limitation helps me understand what I should be striving for when processing digital images.
Keeping it real, so to speak.
—Peter.
The original Tunnel Commuting is here.
This time, I decided to use film and a different lens.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
When your mother died… it was four years ago today.
When your mother died… you were only two years old.
Do you remember her?
I have a photo of you hugging her – the one in the kitchen – during that final summer together. In it, you are overcome with joy, and she – she is forever embracing you.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
Dear S,
Rest in peace, my sweet love.
1/15 of a second of their lives, as recorded on Ilford HP5+ 400 film.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
Time flies.
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↑Leica M9 and Konica Hexanon 60mm @ f/1.2.
And of course, later:
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 35mm @ f/1.2.
This was an accident. It happened when I was developing the film and now it’s flawed, wouldn’t you say?
This was literally the 37th frame of a “36” roll that I messed up as I was loading the film strip into the developing spool. It was consequently unevenly exposed to the solutions; the film tore as I was removing it from the tank.
But the scene, the mood – the intent – of this image is still conveyed… at least for me. I look at it and I’m taken there, to that quiet afternoon, even if I can’t remember all the details.
The image, like my memory, is incomplete.
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↑Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
The gentle, late afternoon light filtering through the window bathes their faces before silently suffusing into each frame of film in 1/60th of a second.
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All images taken with the Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
I mentioned on a previous post how the change of light of the waning summer pulls me back to film, and here are two resultant images.
The thermometer reads the same temperatures (more or less), and the midday light seems as bright, but the shorter days and the chill in the evening air signals an impending change.
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Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4 [top] and @ f/4 [bottom].
As the summer days get shorter, I reach for a roll of film (something about the shift in the light). A slow process, shooting film, but very good for the photographic soul.
This photo was chosen as a Leica Fotografie International (LFI) Master Shot.
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Leica M2 and Voigtländer Nokton 40mm @ f/1.4.
Prosophos 