Portrait

Illuminata.

Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Life's Little Moments, Portrait, Teaching point

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

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I’m pleased with this image… the light, the mood.

And — curiously — her profile mirrors the contours of the lighthouse:

I hadn’t noticed it until my wife pointed it out.

Admittedly, our brains are always seeking to make order of the world around us, but the two main elements in this image — photographically speaking —complete each other.  This sort of harmony ultimately resonates with the viewer, whether they know it or not.

—Peter.

Poolside (the Matrix).

Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, LFI Master Shot, Portrait, Sports, Teaching point

Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is.  You have to see it for yourself.

—Morpheus, The Matrix.

Fans of the movie The Matrix will no doubt understand my reference to it in the context of this image.

This is a technically difficult shot, not so much because of the action (I pre-focussed on the plane of her anticipated trajectory), but because of the extremes of light and dark populating this scene… accurately judging the exposure was quite a challenge.

And capturing her form in this most interesting pose — at the moment she entered the slice of space illuminated by a shaft of sunlight — was accomplished with the aid of good timing and a hefty dose of luck.

This photo was chosen as a Leica Fotografie International (LFI) Master Shot.

—Peter.

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

End of summer (bye bye).

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

Unofficially anyway.

As an aside, after judging for the moment, lighting, composition, and post-processing, I’m always most pleased with an image of mine if it makes me believe — even for a moment — that I’m staring at a painting.

It’s too soon to know if this one qualifies, but that’s my early impression.

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

Chasing the ball, revisited [2].

2012, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Portrait, Sports, Teaching point

It’s not easy nailing this kind of close-range shot at f/1.4 with a manual focus rangefinder camera, but when I’m successful, it’s always worth it.

In this case, there is a problem with the image in that the horizon is not level (a photographic “no-no“, most of the time), and fixing this will result in her foot being cut off at the bottom edge of the frame (a bigger photographic “no-no“).

I’ve therefore decided to keep things as they are… hopefully the viewer will think that I meant to shoot it this way — intentionally slanting the image so that it takes on a more dynamic look. 😉

[Incidentally, the other Chasing the Ball images may be found here, here, and within this article about using the M9 for sports here.]

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