Sports

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.

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.

The jaunt.

2012, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summicron f/2, Portrait, Sports, Teaching point

Capturing a walker/jogger/runner in mid-stride is always desirable, as it adds a dynamic component to the image, and it opens up the figure for a more pleasing composition.

In this case, when I zoom in, I can see that both of his feet are off the ground… this serves no real purpose (for this particular image), but it’s an example of the sort of “freezing” of time that photography does so well.

(please click on the image to view)

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

“The M3… for kids’ sports?” featured on Steve Huff’s site.

2012, Favourite, Film, Inspiration, Leica 35mm Summilux ASPH FLE f/1.4, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Leica M3, Portrait, Sports

Eight of my film images have been featured on SteveHuffPhoto.com as part of the Daily Inspiration:

The M3… for kids’ sports?

The text and images have been reproduced below.

A big THANK YOU to Steve for once again posting my work on his site!

—Peter.


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Hi Steve,

Last year, I wrote a short article for your site called:  The Leica M9… for sports?

This year, I’m still photographing my kids’ sports activities with an M9, but two weeks ago I decided to take my M3 instead.  

I did it for a couple of reasons:  Firstly, I just like the look of film.  Secondly, I thought it would be fun.

Well, 3 rolls of Tri-X 400 later, I ended up with some keepers.  Actually, I ended up with a whole bunch of keepers, and I’m sharing a few here.

Incidentally, if any of your readers are interested in learning about how I process my B&W film, they can read about it here.

Regards,

Peter | Prosophos

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Please click on any of the images below and a slideshow will begin.