Within 200 feet of My House™

Season’s Greetings… and…

2018, Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Leica M10, Print, Within 200 feet of My House™

For almost a decade I’ve enjoyed posting images and engaging in discussion with fellow photographers and photo enthusiasts on this site.

Truth be told, it wasn’t always a fun process, and I wasn’t always happy doing it.

I did however strive to be honest… with you and with myself.  I was wrong about some things, changed my equipment far too frequently, and often overestimated my abilities and influence.

And I documented it all, here.

Now I believe the time has come to stop posting.  Knowing myself, I will continue to have an intermittent presence online (I love the photography community far too much to completely stop interacting with all of you) but it won’t be here.

Thank you for your attention and support.

I hope 2019 is kind to you and your loved ones.

(And please remember to enjoy Life’s Little Moments.)

Season’s Greetings.

—Peter.

 

EDIT: December 29, 2018.

After a restful holiday and an almost complete recovery from illness, I’ve decided to keep this blog going for as long as I can.  Thank you again for all of your messages of support.

—Peter.

↑ Leica M10 + Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4.

 

 

Sisters (1 and 2).

2018, Favourite, Inspiration, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Leica M10, Portrait, Q&A, Teaching point, Within 200 feet of My House™

I really love seeing them like this… enjoying each other’s company.

On a completely different (and technical) note, these images were not post-processed in any way.  I had nothing to add to what the M10 produced.  First time I can recall that happening to me with any digital camera.

—Peter.

↑ Leica M10 + Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4.

Leica M2-R (Test Images).

2018, Favourite, Film, Inspiration, Kodak Tri-X 400, Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4, Leica M2, Leica M2-R, Q&A, Scanner - Plustek 8200i, Teaching point, Within 200 feet of My House™

Yesterday, I posted some images of the Leica M2-R I was fortunate to acquire.  The photos were taken with a Leica M10 and processed in Lightroom with relative ease.

In contrast, today I set upon the boring and arduous task of testing the M2-R without — of course — the immediate feedback of digital photography.  As I subsequently stood in my basement processing the film, I must admit that I had second thoughts about whether all of the hassle was worth it.  It’s especially frustrating when the effort of processing and scanning is undertaken only to find out that the camera is in some way defective.

Fortunately in this case, all is good.

And as I watched the images magically appear — first on the negative as it was unspooled following its final wash, and then in more detail on my monitor as the scanner did its thing — I realized for the 1000th time why I keep coming back to film: even mundane test shots look better on this antiquated “sensor”.

The following images are not meant to be interesting.  However, they are useful to me.  In them, I’m verifying:

  1. Shutter speed accuracy (in various types of light)
  2. Rangefinder precision (in near, mid, and far distances)

Technical:

  • Lens: Leica 50mm Summilux
  • Aperture: f/1.4 (except the last image which, because of brightness, necessitated f/2).
  • Shutter speed range: 1/60 – 1/1000 sec.

—Peter.

–

(focus is on the small word “Elect”, above the J)↓

–

(focus is on the number “50”)↓

–

(focus again is on the number “50”)↓

–

(focus is on the letter “G”)↓

–

(focus is on the poor sap )↓

–

(focus is on the faint word “KeepRite”)↓

–

(focus is on the round thermometer)↓

–

(focus is on the door of the house across the street)↓

↑ Leica M2-R + Leica 50mm Summilux ASPH f/1.4.

Blue.

2018, Favourite, Inspiration, Nikon, Nikon 105mm f/1.4 E, Nikon D850, Portrait, Q&A, Sports, Teaching point, Within 200 feet of My House™

↑ Nikon D850 + Nikon 105mm f/1.4 E.

–

Edit.

I thought it would be interesting to post the same image with lens corrections (distortion and vignetting removed):

↑ Nikon D850 + Nikon 105mm f/1.4 E.

(distortion and vignetting corrected)

–

The vignetting at f/1.4 is very noticeable (the distortion is rather minimal, so you won’t see much of a difference in that respect); whether to correct the vignetting or not is of course a matter of preference.

—Peter.

House-Road Blues, 4.

2018, Favourite, Film, Inspiration, Kodak Tri-X 400, Leica 50mm Summicron Dual Range f/2, Leica M3, Portrait, Scanner - Plustek 8200i, Within 200 feet of My House™

The darkness on the left side is, ahem, part of my camera strap.  I could tell you that it was intentionally placed there, but then you’d know I was lying.

Unfortunately, there were no do-overs on this one… it was a candid moment.

—Peter.

↑ Leica M3, Leica 50mm Summicron Dual Range, Kodak Tri-X 400, and Plustek 8200i.