Infrared
Last month I attended a presentation by Silvana Della Camera on infrared photography hosted by the Duxbury Camera Club. I can’t say I had much interest going in. Infrared photography always seemed like a gimmick to me.
But I found the presentation interesting and compelling. So much so that I sent an old Nikon D800 in to LifePixel for conversion to Infrared. I chose the 590nm conversion.
When the camera came back I struggled to get anything useable out of it. Focus was a problem. I knew that normal autofocus wouldn’t work properly because infrared light strikes the sensor differently than visible light. I tried to focus manually using Live View but it was hard to see the image on that dim, old LCD. I missed focus most of the time. Also, some of my favorite lenses were showing hotspots, a common issue with infrared and some lenses.
As I was on the verge of giving up, I dug out some old lenses from the basement and tried them. And this time I tried something new: using autofocus while in Live View. Strangely it worked. When I thought about for half a second it made sense. No mirror.
Now, back in business, I downloaded some IR white balance profiles for Lightroom and took a YouTube crash-course on IR processing and channel swapping. I’m struggling to get anything as good as I’ve seen other photographers produce, but it’s a work-in-progress.
I”m still not convinced that IR photography isn’t a gimmick. But maybe that’s because I haven’t quite figured out how to apply it yet. So I’ll keep at it for a while to see if what happens.
Skútafoss
Driving out of Hofn, on Iceland’s southeastern coast, heading up towards Egilsstaðir, I knew that there were a few places worth checking out and Skútafoss was one of them. It’s not the most dramatic waterfall in Iceland, but it is a nice one.
It was a short hike from the road. The rest of the group stayed behind to hang out with some very loud sheep and I headed up the ravine with my gear.
As you approach the falls you can see the two main streams. It was late August so not a lot of water was flowing. I set up the dreaded tripod and took a few shots. There was no one around — or at least I thought there was no one around.
As I was shooting and enjoying the solitude, two people appeared from off to the right under the falls. Apparently there was a small cave. They saw my camera and tripod and told me that I could get a better view in the cave. I followed their advice and this is the shot.
I used the Leica SL2 with the very versatile 24-90 ASPH. I do hate using a tripod but in this case it was necessary to get the streaming effect I was looking for.
Then it was back to the road and up through the Oxi Pass, which is a story in itself, but one for another day.
Foto Private Beta
Check out the Foto private beta!
I’ve been using the Foto iOS app as a beta tester for a few months now and they’re opening up the beta to additional testers until June 12. If you’re a photographer frustrated with Instagram, it’s worth checking out. Simple sharing and a nice way to discover great photographs and amazing photographers.
The app roadmap looks good. The software is a little rough around the edges now, in beta. But it’s steadily improving and I anticipate that some of the cool planned features will start to be introduced soon.
Windblown Trees
This photo was taken in the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield, MA — a great place for a short hike. When I go I almost always bring a camera.
There was something about these asymmetric trees that caught my eye. I’ve returned to photograph them on a number of occasions, in different seasons and conditions. Maybe it’s because they reminded me of the apple trees in the Wizard of Oz. (Watch out, they might reach out and grab you!) They have a kind of fascination for me.
Anyway, this particular image was taken in late September, 2020. I used the Leica SL2 and a Sigma 85mm f1.4 DG DN, a standard portrait setup. That combination allowed for some nice background blurring and gave the wildflowers and tree in the foreground a 3-D effect. So yes, this, basically is a portrait of a tree.
Click on the image for a closer look.
Gear doesn’t matter/Gear matters
Do you need a fancy camera to take high quality images? There are a lot of strongly held opinions out there. I’ll tell you what I think.
To cut to the chase, the answer is no. The quality of today’s smartphone and low-end mirrorless cameras rivals the quality of high-end cameras from 20 years ago. And those old cameras were pretty darn good.
Also, the software available today allows lower resolution images to be enhanced and upscaled if needed. It’s remarkable how great a photo you can get from the small sensor on a smartphone. There are plenty of amazing images that were produced on phones hanging in galleries these days.
For years, my favorite camera was the Leica M9, which had a measly 18 megapixels. That’s small potatoes by today’s standards. But it strikes me that when reviewing images I often can’t tell whether I used the M9 or the more current 60-megapixel M11. Not to mention that some of my favorite images were taken with the puny 6-megapixel Nikon D100.
One area where there are significant benefits to using the latest and greatest (and most expensive) gear is sensor efficiency. Current cameras do have greatly improved noise and dynamic range performance. But software can help to mitigate some of those noise issues, too.
That said, I still prefer high-end gear. I’ll go for the biggest sensor and the best glass that I can afford. I also like simplicity and focus, which is why I gravitate towards Leica.
I’m one of those photographers who originally got into it because I became fascinated with the camera itself. I still love the look and feel of a well made and well designed camera or lens. I was surprised in talking to other photographers that not everyone feels this way. For many it’s just a tool. But for me the camera is an intrinsic part of the creative process.
I don’t intend to do formal gear reviews here, but I will probably post on specific cameras and lenses in the future to give my impressions.
2024 Eclipse
Taking photos of an eclipse can be pretty cool, but only if you’re in the path of full totality. Here in southeastern Massachusetts we were not.
For those in the path who had clear skies, it was nice to see all of the images posted on social media. This one is my favorite.
A local photographer, Bob Wydro, travelled some distance north to photograph the full eclipse only to find a sky full of clouds. Fortunately he was able to make the best of it.
Here, there were only a few clouds but the situation was still challenging. The partially obscured sun was high in the sky and, even with a 10 stop ND filter, it was still very bright, washing everything out. The only hope of having a visible foreground element was as a silhouette. And the only thing nearby to use for that were the trees in the backyard.
So that’s what I did. And the photo to the left is the result. Not a great shot but it’s something to mark the occasion. I should have used a longer lens but of course I was too lazy to set up a tripod, etc.
But now that I know how all this works and what to do and not to do, I guess I’ll be ready for the next eclipse — when it happens in 40 years of so.
Night Photography
Recently, I took advantage of an opportunity to participate in a Night Photography workshop conducted by Lisa Ryan and organized by the Duxbury Camera Club.
We met in Plymouth Center on a cool spring evening. Lisa led us to the top of Burial Hill where we set up. I usually shoot handheld but a tripod was required for this outing. I had to put my normal impatience aside and plan my shots. It was fun to try something new and I might have even learned a thing or two. Here are a few more photos that I took that night.
DCC 2023 Field Trips
Last spring I joined with fellow members of the Duxbury Camera Club for a field trip to New Bedford. Even after living my entire life in costal Massachusetts I had never visited the famous whaling town. It was a great opportunity to spend time with some of the folks from the club and explore this picturesque city.
The Whaling Museum was a high point of the excursion. The staff were helpful (and patient) with our roving band of camera-carrying club members — and I think everyone got some good shots too.
Speaking of DCC field trips, here are some shots from a fall excursion, this time to Weir River Farm in Hingham.
In Praise of the Leica M9
When the Leica M9 came out in 2009, it was quite a technical achievement: A full-frame sensor on a compact rangefinder camera that accepted almost all of the classic M-mount lenses. The sensor was a CCD and it rendered crisp, warm images, reminiscent of Kodachrome — the sensor was made by Kodak, after all. The 18 MP resolution was more than sufficient at the time.
The M9 was my primary camera for several years. Leica released follow-up models with better, more modern sensors, live-view and other technical improvements. I stuck with the M9, choosing to invest in lenses rather than spending my money on incremental camera improvements. But over time those incremental improvements began to add up and by about 2015, the M9 began to feel very dated. It seemed slow and it was missing important new features, like the ability to use an EVF.
These days I mostly shoot with the M11, the SL mirrorless system and occasionally the Q line, including the monochrome version of the Q2. These cameras are very capable – fast, high resolution with incredible low light capability and bright and clear EVFs, and I love shooting with them. All the while, my poor old friend, the M9, was gathering dust.
I wondered how that old M9 would it stack up against the current state of the art. So I brushed off the dust and put the M9 into my bag with the Q2-Monochrome. I’ve been shooting with both cameras on my recent walks and taking comparison shots.
This is not intended to be scientific or precise pixel peeping. Just a little fun. All of the comparison images below were post-processed in Lightroom for tone and contrast and to allow for side by side comparisons. I used an old pre-aspherical 35mm Summilux on the M9 and the Q2-M has a fixed, state-of-the-art 28mm Summilux ASPH. Some slight cropping was necessary because of the different focal lengths. I tried to use the same aperture and the lowest reasonable ISO on both cameras. The goal was just to get them to look generally as similar as possible and then tease out the differences.
Q2 Monochrome
M9
Q2 Monochrome
M9
I’m actually seeing a little more clarity and micro-contrast in the shots from the M9, which is a testament to the quality of the sensor, especially considering that the lens I used is pretty old.
Obviously, when you zoom in, there’s more detail and crispness in the RAW files from the Q2-M due to the larger sensor and better lens. But, even after 11 years, which is an eternity in the world of digital camera technology, the M9 can give the new guys a good run for their money.
Retirement
We were in Sicily in 2009. I was looking for interesting shots when I saw this line of older men sitting on a long stone bench outside an old church in the middle of the day. I like images where people are in a relaxed environment and their individual personalities are out on display. I managed to get the shot without disturbing the situation.
I wasn't completely satisfied with the image out of the camera. I had used a wide focal length and because of the distortion, none of the lines looked right. That, combined with the diagonal pattern in the plaza tiles, made it look dizzying, and distracting from the subjects.
But I really liked the image. The blue against the brown. The different postures and expressions. And the wear on the wall where the men were sitting, implying that this was a regular thing.
It took a few attempts over the years to get the perspective corrections right. The tools in Lightroom have improved and I think I'm finally satisfied with this result. There's still a bit of distortion in the far left but it's not overwhelming. The shot was taken with a Nikon D200 and the lens was 20mm.