People – Page 2 – Imagist Blog

the last day of Christmas…

…on the first day of January.
Finally delivered Sophia’s gifts to her.

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And Jerome requested that we attempt to recreate a pose that he and Tanya took on their wedding day…
as they’re celebrating their 10 wedding anniversary on this first day of January.
So how did we do Jerome? Which one do you want a print of? Or all three?

Leica M, 50 mm Summilux Asph

and we have bitter, bitter cold… -8 degrees F… -35 “wind chill”… car didn’t start this morning

Leica M Monochrom, 28 mm Summicron Asph

May be the best $10 I ever spent… Cadillacs and brunettes @ 3

I saw the Garage Sale sign on Pioneer Road; just around the corner from the house we’ll soon move into. I turned onto a very long driveway; between a corn field and a bean field, over water filled pot holes, including a ninety degree right hand turn, and a ninety degree left hand turn — finally up to a metal pole building with large sliding doors. Just inside that huge doorway sat a dirt encrusted Cadillac Escalade. “How much for the Escalade?” I asked. “$10 includes a charger and a dead battery.” came Bob’s response. “I’ll take it.” It needed a new battery — $70. Some new wheels — $80. And a whole lot of tender loving cleaning by Nanna Anna. That was one happy 3 year old, Jace, the birthday guy, when he finally took the wheel of that Escalade, with a brunette riding shot gun — just like dad.

I do love to rummage through garage sales.

The rest of the birthday photographs can be seen here.

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Leica M, 50 mm Summilux Asph

Leica Monochrom, 50 mm Summilux Asph

Jack’s visit…

Jack Hernon, my friend, college roommate and a fine artist, flew up from North Carolina to visit his sister; and celebrate her sixtieth birthday with a large family reunion. Jack and I spent Friday together; reminiscing and “catching up.” I took him to the world famous Solly’s Grille for lunch. Even though he spent his first twenty plus years in Wisconsin he’d never experienced a Solly’s butter burger. Unconscionable.

Filled the day with visits to: Boelter Restaurant Supply Sale. Picked up a $10 12 Volt Cadillac Escalade for Jace at a rummage sale. Neiman’s Orchard for Honey Crisp apples fresh off the trees. The new house to continue to work on the hot tub’s pH balance.

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Elisa’s smile greeted us immediately as we walked in the door at Solly’s.
She also took credit for directing the creation of the finest Vege-burger I’ve had to date.

Leica M Monochrom, 50 mm Summilux Asph

Leica M, 28 mm Summicron Asph

A day with the Leitz Apo—Macro—Elmarit—R 1:2.8 / 100 on the M (240)

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Dust to dust. Wabi (a quality of austere and serene beauty expressing a mood of spiritual solitude recognized in Zen Buddhist philosophy.) Sabi (“The concept sabi carries not only the meaning ‘aged’—in the sense of ‘ripe with experience and insight’ as well as ‘infused with the patina that lends old things their beauty’—but also that of tranquility, aloneness, deep solitude” (Hammitzsch, 46).)

Sophia and Tanya enjoying our new old hot tub for the first time.

Frog

Two Frogs

Garage visitor

Sunset on the pond

Leica M, 100 mm Apo Macro Elmarit R

More with the Leitz Wetzlar Summilux—R 1:1.4 / 80 on Leica M (240)

This group demonstrates the reach and OOF bokeh of the 80 Summilux when used “on the streets.” The first two come from the view from The Anvil Restaurant in Cedarburg, WI; where Ann and I had dinner after looking for a “vanity” for one of the bathrooms in the house we’ve bought. The rest come from spending the afternoon at Irish Fest on Ann’s birthday (as is her habit).

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Cannot beat this lens for candid portraiture (though the 75 M Summilux will certainly keep up admirably)

Can’t help but think of John McMaster when I see stuff like this:

Now we add the 2X Apo Extender and use that 160 mm reach:

Oops. I’m pretty sure the next three are with the 28 Summicron M

Okay I’m fairly sure the rest are with the 80 ‘ lux-R

Yup — haunted by John down in New Zealand — again:

Leica M, 80 mm Summilux-R

Next up: Leitz Apo—Macro—Elmarit—R 1:2.8 / 100

Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 1:2 / 35 on Leica M: So, so sweet.

The Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 1:2 / 35 hanging on the Leica M (240) with Multifunction Grip and EVF truly feels like a terrific walk around kit. Extremely well balanced. Able to focus down to less than 10″; while offering a slightly wide field of view; yet maintaining terrifically natural sense of perspective and scale. And of course the Summicron signature has always flattered its subjects.

Shooting with this kit reminded me how much I’ve missed using these wonderful lenses on a 24 x 36 frame. Post processing brought back memories of my favorite “old Agfachrome.” Of course I could have also post processed them as “ekta… fuji… koda… or whatever other …chrome.” Though I always found Agfachrome to most closely synch with how I perceived “natural” color in the world; just as I always found a 35 mm focal length to most closely synch with my “natural field of view and sense of scale and perspective.” Of course I also enjoyed the drama of wider focal lengths; as well as the compression achieved with longer focal lengths.

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Pull the cap and check that close focus… wide open… not “macro”
though certainly a wonderful “are you ready for your closeup?” lens.

Great field of view

Fueling up while waiting for the rain to pass… before the Virmond Park Kite Fesball can begin.

the 54″ wingspan kite took off like a rocket… especially after Ann opened up those wing tails.

Jace’s little kite never quite made it… in spite of Dad and Nana’s tenacious efforts.

Leica M, Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 1:2 / 35

Leitz Wetzlar Elmarit-R 1 : 2.8 / 24 mm on Leica M : Grassroots Politics on the North Shore

The Leitz Wetzlar Elmarit-R 1 : 2.8 / 24 – A Minolta lens design – performs admirably on the Leica M sensor; just as it did on the DMR sensor; and on film before that. Good center and corner performance. Good flare resistance. The mildest bit of chromatic aberration; easily corrected with slightest adjustment in Lightroom.

The 24 mm Elmarit opens up a room with a minimum of distortion.

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Allows inclusion of the “environment”

Took the M/24 combo to a Grassroots Northshore political meeting last Tuesday evening. Found the EVF a bit troublesome in that environment. Though that could simply mean that I need a lot more practice in those types of situations. I would have been a lot more comfortable with the 28 cron and using the rangefinder. Yet I determined that I wanted to see what I could do with the R/M/EVF and the focal length really was perfect for the room; and the feel of the meeting.

Dinner with Jace at the Family Table after the meeting.

Leitz Wetzlar 15 mm Super Elmar R on Leica M

The 15 mm Leitz Wetzlar 15 mm Super Elmar is another one of those lenses which performed admirably on film with all its “forgiving” qualities. Though when mounted on the R8/DMR we saw the inherent “issues” of the lens amplified — specifically chromatic aberration and smearing of corners and edges — even on the DMR’s smaller cropped sensor the corners looked awful well into the frame.

I was anxious to see how the M’s micro lenses and possible corrections would handle these issues when chosen in the M>R Manual Lens Choice menu. Again I felt disappointed that the Super-Elmar did not appear in the M>R lens menu – so chose the newer Super-Elmarit from the list — stepped out into the yard and enjoyed the amazing close focus of these R lenses. I checked a couple files on screen and proceeded to bike into Thiensville to check out the Suburban Motors mini Harley Fest with the 15.

The results certainly show potential for the lens. The chromatic aberration is still present of course — though seems a bit easier to correct in Lightroom then the DMR files. On the Full Frame sensor of the M the corners still appear a touch smeared — though not nearly as obviously so as on the DMR sensor. The lens remains a bit of a beast to tame. Finding the hyperfocal distance at any given aperture seems a bit of a crap shoot as the lens behaves so weirdly on the edges and corners. Twas a time when I really had a good feel for using this lens on film. It now feels like I need to practice and experiment to figure out best working methods with the M’s EVR and all.

When shooting using a set hyperfocal distance it seems to require taping the focus ring down – as my handling the lens on the M seems to constantly shift the focus into the close focus range. The focus isn’t particularly loose either. I don’t recall this issue when I used this lens on the much larger and heavier R8 body with film.

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Leica M, Leitz Wetzlar 15 mm Super Elmar

Last fireworks from Mequon Road House

Two golf courses have provided fireworks displays on or around the 4th of July for the past 30 years.
This will be our last 4th of July in this home – change becomes final on November 30.

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