Speaking of the “Leica Look” – Here are some photos that were sent in to me by Ernie Blarinckx and I feel they do have that special feel about them. Love the images here, so enjoy! Also, NYC is Friday, cant wait!
Hi Steve,
These are my first Street shots with the Leica M9 using the 35mm/f2 asph and the 50mm/f1.4 asph. All these pictures are taken during my visit to NYC. The files are developed in LR3.
I have a bunch more of them, but I just send a few to show you (and give your advice). In the past I always used Nikon gear, but I like this new camera so much that I think a will be selling all my Nikon stuff 🙂
The Leica M9 is just an awesome beast ! Small but powerful and easy to use. My photography style changed completely using the M9.
I hope you llike them.
Kind Regards,
Ernie Blarinckx
Geel
Belgium
ernie,
some of the shots have a ‘Hasselblad’ digital quality….I assume from PP from Adobe Light Room 3?
as I cannot achieve said look straight from JPEG or DNG,
perhaps you will show the way?
BTW: all good mate!
Now, would you be so kind as to elucidate?
Peace Out!
– j
Stumptown, OR, USA
Hi J.,
All pictures are shot as compressed DNG files, and developed in LR 3 and converted to JPG/Tiff. These were one of the first series I took with the M9 during a visit in NY in May. I think LR3 was still a beta version … Meanwhile we are in October and of course because of the learning curve I went trough, my shooting has changed as well as my development.
Kind regrads,
Ernie
Yeah the vignetting is a little strong but it can probably help u make a nice series of street shots with similar theme, subject and processing. I would try to make the color consistent for a series though … Such as all b&w or all colour.
These photos are great. I can’t do street photos like that…
Olympus “pinhole” art-filter anyone ?
It seems that the idea of putting art-filters in a camera was nt so bad after all…. You don’t need to waste time in PP, it’s all done the moment you press the button.
I like very much the number 3, number 1 is almost as good but the guy is dressed in black and mixes up with the vignetting so i end up looking to the woman walking away with the bag.
Your second and fourth shots are your strongest. I like them best. Great subject matter. I like the wide angle look too. I don’t know that I’d sell my Nikon gear though. It has its place & purpose. Too bad you can’t keep both. But I understand you’re in love with your M9. Have fun with it.
The shots are nice and yes, the vignetting can get overdone at times. It works well at times in b&w to isolate the subject and create a “mood” but, it has to be used judiciously. The again, it’s all subjective so…
Have fun with the M9, Ernie!
These are a nice series Ernie, have fun bonding with your new M9.
I too am often guilty of going a bit far on the LR vignette slider! I find that if I refer to the small preview in the Lightroom ‘navigator’ window, it helps me see if I need to back off a bit.
Great shots Ernie
Picture two was very well timed, great street shot, pic three has great colour, glow and fine composition, pic four, probably get arrested in the UK for taking a shot of a Copper but great capture all the same and pic five, well I love the heavy vin which I feel gives the picture great atmosphere. Now pic 1, I’m intrigued to know what the reflection of the street, gents bag and back may give or not to the composition.
Nice work Ernie
Cheers Pete
Bedankt Geofferey!
Net even op uw site gekeken. Amai, ik heb nog veel te leren 😉
Prachtig werk man, echt, proficiat. Kan je me eens privé mailen ? Altijd prettig kennis te maken met mensen uit eigen land met o.a. een leica als materiaal 🙂
Steve heeft mijn gegevens.
Groeten, Ernie
Really like the images Ernie. The subjects are great and for me personally the PP works!
Everybody’s so caught up in the vignetting subject that they miss Steve making a phonecall in the last pic 🙂 🙂
Of course i can see that difference, and I really don’t use it in every picture. But for this session I liked this mood. It was my personal taste and choice. Looking daily at Steve’s site I see a lot of post-processing. Some I like, some I don’t. But hey I always look at the complete picture, not only the vignetting. Again, I was coming from a D3 dslr with large lenses and this was my first street-shooting with the M9. That was what I wanted to show …
Thanks for your advice, I will keep it in mind 🙂
Hi Ernie,
Of course all is a matter of taste, but can’t you see the difference between a real lens vignetting and the LR3 vignetting ? come on…the one from LR3 is so so ugly
I really like vignetting, the real one that come from the lens, not the computer 😉
=> http://h0lg4.org/album_personal.php?user_id=2
peace
You can modify it to be identical..were that not the case it would be useless for correction.
Thank you all for your comments 🙂
About the vignetting; It’s all a matter about taste. Some like it, some don’t. At this moment this is what I like. I send these pictures to steve to tell him that I loved the M9 and that I was capable to do more with this beast than that I did with my Nikon’s. Photography is so much more than adding a vignette or not. But hey, maybe next year I will do something totally different. And to be honest, what’s wrong with some PP? Even if you use a M9? I don’t think that this has anything to do with camera brands.
Thanks for watching !
I really enjoy this series, and do think they have a wonderful look to them. Playing with color and vignetting is a matter of taste, and I’m personally a fan. However, the shot of the crossing guard is very “Leica” in it’s look regardless of post processing.
I do agree there’s too much vignetting in some though.
Fantastic pictures.
Colin, You are absolutely correct regarding the right to experiment and find the appropriate mood for your pics. My reaction was more triggered by the intro of the post mentioning the “Leica look” in reference with these pics…
Everybody has to walk their own path… it might just so happen that vignetting is what this gentleman has to go through right now…
and later he may put it down…
his view point is as valid as yours, both are equal and should be tried.
both of you have a lovely day
Wonderful statement Colin, I couldn’t agree more!!
Sorry to be so bold. I am amazed that you are using a $10000 dollars camera/lens kit to make pictures that you modify by adding tons of vignetting in post! In that context, a very resourceful photographer could probably get pictures with more “soul” with a $50 Holga.
nice shots, nice mood. Except for n°1 and 2, love the vignetting!!!
The vignetting ruin your pictures, i canno’t even see the subject.
i prefer my hypstamatic app from iphone more than theses ‘leica look’ shots 😀
@Pascal: Then shoot with your iPhone. Preferably in France.
Really good shots, thanks for showing them.
Lucy
very cool, 1st and 4th love the colours.
Love the policeman one.
Nice street photography, amazing for your first attempt with the M9!!!!