Daily Inspiration #249 by Gary Tyson

August 16, 2011 Daily Inspiration 36

Hi Steve, great site, thanks for the inspiration to get me into Leica….I am a british pro photographer here, recently got into the Leica system. These are from the M9 and
35mm F2 ASPH in rainy season downtown Hong Kong….please check them out, would be great to see any of them featured on your site.

More on Gary’s site HERE!

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36 Comments

  2. gary, love the 2nd image. almost tempted to say you asked a couple of bystanders and recreated the abbey road scene, without lennon in front. the guy in the back look eerily like mccartney, posewise. hahaha.

    oh dear. another system battle going on? i gave up. 😛

  4. great images, and who cares whether they are produced with this or that box, just use whatever feels good to you and what is most practical for the job…..

    • Right you are! All that matters is that the equipment you use satisfies your vision whether professionally or personally. When I was a newspaper staffer, I felt I needed the pro zooms to get the job done. For me and my style, they worked. Now that I am in forced “retirement”, I am revisiting the way I shoot on a daily basis. I am enjoying what currently seems to be working but still wonder if the DSLRs and pro zooms need to go to fund lighter, capable equipment as my needs have changed. The jury is still out on that matter….

      • As may have been mentioned before, most DSLR’s have an intricate interchangeable lens facility, which means you are not forced to use a zoom lens. You can actually use the fixed focal length lens of your choice, as in (most, not all) rangefinder cameras…

  6. Right you are, Jason!!! For me, my tools of choice right now are my “vintage” D2H bodies and a new Nikkor 35mm f1.8 AF-S G DX. My particular copy is great for low light, very sharp for my work wide open, and satisfies all my needs. AND since it is the only lens I am shooting with right now (I leave all the heavy zooms in the bag!), the combination is light enough for me to carry all day. Quite often folks compare shooting an M9 and 35mm Summacron to a 5D MkII with a 24-70mm f2.8 L-series. That is apples and oranges! Shot that 5D MkII with a Canon 35mm f2 and see what comes out!

    But, on the other hand, sometimes it takes a major change in equipment to open one’s eyes to what has always been there. So, as Jason said, “no matter what the tool, it’s still the photographer….”

  8. I have both the M9 and the 5D Mark II. Each of its own, yesterday I had a quick photoshoot project for interior decoration, I took the 5D. And last week I was asked to take some Ramadan scenery examples I took the M9. So it depends. But I love my M9 more, because since I bought it, I never stopped taking photos, unlike before where I had to think before I carry the 5D Mark II

  10. Wonderful tones and shades and contrast. You’re site is even more so. Thanks for sharing.
    Pete

  16. Whoa! These are the coolest Daily Inspiration photo’s I’ve seen since you took that photo of the dude at the trailer door Steve!

  17. Such great tonality and sharpness! The more time I spend on this site and the great images I see, the more and more I want to ditch my 5D MKII and grab an M9. Shooting with the X100 for the past three months has been a joy and really resonates with me. The last time I used an M series was 4 years ago with an M6 and Summicron 50. Loved the images I got from that weekend.

    Thanks again for sharing these.

    Dan

      • I use the 5D Mk II for almost all my commercial work, and have only recently discovered Leicas…These pics above I took after using the camera for only a few days…I can honestly say, for this style of photography, the M system is second to none regards to size, less imposing on subjects, and these Leica lenses are making my Canon L glass look quite inferior in almost every instance….I’m loving the Leica experience and now i’m starting to see what all the fuss is about….

        • The 5dII (and 5D) are great cameras. It’s a totally different experience than the M9 though. I just got an M9 and shipped off my 5dII to my ebay buyer yesterday. I’ll miss some of the features on the 5dII but again the best camera is the one you have. I feel much better with something small and light for where I want to go. I don’t miss my 1+ kg weight of my 85mm f/1.2L II at all even though the optics were superb.

        • Can’t speak for Canon lenses but there’s nothing “inferior” about the latest crop of professional Nikkor primes; the 1.4/24, 35 and 85. Relatively big and heavy (just over 600 grs), yes, inferior, no.

      • @gary- three wonderful images. congrats!

        @mika- a whole website full of wonderful images. congrats!!!

        @michiel- you irritable bear… in case someone here is counting and judging- another POSITIVE comment. congrats! and i’m still hoping steve will honor his offer of giving you the floor in one of these ‘daily inspirations.’

        blessings

        • @Nymaera: “irritable bear”, I’ll take that as a compliment!

          I’m on NikonImages and ZeissImages (Miked700) and on Facebook (Michiel Faro). And on MVAgustanet (MikeF4Black). Surprisingly friendly environment with only goodnatured criticism of other brands. But then MVAgusta’s are relatively heavy bikes 😉

      • james nachtwey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3VoyjUP8hg

        just another ‘so called pro big wig’ who doesn’t seem to mind the limitations of the inferior image quality of his Canon camera or by all the ‘useless buttons’ upon it…

        just another ‘hobbyist’ who doesn’t realize that his passion is inferior to that of others due to the camera he has chosen to exercise it with.

        just another guy out taking pictures with the camera that makes sense to him…

        just another guy, whose passion is more about the content of what he captures with his tool, rather than the tool itself.

        anyways…

        just another guy, just saying…

        • +1
          James uses Canon, and used to use the film Canons. I’ve been following his career for years. His work is wonderful. He could make a beautiful photo with a 110 camera. LOL!

          • elaine,

            if you or anyone else, hasn’t seen ‘War Photographer’ i urge you to do so… not just the photographically devoted, whom might relish the privileged peek into his method and his work. but for all, for it’s crushing presentation of humanity struggling against life without pretense, without regard…

            blessings

      • I am not denouncing that my 5D MKII is not a wonderful camera, nor that similar images could not be obtained. After shooting with my X100 for three months, only touching the 5D to shoot some video, I have found a lot more freedom in shooting with the smaller, lighter, more agile X100. Now the auto focus in low light has been far from stellar, and I wish the manual focus was easier to use, but the IQ is staggeringly great. Also the high ISO performance easily holds its own with the Canon. Am I looking forward to Photokina in 2012, you bet. But I am not saying the Canon is a bad camera at all, I have just found a lot more freedom in the smaller yet excellent X100. Could I live without auto focus the rest of my days? Not sure with two little ones only getting harder to catch in front of the lens lol.
        My apologies for not making my point clear. I will be more careful to do so in the future, like now.

        Gary, you have a fantastic eye for composition and a wonderful sense of the moment. The M seems like a terrific new tool for you to capture those moments unencumbered. I wish you all the best. Thanks again for sharing your vision.

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