Hello Steve
As you know i own the Leica MM for quite some time now. I also use the Leica 35 Lux ASPH 2 as my main lense. I also bought the Leica 24 Elmar for my M6. The M 240 is a great camera with lovely colors and black & white results, but I decided to buy the MM as I found myself shooting more and more black and white with my previous M9.
The MM has a fantastic tonal range and together with the 35 Lux makes a great combo. It took me some time to get used to the fact that I had to stop seeing in color, the shadow light differences became more accentuated,and the photo subjects just changed.The better , actually very good ISO possibilities gave me shooting possibilities i didn’t know before.
It also changed my style of photography for the better I believe.
The MM gave me also a chance of returning back to filters especially red (in order to accentuate the white clouds, the yellow \ orange for sunny days and simply for getting darker and crisper photos.) The MM + the filters gave me back the old style kind of photography which I long deserted and missed so often. It is a great site you have.
Take care
Danny
Great work Danny!
Thanks
I love the second photo from the top……very much art photography!
🙂
These photos are very good. You have really captured unique personalities, even though some faces we don’t see fully. The people, the environment and the tonal range seem strangely cohesive, as if they are parts of an integrated whole. I am moved, probably because the photos contain some tension, conflict, something unsettled. Country people, strong characters – but also loneliness, poverty? For me, this was truly daily inspiration.
Thank you
Gotta agree! Great series of images! As far as lightening the shadows, I gotta, respectfully, disagree with John. To me that is a personal preference. Adjust the tones as fit your perception of what you wish to see. My stuff (my website it totally black&white) surely does not fit everyone’s view of what a b&w image should look like but it works for me and that is all I can worry about.
Stick with your signature style!!!
Point taken, Rich.
Afterthought. Certainly agree with the principle “stay with your own personal style”. But I still wonder why, above all with the MM, so many people have the same personal style in relation to light and shade!!
I really like these pictures – loads of atmosphere. But they puzzle me, too. Almost all MM users talk about the camera’s fantastic tonal range and almost all produce pictures shrouded in darkness. Why not use the tonal range? There is not one of these pictures which isn’t improved – in my view – by lightning the shadows. They don’t lose their atmosphere, they hold so much more detail, and the tonal range is truly beautiful. Is there something I haven’t understood?
This is the best daily inspiration for the last year. Wish all of them were close to this.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you 🙂
Beautiful mono shots Dan! I especially like the 2nd one (which give a bit of the flavour of local life) and the 5th one (so full of personality!) 🙂