My last 48 hours… in photos…
by Steve Huff
Wow, I have been one busy guy these last couple of days! It seems like the tour is now picking up steam and there are more and more shows with less days off. In the past 48 hours I have arrived in Moscow Russia, toured the Red Square, shot the Moscow show, shot a 2nd show in Moscow that went all night log until 6:30 AM this morning, caught a flight to Vienna Austria and traveled all day, arrived at my hotel and left 20 minutes later for dinner and a visit to the coolest Leica Shop EVER, Westlicht Camera in Vienna, Austria.
Whew!
Lots of stuff packed in these last 48 hours and luckily I had my M9 with me for most of those hours!
Since I do not have a few hours right now to sit down and write a killer article I decided to just post and share my last two days with you…in photos!
When it’s all said and done, it is always about the photo anyway right?
Enjoy and hopefully I can get more work done on the site next week (all depends on wifi availability as we start the busses tomorrow).
So let’s start off with the train ride to Moscow…
After leaving St. Petersburg Russia we boarded a train for a 4 hour trek to Moscow where Seal was performing not one, but TWO shows in the same night. One at a great concert hall, and then a private show in the evening. It was going to be a long day and night but the train ride was great. Smooth, relaxing and a teeny bit of fun as well.
Another M9 shooter and Seals guitar tech, Steve McDonald. We had a great table with window seats to check out the view as we made our way towards Moscow..oh, and the grain and BW conversions were done with SIlver Efex Pro II.
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The new Drummer for the band, George Johnson..always being the funny guy…
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When we made it we all got off the train and headed for the vans to take up to the hotel. Looks like some of the guys were tired of the train experience.
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Our bus driver decided to take a smoke break after we all loaded in the van, so Gus joined him.
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By the time we arrived to the room it was already late so I went to sleep and then woke the next morning for some breakfast and a trip to Red Square with some of the band members. It was bright and sunny so it was tough to get any good shots, but it was still fun to visit and see the sights.
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I had the exposure wrong with this one and it was hard to get right as the sun was shining right towards me…so the HDR look is not my preferred way to process but in this case it saved the image.
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By the time we got back from Red Square we had 40 minutes to get ready and be down in the lobby for sound check. Here is George with his drum set at that sound check.
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Showtime! decided to go up top for a different perspective. Click for a larger and better view…
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A group watching the show from above…
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…and it is always fun to shoot by the stage…
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after the show a fan came backstage and Seal tried out his old medium format film camera.. a Pentacon 6 TL…
A couple that was dancing while Seal sang “Loves Divine”…M9 and 24 Summilux
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After the show we had to go right to another show, which was a private concert in a club that started at 2AM. We ended up staying until 6:30AM.
The next two images were shot at the club, in near darkness. I wanted to sort of test out how the Nocti would do wide open, ISO 2500, crazy low light, and slow shutter speeds.
f/0.95. 1/30s, iso 2500 – JPEG B&W
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the show started and it was pretty cool as it was very scaled down and intimate…AND DARK. So dark that I was wishing my Nocti was a f.050 lens! lol! Slow shutter speeds meant most shots were soft. All were ISO 2500 and wide open.
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how about some color at ISO 2500, 1/25s?
After the show we hung out for a while and it was soon time for some food…we ate and then headed back to the hotel at around 6-6:30 with just 3-4 hours to go before heading to the airport for Vienna.
When I arrived in Vienna I had about an hour to get ready as we were going to head to Westlich Camera in Vienna which is an AMAZING out of this world Leica shop. Here is Seal with the all new, extremely limited edition M3-P and chrome Noctilux f0.95! Only 20 made, just for Westlicht Camera.
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as I roamed the rooms of the Leica Shop I saw a stack of lenses…and guess what they all were..yep, 50 Summilux ASPH lenses all ready to be shipped out…wow. There were about a dozen sitting there which was a cool sight to see.
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how about a chrome M9-P with chrome 50 Noct?
After the Leica shop, the owner took us to a delicious dinner. This one was shot with the M9 and 50 Lux ASPH at 1.4, ISO 2500
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It is now past 2am and I am ready to just crash and sleep. Tomorrow is a show day and will be hopping on a bus right after to drive to Budapest. Should be an interesting next few days!
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Nice Euro series Steve – a very enjoyable read.
Love the “just good photos” approach – leaving the measurbating, test chart & brick wall shooters – to their fellow measurbaters – most who can’t seem to take a picture I want to look at.
Nice job.
If you could share some of your tips some time for getting the light just right, we would appreciate it. Picture after picture… but the one with George and the drums stands out. There are no hotspots, the background is balanced, and the range is exactly enough to hint at additional detail. I am sure it is a good camera, but it ain’t the camera. Pictures like that don’t happen by acident.
Hi Steve, did you buy the chrome one? Your reviews brought me to Leica, last week I got my M9-P with 50 Summilux! Amazing! Rolf.
Arjun…I no longer shoot film for one reason. The cost. Just can’t afford the constant rising costs of good processing and developing, let alone the scanning. Don’t have the time to do it myself so the M9 is plenty good enoUgh for my tastes.
to echo another comment… what amazingly noise free images at 2500, how dd you acheive this Steve? Great photo story of 24 hours, very envious of such access to a great adventure. best, John
wow… I never really was a Seal fan, but Steve you are single handedly convincing me I’m missing out on some good energy!
I like the photo used for the post, 48hs in pics… you really captured something there, like I wish I was there…. And she is beautiful already.
And then the touch from heaven I call it, with the halo around seal and the hands… holeymoley!
enjoy the trip!
@Arjun,
My thought exactly. M6 + Ilford Delta 100 till 3200. And for absolutely no grain and endless magnification M6+ Adox CMS20…..German camera and german film. Beats any sensor known to men.
Greetings, Ed
Nice shots though……wonder what North Sea Jazz will deliver.
Hi Steve, nice pics and the Leica with the Noctilux is a beaut…one observation: if you want the B&W look why dont you just shoot film? I have seen excellent results from Ilford Delta 3200, not to mention, the lovely grain. The digital rendering just cant match the real thing.. my two cents..
Marvelous journal and images, Steve. Thanks for finding the time in such a hectic schedule to share.
Hey Steve, that chrome M9-P/silver Nocti photo doesn’t look like it was taken at Westlicht Camera?!?! Did you get a “bonus”?
Travel safe…
Hahahahah! I wish! Nope, seal bought that set.
Wonderful post, incredible photos!!! Thanks for giving us a peek into Seal’s world.
Best regards,
Mario
Hi Steve,
Thank you for sharing some fantastic shots from the tour so far!
How long are you going to be in Budapest?
In case you guys would still be staying there on the 4th / 5th, I would be happy to walk you guys around the main sites of that fantastic city!
However if you only got few hours for sight seing make sure that you visit the following sites:
Take a ‘train’ ride up from the Buda side of the Chain Bridge up to Castle hill with the ‘Fogaskereku’ train and visit our ‘White House’ the so called ‘Sandor Palota’, the Castle, the 500 years old Mathias Church and the Fishermans Base aka. ‘Halasz Bastya’. There are all within minits of walk from easch other 🙂 Then you could continue your journey to the Gellert Hill to see out Statue of Liberty. From there you could get back to the Pest side of the city and take the third oldest underground in the world (afther Chicago and London), the yellow line to the Andrassy Avenue all the way to the Heroes Square! Then from there you could walk around the ‘Varosliget area’ through the ‘Vajdahunyad Castle’ to the Szechenyi Furdo. This would be yet anodher 30 minute trip agan but everything within walking distanc. There is a nice restaurant the Gundel or the Facan which is a good place to try the fantastic Hungarian Gulyas soup or rather the ‘Halaszle’ the fish soup which is fantastic!
Looking forward to see your photos of Budapest!
Enjoy the rest of the tour!
Attila
Wow. Love reading your stuff. Love your advice and tips on shooting. Ask seal if he wants a crappy photographer to work along side you just so he knows how good you shoot. (grin) That would be me!. JK…great job!
Another question Steve,
Do use a software to smooth your photos? as they were shot @ ISO 2500 and my M9 @ 2500 gives much worst results than yours.
Thanks.
Steve, thank you for 48 hours privileges. You were able to once again capture the atmosphere of confidence and particularly those places. It’s great! Peace. Sylvie
Aaah!! The Leica Shop had Summilux 50 in stock? I was in Vienna just two days ago and wanted to go and put my name on the list, but then thought I could do that on the phone, too. Waaah! :]
Steve, you could have warned us at top of the page – Camera porn below: proceed with caution! I feel a bit hot under the collar now. 😉 great photos. Really captures the mood of the trip.
Looks like your having fun with your M9 as usual. Awesome work!
Great set of images
Hi Steve!
Great to have you in “my” country and, hehe – I knew you would enjoy WESTLICHT.
Maybe you have time to visit Schloss Schönbrunn and of course the worlds oldest zoo there.
Wish you a pleasant stay in Austria where almost everything is by far older then anything you call “old” in the States.
😉
Fantastisch . .
I loved reading the thread . .
Steve, I have a question:
Do they sell this chrome noctilux alone? if yes, how much?
If no, how much is the cost of the M9-P + Chrome Noctilux?
Thanks.
Steve, it sounds Leica your very busy. Love the images, you must be very tired but sounds Leica your having fun…………………
woohooo.. I always love the way you pictured ur life Steve.. 😀 really nice
your BW pics are amazing.. as always 😀
cant wait to read your next post.
Did you get anything sweet from the Vienna shop yourself, Steve?
Steve,
Great entry. Your images conveyed a nice impression of your past 48 hours. I especially like the first one treated in Silver Fx.
makes me want to trade my x-1 for a M9!
Fantastic photos and story.
Great images, and great story, Steve. What a whirlwind trip and amazing life you are leading. Wow, to see the chrome Noctilux and M9-P in chrome, that’s startlingly beautiful. Also nice to see new 50 lux asph’s out there, but my guess is that they are feeding the European market. The U.S. needs some love.
I can’t even imagine the pace that you are keeping. Keep havin’ fun for the rest of us, and don’t burn out. With great company at your side, amazing cities to see, and awesome gear in your hands, I can’t imagine that you would!
By the way, I think that what you are doing is one of a kind, no one ever would have such access, at least not in the Leica community, and good on Seal for letting you share it will all of us readers.
Best,
Ash
Don’t remember what I did in my last 48 hours…
LOL
thanks for sharing this exclusives
grouchomarx
Another very nice post I enjoyed reading. On M3-P with Noctilux, Brett captured one at the Leica-Magnum event in Paris. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotografiebrett/5859636282/ 18 left to find 🙂