Balloon Lady

Leica M9 + Canon 50mm f/0.95, San Francisco

Elvis & the Marines

I tend to fall in love with bits of glass.  Yes, glass! (I’m sure my wife is pretty happy at the nature of the competition!)  In this case its the Canon 50mm f/0.95 lens.  As I’ve said before it’s physically large and heavy and it’s a formidable lens in appearance, mounted on the relatively small Leica range finders.  Of  late it’s been stuck on my M9.  This one was shot wide open, at f/0.95, and illustrates the color signature of the lens, as well as the out-of-focus (oof) rendering.  I admit to having an irrational attachment to certain lenses and their oof drawing.  This lens is definitely one of them.

Leica M9+Canon 50mm f/0.95, wide open @ f/0.95

Peace

What is it about old churches that fills one with a sense of peace and tranquility?   This image was made at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

Leica M9 + Canon 50mm f/0.95 @ f/0.95

Dump Obama

Voices of protest, seen (and heard!) in San Francisco.

Leica M9 + Canon 50mm f/0.95

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

A very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and a very happy holiday season to all you dear readers.  A wonderful New Year to you all in 2012.  May we all find good light!

 

Leica M9 + Canon 50mm f/0.95 @ f/0.95

Mannequins-1

Walking around San Francisco yesterday, came across this shop window display.  For some reason I’m fascinated by mannequins and would have been drawn to making an image or two anyways, but this also seemed to be a great opportunity to try out my new lens – a Canon 50mm f/0.95 lens.  It’s a beast – big, heavy chunk of glass that partially obscures the corner of the M9 rangefinder window.  Nonetheless, I love the wonderful rendering of this old lens.  Will be posting a lot more shot with this gem!

Clicking on the image will open up a larger image, for your viewing pleasure:

 

Sunset over the backyard

Sometimes it takes an effort to stop, take a deep breath and become aware again of all the things that the brain tends to filter out, simply because it’s an everyday occurrence. This sunset over my backyard was one such point in time, where I am thankful for the awareness of beauty, literally in one’s back yard. Leica M9 + 75mm Summilux, iso160, 1/180th, aperture not recorded.

Sunrise over Bangkok

Sunrise over Bangkok, Thailand. Shot from the 54th floor balcony of my hotel room. Nikon D3 + Nikkor 35mm f/2 AF lens, a jewel that is consistently sharp across all apertures. Small, light-weight and relatively inexpensive at ~ $350USD, this is a versatile lens that works wells for Landscape, Street and even Portraiture. In post-processing, I applied the DXO Filmpack 3.0 preset for Velvia 50. I am pleased with the result!