Randomness

Pottery near window in a Colombian store (2006).  We ended up buying a nice, blue creamer there.

Brazilian musicians playing at Bembo Haus, in Nuremberg, during the Blaue Nacht, an event in which all museums stay open until late, with free admission and hosting musical events.  Done with an M6TTL, Summilux 35mm and Provia ISO 400 pushed at 1600.

Silly scene in Providence, RI.  This is near the main drag in town.  Done with my M3, Summicron 50mm (collapsible and unfiltered), on Agfa ISO 400 film (developed in T-Max).  

Random shots have the value of the unexpected, the common and ordinary that turns into a strange thing once it's recorded in film.  

Let's see if I can find more for later; right now, I'm busy with a newborn at home...  Of course, he's a handful, and he's keeping us busy.  So far, he was already photographed with my M3 and my Elmar 90mm lens, but since it's color film, I won't develop it.  Later on, once I have it, I'll see to post it (provided it's reasonably exposed). 

Who Else Uses Leicas?

Who else uses Leicas? How about a Leica M4-2?

I'd like to know...



Mostly, because this blog got started right when I got my own, first Leica M4-2. 

To some, it may seem a weird decision...  Why bother getting a meterless camera body, when there are so many advanced camera systems out there? 

At some point, the control-freak inside a photographer shows up.  And starts longing for a camera that gives you a lot of control (that is to say, forces you to make decisions) over your the way you photograph.  

Besides, one starts needing a number of lenses that are not only reliable, but also fast, small and unobtrusive.  Hence, the longing for a camera like the Leica.

Now, by the time I got my first Leicas (which should have been subject for a separate blog... and I may do it one day), I was already relatively bored with SLR bodies.  Granted, they are versatile, flexible and easy to use, but people see you coming a mile away and, more often than not, they assume you know something or other about photography.  I've been taken for a professional more times with my Nikon gear than with any other cameras.  

So, my Leica decision was, rather, a move towards the new.  I could have gone with medium format, or even digital, but I'd have the same conspicuousness problem.  So, rangefinders were there.  I went for the metered bodies because my short experience with an unmetered medium format body didn't really satisfy me.  Probably, I wasn't ready to learn the little traps about taking a reading with a meter instead of using a camera.  

Why a rangefinder camera?  What was the draw to a metered or unmetered body?  What did you do it?  Was it the B-and-W look?  Was it the brilliance of the color?  

Let me know!

(FWIW, Street carolers in Hinsdale, IL, M6TTL, Summilux 35mm on Agfa ISO 400 at ISO 1600, Nov 2007; Brazilian musicians at the Bembo Haus, Nuremberg, same rig, but with Provia ISO 400 pushed three stops, 2008.)