[Leica] First Exhibit, Pictures from Burma

[Jim at hemenway.com (Jim Hemenway)]

Peter:

Very nice work... I especially like your Namibian landscapes, the color 
is beautiful.

Jim - http://www.hemenway.com



Peter Tresize wrote:
> First Exhibit,   Pictures from Burma
> 
> Thai On Clinton, a restaurant in the lower east side
> of New York will be exhibiting 12 of 
> my photographs from 16 August to 31 October.  It's my
> first exhibit... 
> 
> I've followed the LUG  for some time now, and have
> learned from others' experiences. Of the 12 photos in
> the exhibit, most were taken with a Leica M6 or M7.
> Depending on the lighting conditions and style of
> photography, perhaps the equipment can be secondary to
> the quality of the scene or subject, but as this is a
> Leica forum, and I enjoy using the Leicas, I thought
> I'd give some details of my experiences.
> 
> After progressing from point and shoot cameras, to a
> sigma 28-200, to a Canon Eos3 with the 2.8L zoom
> lenses, I've been happy to stick with the Leica M
> cameras for the past few years, and since last year
> have been using the Leica R for 100mm to 280mm for
> certain trips.  I've chosen to use Leica lenses
> because of the balance between sharp infocus areas,
> with graphic out of focus areas. The contrast and
> colour also seems better. In normal light, using 5.6,
> I don't think I could always tell the difference
> between my Canon and Leica images, but at wider
> apertures and in difficult lighting, I'm much happier
> with the results from the Leicas.
> 
> New Leica vs old Leica lenses:  For landscapes, crisp
> details our to the corners of the image area are
> appealing, but for portraits, I generally prefer the
> older lenses. The main problem with the lenses I have
> from the 60's has been flare issues. I like to shoot
> into the light, while this is usually possible with
> the current lenses, the older lenses are more prone to
> have flare problems when shooting directly into the
> light. The modern lenses' results, seem more realistic
> and less dreamy. There has been much discussion about
> sharpness etc, but essentially, it comes down not to
> MTF charts, but if we're happy with the results of our
> efforts. Perhaps the lenses pre asph, have the best
> balance between sharpness and out of focus renditions,
> but this is subjective and depends on whether the
> subject is a person or landscape...
> 
> Noctilux: I've been using it a few years now, and it
> is one of my favourite lenses. I have a summicron, and
> appreciate it's focusing distance of .7 meter, light
> weight, not obscuring the viewfinder, innocuous
> appearance, great contrast and resolution for
> landscapes,  but the Noctilux is able to translate a
> scene into something more abstract. Perhaps this
> result is not to everyone's taste, but as Gary
> Winogrand said: "I photograph to see what things look
> like photographed"  This is particularly relevant to
> the delicate  image rendition of the Noctilux. At 5.6,
> I can't see the difference in the results of the cron
> or Noctilux, but at 1.0-1.4 it is clear. And the
> difference between f1 and 1.4 or 2 in low light often
> allows 1/30 instead of an unusable 1/15 or 1/8th. Edge
> sharpness and vignetting in the right circumstance can
> help accentuate the subject in the centre of the
> image. The jumping cat was F1 at about 125 or 250th.
> The young novice nun was F1 @30     The monks walking
> was with an ND filter so F1 or 1.4 could be used. 
> 
> The 180 2.8 apo has become one of my other favourite
> travel lenses lately, for landscapes and portraits
> from a distance. It's small and light enough for
> travel and handheld work, the results are great when I
> do my part correctly. For telephoto scenes, the 180
> 2.8 and 280 f4 have given results I could never get
> with my Canon 70-200 2.8 L  or 2.8 IS L.  It is not
> fair to compare directly a Canon Zoom to a Leica
> prime, but now most of the time, I would prefer to
> lose the flexibility of the zoom, for the result of
> the prime. In some circumstances I can see the use of
> the zoom, but for now I prefer to use primes.
> However.... looking at James Natchwey's great photos,
> and having seen the film War Photographer, he does
> beautiful work with his Canon L zooms, there's nothing
> to criticize in his work because of lens choices,
> whether zooms or primes...
> 
> I've found I like to use Fuji Astia colour slide fim,
> there may be a Kodak equivalent, but I've tested them.
> I found the Astia has a nice balance of colour,
> without too much contrast. After scanning, it is
> easier to add, than remove contrast. Scanning is an
> issue now, as most labs I've contacted don't seem to
> do traditional printing anymore. Slides are scanned
> and then Lamda prints are made. I found Provia has a
> blue magenta cast in highlights that are overexposed,
> where Astia remains more neutral and balanced. Velvia
> may be great for landscapes, but it's contrast is
> harsh on skin tones. All good films, but just a matter
> of selection for the subject matter.
> 
> I'm still learning, and happy to try new things.
> Despite the trend towards digital, I recently bought a
> Rollei TLR and have really enjoyed trying to use it so
> far... a different aspect ratio, and the ability to
> view on ground glass has been an interesting way of
> perceiving the photograph about to be taken.
> 
> Photonet Folder    
> http://www.photo.net/photodb/member-photos?user_id=609152&include=all
> 
> Web link to the restaurant (includes a map) :  
> http://www.thaionclinton.com/   
> photos and information in the events link
>