[Leica] IMG: Maui in BW

[Robert Adler]

Been hanging out on Maui this past week with Jane, the grandkids and their
parents (phew!).

Decided to shoot landscapes using the old version Monochrom and had a lot
of fun. Then, since it's a new moon (and Perseids) I thought I would try
the Monochrom for some "long" exposure night photography. I thought the
outcomes were pretty acceptable!

As the Monochrom has a base ISO of 320 and a maximum exposure time of 240
seconds (not adjusted for ISO as the M240 apparently is), seemed like it
might work. First shot is on the beach of our hotel with lots of light
pollution:
http://www.robertadlerphotography.com/p464101645/h53037451#h53037451
This was the 35 f/2 'lux ASPH set at f/2 with a 16second exposure at 1600
ISO. The noise was very manageable. Overall, I thought it was a positive
test.

So the next night I drove up to the top of Haleakula (10,200') to see more
stars. Unfortunately there isn't much foreground to include in the images
so I thought I would test the 21mm f/3,4 Super Elmar. Exposure at 1600ISO,
30sec and wide open gave noticeably more noise and a bit of banding:
http://www.robertadlerphotography.com/p464101645/h53037451#h53490fd1
You can see (barely) the observation deck's rail and a piece of the deck
shelter's roof in the upper right hand corner. I believe the lights in the
distance are Wailea, though it could be Kihei.

Then, after about 15 minutes of visibility after a 2 hour ride up the
volcano, the clouds rushed in and it started raining. Didn't stop for an
hour, so I drove home.

I hope to try again tonight nearby, but the weather is not promising. Other
BW images from this trip are there also if you'd like to look. I like using
BW here: very different mindset for seeing.

Conclusion was the 35 f/2 is good enough for BW night star photography.
Very happy about that!
Best,
Bob

-- 
Bob Adler
www.robertadlerphotography.com