[Leica] Nathan's PAD 23/6/2019: Brussels people with my Leica

[Nathan Wajsman]

Thanks Tina.

I will respond on-list because several people have made a similar comment (about the M8). So there must be something to it. I decided to take it partly on a whim but mainly because I knew that the day would be long (sunrise at 5:30, sunset at 22:00), the weather warm and sunny, and so there would be a lot of people out and about on a Sunday afternoon. And I also wanted to take some IR photos in EU Commission area and in the nearby Parc Cinquantenaire—lots of greenery and lots of sunshine makes for good IR.

But to come back to the people images. The M8 (or any other good rangefinder for that matter, but Leicas are the best in this category) is the optimal tool for the kind of street/people photography that I did here. The photos of the pilot and of the woman with the dog in her lap were taken after I asked, but the other 5 (and many more that I still have to process) were taken surreptitiously. I would basically pre-focus on something that was at the same distance as the intended victim, recomposed and shot. In the case of the two women eating ice cream and the couple in the metro I did not even raise the camera to my eye. As I look at the around 150 photos I took during the trip (I am now at Brussels airport waiting for my flight home), I see a far higher percentage of in-focus shots than I would have gotten with any AF camera. So yes, this is one of those cases where the choice of equipment influenced the style of photography.

It also helps that I know Brussels so well and come here so often. I am going to Dublin on July 11th for the first time in 20 years. For that trip I will take the Fuji, becuase I will be out drinking Guinness after dark and need a camera that can shoot at high ISO, which the M8 certainly cannot. I have the ISO set to max 320 on the M8, inspired by George who a few months ago told me to think of it as an M8 loaded with Tri-X. That is exactly what I do.

As for Belgium—yes, I love this place. I think it is a wonderful country, with great food, friendly people, a pulsating multicultural capital, the world’s best beer beer and chocolate, and great food from all over the world—and all this in a city 1/8 the size of New York. What’s not to like? It is probably also because I lived here from 1995 to 2000, and those were some of the happiest years of my life.

Cheers,
Nathan


Nathan Wajsman

Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu <http://www.frozenlight.eu/>
http:// <http://www.greatpix.eu/>www.greatpix.eu
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws <http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws>Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ <http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/>

Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator <http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator>

YNWA




> On 24 Jun 2019, at 16:16, Tina Manley via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> wrote:
> 
> I love all of your M8 photos.  You seem to have a different perspective
> using it.  Lots of people!!  And you seem to love Belgium!
> 
> Tina
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Tina Manley
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