[Leica] New Photo Site

[Arne Helme <Arne.Helme@stelvio.nl>]

Dear fellow LUGers,

I would like to draw your attention to two series of photos that I
have made available via my newly created web site.  Comments and
suggestions for improvements are welcome.  We are all here to learn,
right?

The first series is from last weekend's trip to Passo Dello Stelvio at
3000m above sea level in northern Italy.  Two of my colleagues wanted
to bicycle up the pass --- a daunting task if you ask me: 45 sharp
turns and a climb from ~1200m to 2750m over a distance of 27km.
Absolutely stunning.

The second series is from a live concert I attended about a month ago.
The band in question is Foetus, the band of industrial music icon
J.G. Thirwell.  Clue to the music flavour: I am sure Kyle would have
loved to be there...:-).

For the trip to Passo Dello Stelvio I decided to bring my R equipment
(R8 + Motor Drive + 2.8/19mm (latest) + 1.4/50mm (latest) + 2x APO
Extender).  I also brought a tripod but it actually never got used.
All shots are made hand held, thus.  One of my colleagues commented
that even my lightest R lens weighed more than his entire camera
equipment.  Personally I did not suffer due to the weight of the R8.
It is for me the ultimate manual focus SLR, and that is also the
reason why I chose it.  At 3000-3500 meters altitude, lack of oxygene
was what made us suffer.

I try to follow the KISS principle: Keep it simple, stupid!

All photos have been scanned with a Nikon LS-4000 using Ed Hamrick's
excellent Vuescan program.  No post-processing is applied except for
the use of color correction and contrast controls in Vuescan.  What
you see is the output of Vuescan, thus.  KISS.  In addition, all
photos are as close to 'full frame' as I could get them.

Sure, with Photoshop, it would probably have been possible to
manipulate these photos beyond recognition.  However, I am not into
that.  To me, digital complements my darkroom work, and I strive to
obtain the same look in the digital prints for online publishing as I
do with the analog prints.

The online presentations have been made with EZ Web Show.  Web
publishing according to the KISS principle.  Thanks to Sander van
Hulsenbeek for recommending this program.

Some of you might find the contrast in the photos way to high.
However, at least on my computer screen, these photos accurately
represent *my* impression of the scenes.  That is to say, what I
strived to do was to express the extreme landscapes and intense
sunlight found in and around Passo dello Stelvio.  On my laptop,
though, the photos are not rendered that well. I recommend that you
look at them on a standard CRT.  For similar reasons I decided to use
the Ilford XP2 Super film, the built-in orange filter on the 19mm, and
a polarizer on the 50mm.  Some of the photos could probably have been
improved upon with fill-flash.  I decided to not use the flash because
it would take away some of the harsh look and feel that I wanted to
record on film.  KISS.

I rated the XP2 Super at 320, the Ektachromes as 125, and Kodachromes
at 80.  For XP2 Super, the light meter was set to multiple field
metering, and for the chromes it was set to center weighted integral
metering. I usually set the program mode to shutter speed priority (T)
and 1/500s to obtain high shutter speeds and large(r) apertures.
KISS. 

The concert photos were made with an M6 TTL (0.72) + 1.4/35mm ASPH.
All photos except no. 1 (with SF20 flash) were shot wide open at
shutter speeds of 1/60s-1/125s.  Film: XP2 Super rated at 400.  I
measured and exposed for the highlights created by the spot lamps.

Here are the links:

	 http://helme.stelvio.nl/stelvio01/

	 http://helme.stelvio.nl/foetus01/

There is one error in one of the pages that I have not had time to
correct yet.  Picture no. 19 in the Stelvio collection is made with
the 1.4/50mm and not with the 2.8/19mm as the caption says.  I'll
scans of the chromes the next couple of days.

Lastly, I am an amateur photographer, and these are the first pictures
I publish online (or anywhere, to be honest).  My wife says that I can
make a perfect picture of absolutely nothing.  She is referring to the
thousands of "test" photos that I have made of subjects in and around
our house and in our neighbourhood.  Personally I feel that the photos
you now can view on my web site are among the first one I have made
that goes beyond 'happy snapping' and making test photos.

Your comments are solicited.

Regards,

- -- Arne
Arne Helme
Email: Arne.Helme at stelvio.nl (^" at "^@)
Work: +31-33-4697340, Fax: +31-33-4697341, GSM: +31-620135827
M&I/Stelvio bv, Zonnehof 41, 3811 ND Amersfoort, the Netherlands
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