M9 at Comic-Con 2010

peewee said:
These photo's are so good!
I'm trying hard, still, after a year, to get to grips with manual exposure. I hope you don't mind me asking how did you know the best exposure settings for the Joker shot, shot at f8?
Thanks
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With the Joker shot, I set it up as a portrait. It wasn't captured naturally.

There was some strong afternoon light entering the convention centre casting the strong light and sudden shadow on the wall. After you shoot manual enough with an incident meter (the best way to meter ;-)) you remember the setting and soon learn to read light. That would have been a tricky setting for a camera in Av because of the contrast between shadows and light. I took 3 shots in manual after setting the exposure and every shot was exactly the same. In Av each shot could have been different, depending on where I was pointing the exposure box, or I could have used exposure compensation, but either way exposure accuracy would have been at the choice of the camera, which frankly, is silly.

In bright direct sunlight an exposure for ISO 100 is about 1/400sec at f/11 for highlights. Knowing that I didn't want to meter for the highlights, and the light was slightly diffused byt the glass windows, I reduced the exposure by 1 1/2 stop approx (can't remember exact exposure) and there it was. Then all I had to do was position him where it looks like his face is coming out of the shadow.

Hope that was clear. K
 
sojournerphoto said:
A look into a nother world!

Nice to see the M9 can focus a 50 1.4 wide open.

Mike
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Actually I used the MATCH TECHNICAL E-CLYPSE 34MM 1.25X MAGNIFIER which is excellent and better than the Leica version for half the price. It helps immensely from about 80% - 95% accuracy with the 50/1.4 wide open, at least with me. Combined with the thumbs up, I have a comfortable and accurate camera. Highly recommended product!

http://matchtechnical.com/EyeCupMag.aspx
 
Wow, six jobs and this is what you did in your spare time. Lighting, composition and getting that f/1.4 focused on a full frame digital camera and at that right moment..very impressive.
 
Thanks Kristain so much for that, it is a help.
I might try using a light meter if just for a bit, to get used to reading light.
I see from your website that you read light very well. I must try and remember what settings i use.
I use a M9 but miss the 8000'th on my M8 which did make exposing simpler.

Thanks a lot.
 
peewee said:
Thanks Kristain so much for that, it is a help.
I might try using a light meter if just for a bit, to get used to reading light.
I see from your website that you read light very well. I must try and remember what settings i use.
I use a M9 but miss the 8000'th on my M8 which did make exposing simpler.

Thanks a lot.
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You're very welcome Peewee. Don't let the 8000th sec get you either. Another lesson is that shooting wide open can also be a mistake too. It's commonly used to isolate subjects but often with too little information destroyed by the shallow depth of field.

Whether in reportage of portraits, having information in the background is important as well as enough sharpness on your focal point. If I recall most of the world's best photographer's including HCB, use depth of field as a means of communicating what's beyond the focal point.

So, yes while shooting wide open has it's artist appeal, be careful not to misuse it. Lastly, don't get caught up on what our camera's can't do. Focus on more about what you can do with what you have to make your next picture better than the next. That's always been my focus, and I use my rangefinder to simplify this process for me.
 
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I see, stopping down would make the learning curve easier. Actually since i got into Leicas and the lenses i am pretty stuck in the shooting wide open mind set.
Mostly though i'm positive, i love using the M9, M8 too.
 
fantastic stuff. reminds me of a comic I used to read as a kid, MAD.

The Avengers were present and accounted for at the Comic Con this year. I am looking forward to some of those movies. And, yeah some of my favorite web-comic artistes post their feedbacks about the place. :)
 
Excellent photos. Not so much into cosplay that you see at anme conventions with tons of poorly done (and often overly revealing) costumes, but these are neat and the photos really good.
 
+1 for great shots, the lighting is quite good, and the vintage effects matches the costuming/gothic nature well.
But you are selling the 50/1.4 Asph? I dont get it, its so good you want to sell it?!
 
I skimmed past this post a few times and thumbing around on the iPhone today accidentaly brought it up.

Holy (insert favorite expletive here) man! You have got a great sense for reportage. Maybe you should consider a life of grinding poverty and move into reportage/documentary work?
 
emraphoto said:
I skimmed past this post a few times and thumbing around on the iPhone today accidentaly brought it up.

Holy (insert favorite expletive here) man! You have got a great sense for reportage. Maybe you should consider a life of grinding poverty and move into reportage/documentary work?
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Funny you should say that. Documentary is my passion but need to support my family, so entertainment it is here in Hollywood. :bang: What do you do?!

Thanks for your feedback.
 
fotomeow said:
+1 for great shots, the lighting is quite good, and the vintage effects matches the costuming/gothic nature well.
But you are selling the 50/1.4 Asph? I dont get it, its so good you want to sell it?!
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That begs the question, where do you go from the 50 f/1.4? It is hard to imagine a lens that would have added anything to the photos in this post. Of course, it may not be the lens that pays the bills.
 
bwcolor said:
That begs the question, where do you go from the 50 f/1.4? It is hard to imagine a lens that would have added anything to the photos in this post. Of course, it may not be the lens that pays the bills.
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From here I have nothing for now, then buy something else cheaper later. I do love the lens and wish I could keep it, but have other things to pay for. It's still available by the way :D

Here is a 100% crop from the 50/1.4 wide open. Converted from RAW into black and white compared to the jpegs used without PP in the first post.

L1001227_crop.jpg


L1001227_full.jpg
 
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To echo the sentiments of others, "wonderful"! The pictures show what can be done, if one has the subjects and the eye to capture the images.
 
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