New overgaard site about Leica M9

[overgaarcom]

I've updated my Leica M9 pages with a new page 12 about my current workflow and "best practice" as inspiration or starting point for anyone interested. Feel free to comment.

http://www.overgaard.dk/leica-M9-digital-rangefinder-camera-page-12.html

 

[PeterA]

I really enjoyed your site and your photos are interesting and non formulaic - which is what I liek about teh Street genre.

To be frank I dont understand what you are trying to say regarding not using Aperture mode on the M9 ( or any other camera) and I am not sure what you are saying/implying about using lux lenses and @ less than wide open apertures.

but what matters is that a person enjoys their photography and that their results are worth sharing - all strength to you.

Sites like yours inspire me to get my act together and maybe start a blog type thing as well so thanks. It takes a lot of discipline and applicaiton to keep such things up to date and relevant.

 

[tom in mpls]

To be frank I dont understand what you are trying to say regarding not using Aperture mode on the M9...

I do believe you misunderstood. Thorsten DOES use the "Aperture" mode, but he DOES NOT ADJUST the aperture. His style is to keep the lens at full open aperture, choose the ISO, then let the camera choose the shutter speed. Thus, one could consider that A stands for "Automatic" as it automatic shutter speed. Just a semantic argument. The take home message is: set ISO, open the lens wide, set shutter speed to "A", then just focus and shoot. Or, to put it another way, always shoot at full wide aperture and let the camera pick the shutter speed. I find this a fascinating take on how to use Leica lenses; it may not suit everyone.

I do find the WB advice compelling. I continue to have a devil of a time getting the skin tones right. "The important thing is that when the Leica M9 is once set to Manual, it's easy to change. Whenever I enter a café or some other light, I pull out my WhiBal and press the Set button twice, expose the WhiBal and I have changed the white balance. If the camera is set to Auto white balance, you have to press Set, scroll, Set and shoot. It's a longer process than changing from one manual to another manual."

Thanks, Thorsten, for sharing your approach to Leica. It is an interesting read.

 

[overgaarcom]

Sites like yours inspire me to get my act together and maybe start a blog type thing as well so thanks. It takes a lot of discipline and applicaiton to keep such things up to date and relevant.

Thanks. I take that the ISO and Aperture is explained in the previous post.

As for blogs, one secret to the discipline is to actually have a workflow where exporting all images to suit that blog as well, is part of it. In that way you simply pick images from the archive for your blog.

And another secret is to have a standard and easy-to-use blog system so each blog post is not an all over creation from bottom. It can be avant garde design and all, but it has to be easy to use. Wordpress offers a lot of designs and final systems that are easy to use.

When I talk about exporting two web-sizes in the article, that is the two that fits my website. This way all my images always, and already, exist in ready-to-use formats.

 

[Double Negative]

Interesting. I don't have an M9 - rather an M8... But I always think of "A" as "AUTO" as well. Whatever...

I almost always shoot in aperture priority mode, regardless of camera. The aperture has a very important role in the image rendered; the shutter speed however (as long as I can safely handhold the camera and affect any motion in the image the way I want) I usually don't care what the shutter speed is.

I use the various tricks you mention, such as metering a different area and locking that exposure, or just looking at the preview for the shutter speed and going into manual as well.

 

[PeterA]

Still dont get what all the fuss is about - Shoot wide open in AE and the system chooses the speed ..umm yeah..?? so ...

Shoot one or two or four or five stop up and the same thing happens..the auto system chooses a shutter speed..

change the ISO and win or lose an F-stop or less or more..so??

surely these are just pretty basic ideas in photography? I must be missing something - sorry guys.

 

[47th_vacuum_space]

A nicely laid-out blog--very appealing. Though I would delete about 80% of the pictures, and just keep the very best ones.

 

[S.P.]

A nicely laid-out blog--very appealing. Though I would delete about 80% of the pictures, and just keep the very best ones.

You are right. Too much "Knipsbildchen". The Trash is the photographers best friend.