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GRD2 pictures from Huahin Market at ISO400 and 800

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Mitch Alland

Guest
The following pictures were taken with the GRD2 at ISO 400 and 800 at Huahin, a seaside resort two hours by car south of Bangkok. You can see the whole series of 32 pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/sets/72157603644012922/show/

















As I've stated previously ISO 400 is my favourite speed on the GRD2, but I also like ISO 800 a lot on this camera. You can see ISO 800 pictures with the GRD — the ones at the Tsukiji fish market, while the other Tokyo pictures are taken at ISO 400 on the GX100 — here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/sets/72157601877119712/show/

—Mitch/Huahin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
 
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P

Player

Guest
Great work Mitch! Spectacular really.

ISO 800 looks like the sweet spot between grain and noiselessness. GRD-like.

And thanks for the inspiration!
 
P

Player

Guest
Thanks helenhill, it's kind of "Zen-like," like Mitch's photography.
 
M

Mitch Alland

Guest
Thanks for the kind words, Player.

Regarding the Zen reference, these are all shot using the LCD for framing, that is, just to establish, roughly, the edges of the picture but looking at the subject when pressing the shutter. I feel that this method allows one to see and react better than using a viewfinder and has allowed me to have a looser, more fluid and direct style than I was able to achieve with my M6. Also, it doesn't hurt to read "Zen in the Art of Archery"...

I walked around the market area for about an hour and shot 65 pictures and found that I had 32 that I wanted to print. This 1 out 2 hit ratio is enormous for me as usually the best I achieve, on the average, is 1 out 10 or 15. It seems to me that sometimes one is just in the right state of mind to shoot.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the 28mm EFOV is very good for this type of photography. Before getting the original GRD 18 months ago I had barely used a 28mm lens and was skeptical about this focal length; but I was open to it because I knew that the great Japanese photographer, and of my favourites, Moriyama Daido, used this, together with 21mm, almost exclusively.

—Mitch/Huahin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
 

Maggie O

Active member
The composition is spot-on, as always Mitch, on these photos and you've captured some genuine human energy in all of them. That said, they seem a little softer than your usual style. I don't know if it's motion blur or lens blur, but they look more like the Caplio than the GRD.
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Mitch:
I did indeed forget to mention in my post to PLAYER
that your work is quite FAB
you have elevated the small sensor cameras into the World of Art
My two favorite shots are in your 'PARIS' series
The man smoking a cigarette in a cafe with the Pig Painting behind him
and
The Frame Shop with a woman passing by
All the Best
 
M

Mitch Alland

Guest
Mitch:
I did indeed forget to mention in my post to PLAYER
that your work is quite FAB
you have elevated the small sensor cameras into the World of Art
My two favorite shots are in your 'PARIS' series
The man smoking a cigarette in a cafe with the Pig Painting behind him
and
The Frame Shop with a woman passing by
All the Best
Thanks, Helen.

—Mitch/Huahin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
 

cam

Active member
i kind of agree with Maggie... all except for the middle one which is almost GRD-like and is absolutely spectacular.
 

Maggie O

Active member
There's definitely less snap to the new pix, especially compared to the photo you posted, Mitch. I've noticed that grain adds something like local contrast to your photos, giving them a depth that really draws the viewer in, but that last batch seems, in comparison, to be drawn on a flatter plane.

You're still working in LightZone, yes? Maybe adding some Midtone Sharpening to the pix will help bring out the grain- it seems to do that with my photos.
 
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Auni

Member
Mitch:

I saw your pictures before Christmas over on the the other forum and I resonated with the Tri-x/D76 aspect of them. They brought back to me the raw emotion of the photography of my youth... pushing the film and developing the grain to paint a coarseness onto the paper, to better convey emotions of people that are neither processed or polished in real life.

Because of your pictures I bought the Ricoh GRII and have been rediscovering photographic art. This camera is a wonderful artistic tool that can not be adequately measured by any subjective metric. You either get this camera or you don't.

Auni
 
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Mitch Alland

Guest
...I think you're spot on. They're not softer, there's just less noise/grain. We're seeing more of the subject and less of the camera...
Yes, Sean, but the question is whether we want to see more of the camera — in this case the GRD. But, seriously, that is the issue that I keep on cogitating: whether I want more of the original GRD look, which of course I could try to simulate in PP. However, I'm quite pleased with the Huahin Market series of pictures. Nevertheless...

Maggie, I have done some overall as well as some mid-tone sharpening already in LightZone already. What I do notice is that the TIFF files have some more grain to them than than the JPGs converted in LightZone. When I get back to Bangkok tomorrow I'll have to see how the prints come out.

—Mitch/Huahin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
 

cam

Active member
Yes, Sean, but the question is whether we want to see more of the camera — in this case the GRD. But, seriously, that is the issue that I keep on cogitating: whether I want more of the original GRD look, which of course I could try to simulate in PP. However, I'm quite pleased with the Huahin Market series of pictures. Nevertheless...

Maggie, I have done some overall as well as some mid-tone sharpening already in LightZone already. What I do notice is that the TIFF files have some more grain to them than than the JPGs converted in LightZone. When I get back to Bangkok tomorrow I'll have to see how the prints come out.

—Mitch/Huahin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
i hope you share what your conclusions are with the prints. your photographs, as always, are stunning. but i do miss the bite, the textures you were able to bring out from the original. perhaps smooth is a better word than soft? your images and style have en edge to them that i think was enhanced by the grain. i never felt that the camera was overpowering them, rather that you were the maestro.

this is not being critical of the GRDII, it's a brilliant camera. i simply miss the edginess you got with the original. again, i'm talking about enhancement. but that is, perhaps, a personal preference of mine (obviously not Sean's) and i think you'll see it in the prints... i commented (as i'm sure Maggie did) because i know you've been grappling with this issue.
 
M

Mitch Alland

Guest
Cam, I agree. I'll let you know how the prints come out. But see below.

Maggie, after my last posting I went back and looked at my LightZone "stack of tools" for the GRD (Tsukiji) picture above and found that I had done the mid-tone enhancement of USM 20/50/0 two times, which is quite brutal as it also heightens the highest tones and darkens the lowest tones a bit; but it obviously works for that picture. I'm going to go back and add this extra adjustment to the five pictures above to see the results. When I replace the five JPGs on flickr I don't know whether it will make the pictures above disappear or whether it will also replace them here. If the latter I'll repost them below.

I've had this discussion on not wanting an "exquisite" look now a couple with Jim Nachtway in Bangkok: he has a similar view and also appreciates Moriyama Daido, but obviously is not as much having the latter's expressionist look as I am.

—Mitch/Huahin
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10268776@N00/
 
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