Leica M9 Digital Rangefinder Camera - Page 11
The Leica M9 in New York City and Brooklyn
(The Empire State Strikes Back)
By: Thorsten Overgaard
Four Leica M9 cameras was what we managed to have on one table. Two on waiting list had to use other cameras, and then one film camera. I've just spent one week in New York City doing my photo seminar with a group of dedicated Leica shooters. I also did a free two hour seminar at the B&H Photo Video Mega Store (they take orders for the Leica M9 again by the way why you can order one right now).
New York just crawls in under your skin. After less than a day you feel as if you had been living here for months or years. As I'm writing the sun is setting over the Williamsburg Bridge. I'm in Brooklyn and can see the Empire State building from here. But tomorrow I leave for Los Angeles so I thought it was a good time to finalize the NYC Leica M9 experience and move on.
Atlas Kaffe, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
What do you think of the Leica M9..?
I get that from quite many people. Of course when I did the seminar at B&H where there was more than hundred photo enthusiasts in the room. But also from airline captains stopping me in the airport, people approaching you in a restaurant. Some are on the waiting list, some are just interested, others again want to hear if they are missing out because they don't believe they will ever be able to afford one. It always strike me as odd that people with a Canon or Nikon and ten or more lenses for that think of the Leica M9 as the dream camera they will never get. At least till I realized that quite many Leica shooters mostly use one lens, whereas it's implied that you as a dSLR user buy all the lenses.
So of course, if you sit with your ten Canon L lenses and look in the Leica price list to see what a similar set cost of Leica, it will add up to an impressive amount.
On the other hand, those who have seen the light and now have the Leica M9 and one or a few lenses seem happy about the simlicity and the opportunity to focus on actual photography. In any case, that is the only explanation I have been abe to come up with for why some see a Leica M9 as more expensive than a ambitious dSLR kit.
Visiting the Leica Gallery New York ... or rather the hallway.
Birgit Krippner from New Zealand was here and we went shooting. It's really interesting to shoot for a full day with another photographer. One thing is the amount of photos you get if you walk about with a camera and has as your main mission to photograph. Though you have to eat and it's actually a good idea to follow your instincts and go shopping or go see museums or whatever if you feel like it. Photography is about life, so it's not an isolated activity. It can also be about having coffee, being with kids, visiting places and browsing fancy shops. The top image with the two characters in the Dean & Deluca shop window we actually stumpled over as we went inside the store to have a look. We spent a good 20 minutes there checking this and that when we saw one of them. He was headed for the exit, so we lined up to shoot him when he came out. But instead he joined another just as interesting person just inside the window and we had a good opportunity. Had we just been walking the streets we would not have gotten that.
So perhaps it's more a matter of wearing you camera when you are doing whatever you are doing than "going out taking photos."
From the Brooklyn Diner under the Williamsburg Bridge, Leica M9 with 50mm Summicron-M f/2.0, 800 ISO.
Join now:
The same Brooklyn Diner in the daytime.
In any case, walking with another photographer gives you the opportunity to see what they see. Some see shadows, some see reflections, some see contrasts in people, some work in depth of field or movement and rhythm. You learn from that - about others style and viewpoint, but also about what distinguish you from others.
Coordinated colors of hair and wall. This was one of the few persons I asked to take a photo.
People photography
Photographing people is something many seem to want to do (more of). I get to do quite a bit of it so I don't have a huge urge to do it in the streets. But I do get the question quite often how to go about with it. One route is of cause to ask, but it's not always that you may want a photo of a person being aware of being photographed.
One idea I came up with, and which I have used my self, is to find a spot on a street with some nice light reflections hitting the faces going by. Then simply lean against a wall or a tree, poiting across the sidewalk and prefocused, shooting whatever comes into the viewfinder. It's a quite logical approach given it's a manual focusing rangefinder. And people won't really notice you because you're standing still and seamingly shooting something. Doing that for a while will give interesting people in interesting compositions. It's a given thing, and if you choose the light right it will be beautiful as well.
The High Line in NYC. I was playing around with the 16-18-21mm f/4.0 @ 16mm on the Leica M9.
In shooting people one should try to treat others like one would like to be treated one self. I personally have the rule that I will only do photos of people that will do something good for them. What would be the point of anything else? In practical terms I don't hold back from shooting. But I never release any photos to anyone of anybody that would make them look less.
And I think that just as you can sense when it's a big deal for someone in a room to not be photographed, people meeting you can sense your intentions as a photographer. And if you are confident in what you are doing and your appearance show that you know what you are doing and it is perfectly all right ... why, people will trust you and grant you that space.
My photography seminar students Carlos [in the hay in the left corner] and Geoffrey (and Jeffrey above with the chrome M9). I just feel very proud to seem them in action.
Now, that is a dedicated shooter. Carolos shot 11 rolls of film in a day ...
Talaat and Jeffrey in action.
In any case, the Leica M9 performs well. Which other camera can you walk with day after day, use in restaurants, the subway, on the street, get magnificant results and even complimented for by young teenagers and old men?
Having a look at the results at the final day of the photo seminar in The National Arts Club.
You can have a look at some of the results here:
Jeffrey Hughes New York gallery
Birgit Krippner [coming later]
Join now:
Ok, that was it from Gotham City
To be continued ...
[The observant reader may have noticed we've jumped to page 10 and 11. So where is page 8 and page 9..? Well, they're somewhere - just not online yet]
|
