Wetzlar DE. 03.09.2015
Leica MM 246; APO Summicron-M 50mm
1/180sec; f/4; iso320
Diagonal
photography
Drag
Wetzlar DE. 03.09.2015
Leica MM 246; APO Summicron-M 50mm
1/180sec; f/4; iso320
90mm Elmarit f/2.8 Review
90mm is an odd size for a lens. Traditionally considered a portrait length, I had never even considered a 90mm for shooting street until I shot with Gavin Mills in London last month and he was toting a 90mm Summicron. He gave me a shot and I fell in love…
Traditionally (but not solely) street shooters stick to prime lenses ranging between 18mm to 50mm and nowadays longer focal lengths are almost scoffed at as the new trend in street photography is to get as close to your subject as you can. I don’t follow that belief. I think if you get too close, you alter the scene. You also have to remember that most people these days are shooting cameras with cropped CMOS sensors. An 18mm on a cropped sensor equates to roughly 35mm on a full frame or film camera and a 35mm equates to 50mm. So, with 50mm on a full frame, you’re actually pretty close.
I shoot pretty much everything with a 50mm. I love 50mm. However, there are times when even a 50mm lens gets you too close. Enter the 90mm lens.
Having had a go with Gavin’s 90mm Summicron, I immediately noticed the extra throw the lens gives you. You get right in the scene you’re trying to capture, but you’re still far enough away that no-one sees you. So I was sold. I was having one. But the one thing I wasn’t sure of was the extra weight the Summicron was adding to my Monochrom.
You don’t buy Leica glass without doing a lot of research. It’s imperative when you’re spending that sort of money to read as many user reviews as possible. I did and the one that convinced me to go for the Elmarit over the Summicron was Steve Huff’s.
I hadn’t considered an Elmarit as fully open it only manages f/2.5. I’m used to a 50mm Summilux which shoots at f/1.4. Couple this with a Monochrom and there is no such thing as “low light”, so moving to a f/2.8 aperture lens worried me a little. However, Steve Huff pointed out that for a 90mm lens, f/2.8 is actually quite fast. he’s right!
I also looked at a ton of pictures made with the Elmarit and I really liked the old fashioned rendering it produced. It is not a modern lens – mine is 10 years old – and Leica have discontinued it now, replacing it with the 90mm Summarit, which by all accounts isn’t in the same league as the Elmarit.
So speed being ok, quality of render being great, the only other concern (other than money) was ergonomics and this is where the Elmarit shines. For a 90mm lens it is super-light. In fact it weighs only margiunally more than a 50mm Summilux and considerably less than the 90mm Summicron.
So the last thing to look at was money, and this is where I was really surprised. I bought this lens, in mint condition, for £900. That’s £1755 cheaper than the current 90mm Summicron, and £400 cheaper than the current Summarit (and much better). Granted it’s used, but that aside, it’s an absolute steal considering the benefits it has over all the other Leica 90mm’s.
If you are considering a 90mm for your Leica M system, I would thoroighly recommend this one, but be careful not to get mixed up with the even older 90mm Tele Elmarit as it is heavy and has a Voigtlanderesque focal grip which is fat and ugly. the one you want is the Leica 90mm Elmarit M f/2.8 (1990-2008).
Below are some pictures I took this afternoon straight from the camera – no editing. Each subject is shot at f/2.8, f/8 and f/16 with aperture priority. If you click the images you can see hi-res versions in a new window.
Badge f-2.8
Badge f-8
Badge f-16
Woodman f-2.8
Woodman f-8
Woodman f-16
Bins f-2.8
Bins f-8
Bins f-16
Featured Photographer : Børge Indergaard
Børge Indergaard is a well known name on the internet both for his classy, polished photography and his love and knowledge of that little German camera manufacturer – Leica. Just type his name (which is not easy to spell) into Google and he owns the first three or four pages.
Børge does not call himself a street photographer, he refers to his style as environmental photography. This is maybe better known as streetscape as he likes his shots to be about the street, about how the people interact with their surroundings so that both the people and the architecture are the subject. He is also well respected for his black and white landscape and still life work.
Name : Børge Indergaard
Location : Norway
Photographic Genre : Street / Black and White Environments
Børge’s Bio:
I’m a 34 year old guy from Norway in Europe. Photography is more than a hobby for me – it’s a part of my life, a lifestyle, something I really enjoy doing in my spare time, and a way to express myself and my creativity.
I work as a senior engineer within the IT business and photography is also a way for me to distance myself from technology on my spare time (which has also influenced my choice of gear).
1: How and when did you discover street photography as your genre?
I don’t really do a lot of street portraiture. I did soame close up work last fall, mostly to push myself in close to people to get rid of the fear of getting close. This wasn’t as big a problem as I thought it would be, and I had some great mentors that pushed me in the right direction as well (Eric Kim, Adam Marelli). But what I personally prefer is environmental photographs with people included. The background and light is the most important factor for me, and then I want some human beings in the shot to complete it and make it more interesting. I love people, but I’m not a up-in-your-face kind of photographer, even though I have been for a short time last fall.
I also enjoy the odd landscape and architectural shot but even then I always prefer having people in the scene.
2: What equipment do you shoot with and why?
I currently use a Leica Monochrom and a Summilux 50mm ASPH lens primarily. I also have the 35mm Summilux FLE but I rarely use it, so I’m considering selling it as I’m really a 50mm guy. I usually use either a yellow filter or a 3-stop ND filter to be able to shoot wide open.
The reason I shoot with a Leica is because it is the most analog digital camera I’ve used. It is the closest to shooting film on a digital camera I’ve experienced, and I like that. It is also very easy to carry around and the optics are the best. It’s simply a camera system that feels at home in my hands. I’ve previously used Fuji and Canon gear and I enjoyed shooting with those as well, but the autofocus really annoyed me at times, especially on the Fuji. I prefer having full manual control myself. The simplicity of the Monochrom is also very attractive.
3: Why do you use primarily black and white?
Good question. I’m actually writing an article regarding this on my blog at the moment, and I’m struggling to find the answers myself. I guess it’s as simple as: Because I like black and white. Photography to me doesn’t mean that every image should look exactly like the world looks. I like seeing the world in a different way. I like having focus on the key elements in a shot, and by removing colors, there is no confusion (at least less confusion). I like the simplicity of black and white. Black and white images are timeless, and, well, I just prefer it. It pleases me more.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t like color photography. I like color images as well as black and white, but currently I’m focusing on B&W myself and I’m really happy with it. Will I focus on B&W forever? Probably not. I’ll probably add a color camera to my gear further down the road.
4: Are you working on any projects that you have so far not published?
I am currently working on several projects. And I have many ideas for “themes” so to speak. I have only published one project so far, and it wasn’t really a planned project at all. Luckily Lightroom has some great key-wording and sorting features that makes keeping track of projects and tagging files for projects easy.
I don’t define a project and go looking for images that only fit that project until the project is done. I have many ideas to project and I’m constantly shooting different images that fits the different projects I’m working on. I’m currently gathering material for all of the projects at the same time, and filtering the material in Lightroom.
5: If you had one piece of advice for street shooters, what would it be?
Do it because you love it – not because it’s a popular thing at the moment. Define your own style and don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Ignore negative feedback and just make your own path.
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Featured Street Photographer : Jim Rice
Jim and I go back a fair bit as Flickr buddies and we talk most days about each others photos but his genre is hard to define. While not what some would call a “pure” street photographer, he has carved out his own style of shooting on the streets. His shots encompass life, architecture and social breakdown in what I can only describe as a form of recorded indigeneity that transfixes the viewer.
Oh and did I mention he’s a Leica guy 🙂
Name : Jim Rice
Location : Indianapolis
Photographic Genre : Street (sort of)
Jim’s Bio
I have a full time career as a practicing civil engineer and live in the Indianapolis, Indiana metro area. Photography was a gift to me from my mother when I was only 6 or 7 years old. Unfortunately, an intruder in our home shot her to death when I was only 9 years old. For me, photography has always been a way to hold on to her memory, I suppose, as well as a creative outlet that keeps me going.
Because of my connection to my mom, I tend to shoot from my heart as much as my eye. I’m sentimental, and I’ve experienced a lot of loss in my life. Therefore, my photography is an unstructured representation of how my heart is feeling. I’m pretty sure I’ll never receive much serious recognition as a photographer because I don’t have one genre and I don’t do projects – I shoot “life” and life comes at me in many different ways.
I began shooting as a child with a Brownie camera and as of a few years ago had worked my way up to a Nikon D3s. It was a powerful tool, but it was also cumbersome. I sold all of my Nikon equipment and purchased a Leica M9 along with three classic Leica lenses. From that moment on, my photography was transformed. I know that sounds like a cliché from a Leica user, but it’s true.
My full time job as an engineer often dictates where I am and when I can shoot. This has resulted in a lot of time on the streets of both rural and urban communities. I love the energy of a large city and enjoy the streets in NYC and Chicago. Indianapolis is becoming a more vibrant city with each passing year, and is a lot of fun too. Street photography, you might say, was a logical genre because it’s where I am a lot. And my Leica is the perfect tool to travel with and to use on the streets.
In addition to my love of cities, I also find myself in smaller communities and towns where life on the street is literally disappearing. Often times I find streets completely vacant, with no sign of life. I shoot these conditions because it is relevant and also because it troubles my heart. Lately, on my flickr page, I have documented the decay and loneliness on the streets in rural and urban areas. It symbolizes many things we have lost and are losing, and I believe it’s imperative to document the situation.
I also enjoy interacting with people, and street photography is a great way to meet people and document those encounters. Sometimes my images reflect the humor of the moment, sometimes the sadness, and sometimes the surprise. I try to capture moments that will endure and that will speak to the hearts of my viewers. Henri Cartier-Bresson and Elliott Erwitt are two of my favorite photographers, and I am probably subconsciously influenced by their work.
It is my hope that my Leica will be my constant companion throughout the years I have left on this earth. More than anything, I want my photography to bring joy into the hearts of the viewers, for it is a hard world we live in, and peace is illusive.
1: How and when did you discover street portraiture as your genre of photography?
For me, photography is an ever-evolving art form. When asked what genre I prefer, I usually answer “life”. I realize that’s a pretty broad answer, but it is the best I can do to describe my work. Life is ever-evolving around me and I prefer to shoot what I see. Street photography is a big part of that because I spend a lot of time on the streets of both cities and towns.
For me, street photography is not simply pointing a camera at whatever is happening on the street and snapping a picture, but instead it is a search for a moment that is special. So many Leica photographers admire Henri Cartier-Bresson and use the term “decisive moment” that he coined, and that’s a valid description of a way to shoot on the street, at least for me.
Also, while some define “street photography” as “people on the street”, I also include what I see on the street, with or without people. In many urban and rural settings, there are remnants of history that I find interesting and the fact is many of those scenes exist in a state of decay without many people around. I find it compelling to shoot these lonely street images as well.
2: What equipment do you shoot with and why?
I started taking photographs when I was 6 or 7 years old. I began with a Brownie camera and have worked my way up to a Leica M9. A few years ago, my main camera was a Nikon D3s. I loved it for it’s low light capability. I spent a week with it on the streets of Manhattan in NYC and captured some great images, but by the end of the week my back was killing me from carrying around my gear and I also had my fill of people being offended by the gigantic camera body and lenses. I realized something had to give.
Being a lifelong student of photography, I knew about the heritage of Leica and the photographers who used them – so I traded in all my Nikon equipment and bought a Leica M9, a 35mm f/1.4 Summilux, a 50mm f/2 Summicron, and a 90mm f/2.5 Summarit. I half-jokingly say now that I can carry all my camera gear in my handkerchief! Comparatively speaking, when I think of my former Nikon gear that is true. But here is the interesting thing: once I started shooting with a Leica, my photography was transformed. So many Leica shooters say this it’s almost a cliché. But it is true. The manual focus and simplicity of the camera has allowed my attention to be fully on what I am shooting and not on camera menus, dials, and buttons. I’ll admit, I love the Nikon D3s – it is a great camera. But the Leica M9 has become like my arm, my leg, or my eye – indispensable.
3: Why do you publish primarily black and white?
As a child, I was first exposed to photographs by my mother; she grew up in Washington, DC and loved art and photography. When I began shooting as a child in the late 1950’s, black and white was the de facto medium for photography. So I cut my teeth on black and white. Then Kodachrome changed the scene for everyone, I suppose. At least for most, I think. I still do some work in color, but my roots are primarily in black and white.
I lost my mother when I was only 9 years old, so I suppose I have a strong sentimental attachment to black and white photography. When I’m out shooting, I “see” in black and white more often than not. I would love to one day own a Leica Monochrom.
4: Are you working on any projects that you have so far not published?
That’s an interesting question. I have a full time career as a practicing civil engineer. My dad was a civil engineer and my mom was an artist and loved photography. So I have a mix of them both in my genetics. Thank goodness – my engineering career funds my love for photography, so I don’t have to struggle to earn a living as a professional photographer. But my full time career as an engineer dictates a lot of what and when I can shoot – so as I mentioned earlier, I tend to shoot what I see, and as I say, I shoot “life”.
Lately I’ve observed the decay in both rural and urban settings that is the result of the recent economic downturn. It has obviously impacted the entire world and I see it in other photographer’s work. So that’s been on my mind.
But here’s the deeper answer about projects: I tend to shoot from heart as much as my eye. I’m sentimental, and I’ve experienced a lot of loss in my life. My photography often is an unstructured representation of how my heart is feeling. I think I’ll keep going with that. I know I’ll never have any recognition as a photographer because I don’t have one genre and I don’t do projects – but my heart will do better if I keep doing what I’m doing.
5: If you had one piece of advice for street shooters, what would it be?
My advice would be to slow down, take the time to see, and don’t just point a camera into the crowd, click the shutter, and call that “street photography”. Look for a special moment that is moving and memorable. And shoot from the heart.
Featured Street Photographer : Michael Toye
Michael is a relatively new Flickr buddy of mine, but in the six months or so that we’ve been contacts I have been drawn to his work as he approaches street photography from a different angle than most. Michael makes pictures that are as much about the street itself as the people in them. He has a high focus on the architecture surrounding the people he shoots and it works. It gives his images another dimension.
Name : Michael Toye
Location : London
Photographic Genre : Street Photography
Michael’s Bio
I am fairly sure my story isn’t too dissimilar to others. I was a long time working mushroom in the IT arena, starting as a lowly developer until I stopped working in IT, reaching the heady title of Business Analyst. Great at parties when you drop the sleep bomb that is ‘Derivatives’ and ‘Business Analyst’. My girlfriend is still in IT but we are lucky enough to be able to indulge our creative urges and for both of us it’s photography. She shoots under the waves and I on the streets. Our photography rarely clashes, though you’ll be surprised to know how few streets there are on a dive boat.
1: How and when did you discover street portraiture as your genre of photography.
My creative urges stem from a background of portraiture, employing the more traditional pencils, charcoals, acrylics and then, after a break of 10+ years, I picked up a camera. A Nikon D70.
I captured images of everything, including friends and family and was literally an unrelenting snapper, until I came across the work of Tommy Oshima. Looking at his work immediately took me back to the creative place I was as a young adult. Of course, with the camera, depth of field became a powerful tool and I could see through Tommy’s work that I could carve a style and send a message through my own images.
The D70 was definitely getting in my way and I wasn’t finding the portraits I wanted without resorting to organizing shoots, so I changed camera and settled into landscapes and architecture.
Always having an eye for composition, form, lines and never forgetting the negative space in the frame I did quite well. But I always looked to the people around me and I would try to photograph their activities around the buildings I was shooting. It wasn’t working, I still wanted to photograph people and I was intrigued how they were interacting with these buildings I had come to shoot.
This is essentially the point where I moved to street photography. After getting permission, I traded in my entire Canon gear set and ordered a Leica. I can’t escape the allure and grandiose nature of the iconic architecture in London so now I go out, armed with my Leica, and photograph people in and around these great structures and locations in London.
2: What equipment do you shoot with and why?
My girlfriend calls me a camera snob, but I put it to you that I want to take a photograph and expect a level of quality from the camera and lens. Prior to Leica I was using a Canon 5D Mark II and, for people, the 85mm f/1.2. A pretty good combination, but you are not going to get any candid shots with such a combination. If the subject doesn’t see the soul sucking front element of the 85L, they certainly hear the guillotine like snap from the mirror and shutter.
So, my only camera and lens is an M Monochrom and Summicron-M 35mm f/2.
I am lucky enough to be able to shoot steady down to 1/6s and was still carting around a tripod for wide shots. The Leica captures an unbelievably sharp image and I haven’t touched a tripod since. My default aperture is f8. If I’m zone focusing in strong light, f11. The confidence to use these apertures is also buoyed by the astonishing ISO capabilities of this camera. The noise that does appear is very elegant and I have never discarded a shot due to the presence of noise.
3: Why do you publish primarily black and white?
With a nod to a simpler life of pencils and charcoals, I have always loved the purity and honesty in black and white images. It also serves architecture extremely well. The image is reduced to texture and lines and space and there is no distraction from hues that can divert the eyes from a leading line, subject or, indeed, message. Some might argue compositions are not strong enough if color makes that difference, however, my subjective opinion is that the absence of color makes for a more effective bond between image and viewer.
4: Are you working on any projects that you have so far not published?
At the moment I am publishing images as I capture them, but I am working towards a body of work I can exhibit. They say you can spend a lifetime to really know a city, but I think street photography can make serious inroads into seeing the true soul of a place. London is well known for its skyline, but I think I can help show the people under it.
Apart from that, I’m running London based photography walking tours most weeks.
5: If you had one piece of advice for street shooters, what would it be?
I have 2.
As a street photographer:
I tend to discard any images where people have seen me take their photograph and have a negative look that reveals they really didn’t like it, whether suspicion or anger or otherwise. You can seriously reduce the frequency of this occurring.
My advice is to have an air of confidence, fake or otherwise lol. Have you noticed tourists don’t skulk. They’re genuinely interested and generally pushy. Be like a tourist; no one will notice you as you wander. When you see a shot, stand your ground and take it. If they see you, before or after the shutter, smile. I tend to turn and walk off, again like a tourist, but if they saw me, I’ll smile and wave before I leave. This works well with private land and their security, like at Canary Wharf.
For your images:
Difficult when you immediately spot a candid and just shoot but, where time allows, look at the environment, the negative space. It’s your context for the people you are photographing. I am always looking at the scene as I walk to help me prepare to place the people that I might photograph. Really helps with detecting juxtaposition too.
Featured Street Photographer : Gavin Mills
Gavin Mills’ work is exemplary. In my opinion, he has nailed the street portraiture genre like no-one else I’ve come across. He’s also a hell of a nice, down to earth guy and for someone who leads the life he does, that’s both surprising and welcome.
I’ve known Gavin for a while now via Flickr. He’s a Leica guy like me and we chat about kit and street photography. We keep talking about meeting up in London for a shoot… One day.
Name : Gavin Mills
Location : London (and the rest of the world)
Photographic Genre : Street Portraiture and Street Photography
Gavin’s Bio
I gave up my fledgling career as an apprentice hairstylist back in1989 to pursue a dream of becoming a House Music producer and DJ, and for the last 20 or so years I have been lucky enough to be living that dream. Together with my music partner Sam Holt we’re known as Copyright and we play all over the world, travelling most weekends to various destinations around the globe to play the music that we love.
Around 12 years ago it occurred to me that I needed to get a camera to keep a record of all the places I visited and the people I met.
Remembering back to my first purchase, I had no idea whatsoever about cameras and I went and bought a few magazines in the airport departure lounge and sat on the plane studying them. I ended up with a Sony Cyber Shot. The Cyber-shot seemed to fill all the criteria I was looking for, it was compact took pretty good quality pictures and was less than two hundred quid. A few days later I took that camera on my week long trip to Miami for the Winter Music Conference and was completely taken by surprise when discovered that I loved making photos and have been at it ever since.
Back in those early days I was mostly photographing people at the parties we played plus a few travel shots of hotels or airports so we could upload them to our site, but it wasn’t long before I wanted to start shooting other things and I started going out for solitary walks with the camera around the many cities that we visited in the course of my work…..something I still continue to do whenever I get a chance.
Sometimes we might do small tours in Asia usually playing clubs in Japan and Hong Kong and it was on one of these trips that I decided it was time to upgrade to something better than the basic point and shoot I was using . By recommendation of the small but rather well stocked camera shop in Hong Kong I bought the newly released Nikon D200, leaving the crummy kit lens behind and going instead with the Nikon18-200mm VR lens. This really opened up new exciting possibilities, it was like I’d been riding a Vespa and had just upgraded to a Ducati. Remembering the day I bought the D200 I stayed up all night, walking around Hong Kong, which is probably one of the best destinations you could hope for testing a new camera . I took hundreds of pictures trying to remember the instructions the man in the shop had given me on how to use an SLR.
I continued using the Nikon for many years and built up a reasonable collection of mostly prime lenses my favourite one being the 85mm F1.4 , which I personally think is still one of the finest Nikon Lenses .
I‘ve tried exploring some different aspects of photography , trying a bit of Landscape or shooting models , some commissions to shoot events which I try to do in my own candid style and on a few occasions other music artists press pics , but I’ll always come back to what I enjoy most, shooting people in real life situations and street photography.
Recently I was asked how would I best describe my style of photography and I answered I’m a Life photographer, partly because I really love and admire the pioneering photo news magazine of the same name but also because I believe this best sums up what I’m most keen on shooting.
I’ve always like to feature a human element in my shots, perhaps because I feel that it gives the picture something unique, like a shot of a famous building or landmark, it’s a challenge to find a new exciting way to shoot if it has already been shot millions of times before but then putting a person in that photo, perhaps it then has a story or another point of interest that makes it into something unique. That method of putting a person in the frame is like finding the film set, then I’m just waiting for the actors to turn up.
Later that style of putting a person in the picture became more prominent and now I guess it’s switched to the opposite way round, now I’ll find my actor and then try finding the best backdrop available.
1: How and when did you discover street portraiture as your genre of photography.
It’s only quite recently that I’ve become drawn to making street portraits. Interesting characters is what I’m looking for when I’m out with the camera and during the last year I’ve decided to focus specifically on homeless people.
Perhaps I was influenced by a book I read sometime ago, a wonderful Graphic Novel by the late Will Eisner which is called ‘Invisible People ’ .
The book contains some short stories about the people we might happen to pass in a city each day of our lives with complete indifference and that every one of those anonymous faces has a story to tell.
Shooting homeless people their faces often tell a story of life that can sometimes be tragic or full of emotion and struggle, something very different from the comparatively happy and comfortable life I’ve led. Interestingly I often find myself surprised by homeless and some of warm, kind, intelligent and friendly people I’ve met.
In the spirit of that Will Eisner book I’ll try and find out something about the person to go along with the photo or even perhaps if nothing else I can just document the way they reacted to a completely random stranger coming up and asking for a picture.
Some of my encounters are brief, perhaps only a minute or two, then other times I ‘ve spent a while chatting which generally makes or a better photo, it’s also rewarding because it’s a two way street, I get a good picture and a story and they might enjoy having someone other than another homeless person to talk to. Some people I’ve bumped into several times on the street and I’d now count them as friends. One of the homeless guys I met who refers to himself as Seth the ‘shit ‘ Chef . Seth came to one of my DJ gigs last week at the legendary London club Ministry of Sound. It was great as I didn’t tell anyone he was a homeless and as he was hanging out with me in the DJ box so people just assumed him to be another DJ producer or record label guy .
Taking street portraits can be technically quite a challenge, I’ll always try to nail it in a couple of shots, unless encouraged to keep clicking. It would be unsettling for anyone to have a stranger come up to you and then they start taking loads of pictures. I would say it’s made me a better photographer as instead of clicking away hoping to catch something good I’ll be waiting and watching intently trying to catch that split second where I feel the persons let down their guard and show me something real. An honest emotion, it doesn’t matter what the emotion is as long as its for real and not just well here I am having my picture taken.
2: You choose to shoot with Leica equipment, why?
In 2007 I broke a bone in my right hand and then afterwards found that shooting with the Nikon was painful for me because of the heavy body and heavy lenses. I had stop for taking pictures a while. A couple of my Flickr contacts who shoot with a Leica, I ‘d always admired and liked the look of their photos decided find out some more about Leica and perhaps this might be a lighter camera for my bad wrist.
There was something difficult to put into words that I could see in their pictures perhaps they looked more real, life like or perhaps another way I could explain is the Nikon pictures even from my favorite 85mm just seemed to look flat by comparison. It’s like the Leica captured another dimension a feeling of the space plus I loved the incredible clarity against that creamy softness of the out of focus areas. I wasn’t really sure what it was at the time, but I knew I liked the look.
On one of my trips to Japan in 2008 I remember going into a store in Osaka and having a quick go with the Leica, and at first thinking no this isn’t for me, I couldn’t imagine using a rangefinder focus after being spoilt by super fast Nikon focus . But my interest a fascination with the camera didn’t go away and I decided to give it another try. I bought an M8 just as the M9 was being released which was a good time to buy as suddenly their were lots of used M8’s on the market and it brought the camera down to an affordable price of £1500 and I figured if I didn’t like it I could just stick it on eBay again without losing much in the process.
I bought mine from a guy who was begrudgingly selling his much loved camera as he had to much difficulty focusing because of his poor eye sight. I also purchased one of his two lenses which was the Summicron 50mm but then a day later I went back bought his 28mm Elmarit as I could see that needed something a wider for certain situations, the 28mm Elmarit probably isn’t one of the most revered Leica lenses but I think it has a really lovely classic retro look .
I’ve invested in a few more lenses since then, the 90mm F2 summicron which is quitw a challenge to use even with the 1.25 magnifier but useful for portraits and also for keeping a discreet distance when street shooting.
The 35mm Asph is currently my most used lens, it’s the one I always have with me wherever I go. If I have to pick just one lens to take it going to be the 35mm. On the M8 its actually closer to a 50mm and I find that good distance for environmental portraiture, capturing something of the subjects surroundings and for me it’s a comfortable distance between myself and subject whilst being wide enough for capturing candid street scenes . I love the sharpness and definition I get from this lens, and even though I generally favor black and white the 35mm Asph has a beautiful color. It was a big purchase for me costing double what I’d already spent on the body itself, I spent weeks trying to justify it to myself ( and also my wife) but now one year on I am still so very happy that I went for it .
Another brilliant and far more reasonable purchase was the Voigtlander 15mm. I really wanted something extra wide occasionally for shooting buildings, cars or streets as I like that exaggerated wide look. I would have liked the Tri-Elmar or the Zeiss 15mm Distagon but both are expensive and bulky. The Voigtlander was a fraction of the price, size and weight and in its own right is a great lens. Leica enthusiast can sometimes be a bit snobbish about only using Leica lenses as they’re regarded as the best but for the price the Voigtlander 15mm is amazing value and on several occasions I’ve been surprised by the great results I had from it .
3: Why do you use primarily black and white?
I almost always prefer the look of my pictures in black and white, as Jack mentioned in his recent interview on here sometimes the color seems to get in the way. A picture in black and white is simplified and some how
that makes the emotion or story more easily seen. I always shoot raw but have the screen on the M8 set to display black and white . You can do this on any of the Leica digital by selecting DNG + low quality jpeg then setting the color option to BW. It means when shootig taking a quick look at the LCD I can usually tell in a second if the light looks right and if I feel something from the photo .
Another thing that I’d say is although its called Black & White Photography there’s actually infinite shades of grey in between and a picture can be tonally rich, full of texture and light and shade, as the saying goes not everything is black and white .
4: Are you working on any projects that you have so far not published?
As it happens just last week was my first ever published work. A British magazine called Advanced Photographer ran a six page feature about my street portraits. It’s was so amazing to see my photos right there in the magazine in print .
When I first started shooting street portraits and in particular homeless people it wasn’t my intention to make it into a project but it seems to have grown into a body of work now and I have a firm goal to make a book that shines a light on homeless and am going to try make that happen one way or another .The idea is to give all the proceeds back to the Homeless charities and after spending plenty of time on the street talking with them I’ve heard some good ideas for ways the money could make a real difference to them . Doing this project has made me realize that its good to choose a subject and focus on something particular and I‘ve a couple ideas for new projects around a similar type theme of the everyday people we encounter.
5: If you had one piece of advice for street shooters, what would it be?
I guess street photography is really about how you see the world. If you think you see something or someone interesting then it only stands to reason that other people are going to think its interesting too.
See a character on the street and you think you might want to go and ask them for their picture, well if you’ve not done it before then I suggest take a deep breath wear a friendly smile and go for it, the worst that can happen is they might say no. A few of my friends and contacts on flickr have said to me they would be to shy or embarrassed to approach a complete stranger and ask them for a close up picture but when they eventually found the courage to do it found it to be an exhilarating experience.
Featured Photographer : Peter Levi
Peter is a photographer from Sweden who produces some really classy street shots, however he doesn’t consider himself a street photographer.
He is a big time Flickroo and attracts a lot of attention to his stream and contributes to many other photographic communities and publications.
Name : Peter Levi
Age : 43 years
Location : Stockholm, Sweden
Photographic Genre : Mixed
You can see more of Peter’s work here: Flickr, Tumblr, 500px, Stark-Magazine, Huffington Post
Peter’s Bio
I live with my wife and son in the suburbs of Stockholm and I have had a life long interest in photography, but rarely practiced the art until a few years back when inspiration hit me hard when I bought my first digital SLR.
Q: 1: How and when did you discover street portraiture as your genre of photography.
I don’t really consider myself a street photographer. I document life through geometry, composition and energy. If the result looks like street photography, so be it. I also have a passion for long exposure photography.
I like to take pictures of people, but also the cityscapes as a way of tying everything up. I capture the people instantly and cityscapes in long exposures.
I can’t really say how or when I discovered my “style”. I guess it’s always been there within me.
Q: 2: What equipment do you shoot with and why?
When I do planned documentary photography, I use my Canon 5D mk II with a 35mm lens, but when I walk the streets, I use the Fuji x100. That is the camera that I always have with me whenever I walk out the door. I’m no “gear head”, but right now I’m very curious about the new Ricoh GR with a APS-C sensor.
I generally like to use a small, silent camera for the streets. The X100 is completely soundless which makes candid shots easier in crowded, silent places like for example busses etc. The lack of sound also makes it possible to take several pictures without revealing yourself as I would do with my loud SLR. The SLR comes in more handy when people are aware and have accepted my presence.
But in the end, the camera is just a tool. It really doesn’t matter what you use as long as you feel comfortable with the tool you use.
Q: Why do you use primarily black and white?
Black and white just speaks to me more. I find it more artistic, timeless and beautiful than color. I’m not against color in anyway, but I live in a pretty colorless environment, black and white just comes more naturally. I’m sure that I would prefer color if I lived in India where colors are everywhere in a very vivid way.
Q: Are you working on any projects that you have so far not published?
I have some on-going projects that I publish on-line as they come along. “Future Scientists” are one of them. It’s about our kids and their way through school up to when they start to work with different science projects. Our future so to speak.
Q: If you had one piece of advice for street shooters, what would it be?
I have the same advice as I on a daily basis give myself. “Get closer, compose, and try to capture the energy of a look, motion or gesture”
The decisive moment is everything no matter the genre.
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