The Rangefinder

I’ve been searching for a Leica M3 for a good long time, and got a fantastic deal from an original owner who purchased this beauty in Munich back in 1961. I couldn’t believe how well he cared for it. I loaded the first roll of film I could get my hands on and started shooting right away.

In the week since I got it, the camera has been everywhere with me, and I’m absolutely hooked! First roll is back from the lab, and I’ve posted a few frames from it below:

Leica M3 (single stroke) + 50mm f/1.4 Summilux | Leicameter MC | Kodak Portra 400

The M4

Spending a roll with a buddy’s Leica M4 last week solidified my love for rangefinder cameras. Unfortunately, I was nearly out of film when I headed out with the M4, but I was able to dig up one last roll of Lomography XPRO (no, not that XPRO) Chrome, the same stuff I used to shoot the Lomokino Movie Maker. Good enough.

This camera is refreshingly mechanical. No meter, no nothin’ electronic. Tons of fun:

I think I may be in the market for a film Leica M after shooting the M4. :)

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All Images: Leica M4 + Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5 | XPRO CHROME, E-6 Processing

VSCO 02

A day before my cousin and I shot a recent wedding together, we took a stroll in the neighborhood where he grew up, an area his immediate family still calls home. He’s been away from San Francisco for many years now, so coming back to his old ‘hood without ever seeing its slow transition from “somewhat ghetto everything” to “sustainable green local fancy vegan fair trade organic everything” made the walk an interesting experience, I’m sure.

As you can see, he had a chance to practice chasing Suki down the street while trying to photograph her. Not easy!

The folks over at VSCO recently released version two of their awesome film presets, which I used to process all of these photos. The new presets are the bomb, period. Love the look, love the customization. Love. Love. Love.

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Images: Canon 5D Mark III + 50mm f/1.2L

VSCO: Kodak Portra 160 VC +

Metric

Metric at the Great American Music Hall. Need I say more? My x100 was actually taken from me during the show. They said it was “too professional looking.” So I whipped out the XPRO-1 to take some shots of Emily and crew, and somehow I got away with that. Hmph!

Metric rocks!

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All Images: Fuji XPRO-1 + 35mm f/1.4 XF R and 18mm f/2 XF R

Jenny At Cafe Du Nord

The incredibly talented Jenny Lewis played this weekend with the Watson Twins, Johnathan Rice, Farmer Dave, and Nik Freitas at the Swedish American Hall in Cafe du Nord here in San Francisco. It was Jenny at her best, and this show was probably one of my favorites ever, right up there with the concert she did at the House of Blues. Front row seats are awesome for taking a few photos and grabbing one of the set lists at the end of the show.

Just a word on the Fuji XPRO-1. This thing has some staggering low-light performance. Just give the AF something contrasty to lock on to, and the camera returns some amazing files! :)

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All Images: Fuji XPRO-1 + 35mm f/1.4 XF R and 18mm f/2 XF R
Out of camera files using the XPRO’s B&W film simulation (green filter)

Day’s End: Mission District

That part of the day when slivers of light from the setting sun pass through the city streets and graze the tops of buildings is always my favorite time to head out with a camera.

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All Images: Leica M9 + 28mm f/2 Summicron

The Golden Gate’s 75th Anniversary

Olympus OMD E-M5 + Lumix G Vario  7-14mm f/4 at 13mm | 1.6 sec, f/5, ISO 200

This past Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of what is my opinion the most beautiful bridge in the world. After a long hike up the Marin Headlands in the afternoon, we settled down at an ideal spot to view the evening’s fireworks show. To stay light during the long hike, I left the dslr at home and brought along my smaller Olympus OM-D E-M5 to cover the event. The show was beyond amazing! I originally thought there’d be fireworks out over just the water with the bridge as a backdrop, but I had to pick my jaw back up off the floor when fire started shooting from the bridge itself.

On the drive home, I discovered that the OM-D has a pretty neat image overlay feature. I used it to cobble together some composite images in-camera, which you can output as JPEG or RAW files. It’s a great way to kick your fireworks photos up a notch:

Happy 75th, Golden Gate. I’ll never tire of photographing you!