Economy springing back to life. Now I get to use some of those new cameras and lenses! Hooray.

 All of a sudden we're getting booked for assignments. It started out slowly; a big project in March followed by a growing number of corporate portrait bookings. Some here in the studio but more out on locations. The early wave is mostly comprised of bankers and lawyers and we're even starting to hear rumblings of corporate events being scheduled in late Summer and Fall. 

I'm ready to get back to work. We'll keep wearing our masks and taking all the precautions we've learned throughout the pandemic but with everyone I work with having been vaccinated it's starting to feel less risky. 

Even though I've always been an extrovert I'm finding that it takes some practice and effort to get back into a more authentic give and take with photography clients. I guess I've "talked" more here on the blog over the last year than I have in the real world. I have to re-learn how to talk "out loud" again and also how to patiently listen.

I did five portraits last week and the most fun were two that were shot in the studio but composited into out of focus backgrounds I'd shot earlier in the week. With the backgrounds already shot it was easier to make portraits that "fit" the look and feel of the whole assemblage. Getting a good selection with good feathering at the edges helps a lot. I use the "select and refine" menus and tools in PhotoShop to separate the subjects from the studio background and to create a file with an image layer that is, except for the actual subject, transparent. That makes it a simple matter to open a background image file in the same window and just pull the person over into the scene. 

You'll have to a do a few adjustments and maybe blur the edges of your person a bit to match better with the background. I also find it helps, once the compositing and adjusting is complete, to add "noise" or grain to the overall image as it reinforces the appearance of the photo being homogenous instead of leaving tell tale signs that it's a fake collage. Keep it subtle but pay attention to some of the subliminal cues that happen when joining different images together. 

And now for the exciting news. It seems a mother raccoon has made my home's chimney into a nursery. She has somehow dislodged the cap on the chimney and, while she was not in the chimney yesterday the young raccoons were down at the bottom; just above the flue. Isn't that special?

We have experts coming tomorrow but I realized that the mom might not have been able to get in for the last few days since I reattached the cap. I'm torn but my reverence for all life and my ignorance of what might be best for the little raccoons. The expert and I talked and I think I'll head back up to the roof and take the cap off the chimney for tonight and also dangle down a thick, thick rope to help with an exit. If we play talk radio in the fireplace and occasionally bang on the bottom of the flue there is the thought that the mom raccoon will evacuate her brood and move on. But for now maybe I should drop in some apple slices for the young ones so they get some moisture and sustenance. 

Anybody here a raccoon specialist? And, yes, I know they are primary disease vectors and can be vicious to boot. But I'm willing to take both animal behavior advice and ethical treatment advice. Please- no gun talk. I'd like them to exit alive.

On a happier note. Elon Musk is coming to save Austin! (sarcasm alert!!!). 

90mm R-Elmarit Leica lens + Leica SL camera. Small lessons.

 

Yes. I think the 90mm Elmarit is pretty sharp. I mostly shoot with it at f4.0 or f5.6 but even wide open it's more than prickly enough to make nice portraits. Between f5.6 and f8.0 it's as sharp as I would want in a lens. The adapter that fits it onto the camera is "dumb" but the camera has a bunch of lens profiles for the M and the R series lenses. When you stick a lens on the camera and select a lens profile the act of programming in the exact model of lens tells the camera a lot. There's also an external exposure sensor  on the camera that adds information to the mix and "guesses" the aperture at which the lens is being used.  Nice. The 90mm Elmarit is dense and a simpler lens formulation than current lenses but that also keeps it relatively small; even with the adapter attached. 

After a year of relatively severe isolation, and many lone walks on empty streets, I'm finding that it takes some practice to feel comfortable photographing strangers again. As more and more people come out and walk around it feels increasingly natural to carry and use a camera on the street. Earlier in the year there were so few people in the downtown area that a "camera person" stood out like a sore thumb. The sweet spot will come when enough people are vaccinated and we don't have to wear masks out on the street. Then we can smile at other people more convincingly and invite them to be photographed in a more carefree way.

I'm trying to work fast with manual focusing lenses and with something like the 90mm that means taking advantage of the really good focus peaking in the two Leica cameras.

Lost to the smaller size on Blogger is the fine detail of the weave of the fabric in the blue blouse. And the rough edges of the bokeh "balls" in the background, to the right of the frame...

My favorite 2nd Street mannequin has abandoned her furry hat and her sweatshirt and embraced a more Spring oriented outfit. I like the way the 90mm "describes" the plastic of the arms and hand. 

I don't need a new suit. I have a closet full and most never get worn. But I've walked by a shop called, "League of Rebels" hundreds of times and watched their master tailor, through the shop window, as he crafts custom suits for their customers. I think I'd like to drag Ben over and have a suit made for him. He'll resist but I think everyone in any business needs at least one well tailored suit and a handful of good accessories. Custom shirts, handmade belts, and, of course, really good shoes. But alas, this might just be a generational prejudice. 

Again, the actual image of the tailoring in progress, in its full glory, is just stuffed with sharp, rich details that are lost here. The 90mm Elmarit is a very capable, longer focal length, street lens. Equally at home on both the Panasonic and the Leica camera bodies. 

On Saturday I drove to Dripping Springs to catch up with my restauranteur friend, Emmett. Whenever you hang out with a chef I'm pretty sure you're going to end up someplace new, eating something interesting; and sometimes tasting stuff that's great. We met at his house and then hopped in his car and slipped across HWY 290 onto a winding, rural road and traveled deep into ranch country until we came to a dirt entryway into an new, industrial looking complex that is home to a distillery, a bake shop (bakery) and a flour milling operation. 

Our destination was Abby Jane Bakeshop. It's a decidedly high end bakery, owned and run by a former pastry chef who trained at some very well respected restaurants and, judging by the large number of customers who navigated the long and secretive route to get there, a pastry chef with a following...

Since I was with an avowed, professional foodie I stood by and watched as he ordered one of everything. I ate a $5 chocolate croissant that was pretty amazing. Monkey bread with a delicate white cheese and sautéed onion component that was instantly addictive. A plain croissant that was about as good as my favorite version from Fauchon. We ordered good coffee and then ordered two pizzas to go. 

We ordered the wood fired, Greens and Parmesan Cream pizza and the Carrot Curry pizza and both were delicious. We took these home to share with Emmett's wife, Lisa. We also grabbed a few loafs of bread that were equalled good. All made with organic, fresh milled flours. 

After lunch Emmett boxed up the left over pizza and sent it home with me. There were several pieces of the "greens" pizza left so Ben and I heated them up in the oven this morning, topped each slice with an over-easy egg and had them for breakfast. Ahhhhhh. 

I wish we had a satellite version of Abby Jane Bakeshop here in the west Austin neighborhood but I fear it's one of those businesses that works under the eagle eye of an impassioned owner but isn't infinitely scalable or portable...

I didn't sample their cakes but..... cake! scroll down in the link to see some great cakes...

When I sat down to play with files this afternoon in noticed this "throw away" shot taken in the studio. I shot it because in the moment I loved the isolation of the black stool top reflecting to white as it caught the light from outside. I just wanted to see what it would look like. 

But once I saw it I started wondering how "recoverable" the shadows might be from the SL. So I opened the file in Lightroom and started playing with the sliders. It was shot at ISO400 and I think it's pretty good with the shadows recovered. Just a little experiment. (see below). 

And then there is the routine reflection shot. 

Nice haircut. 

That eerie feeling when your recently purchased camera starts messing up, freezing and shutting down. But deep down it's really ALL YOUR FAULT.

Breathing a sigh of relief because the sign doesn't say, 

"See Good....." 

I was looking forward to a nice walk all morning. When the opportunity presented itself I grabbed the Leica SL (the older model, not the new one...), put the Sigma Contemporary 45mm f2.8 lens on it and headed out. The camera and the lens are both products of the L mount alliance so I never thought twice about compatibility I just assumed they'd work together flawlessly.

I was twenty minutes and maybe 15 frames into the walk when the camera started acting up. I'd bring the camera up to my eye to shoot only to find nothing in the finder and a frozen image of something random; like the sidewalk, in a state of infinite review on my rear LCD. I figured it was a one time glitch and pulled the battery, waited ten seconds, re-inserted the battery and kept on walking. I'd take five or six frames and everything would be okay but if I went to turn off the camera that would cause it to take another random frame and then freeze. Very frustrating. 

After I got to the halfway point the camera didn't seem to be getting any better so I went for the full Monty and did a full reset. But after ten minutes or so it became obvious that the reset was NOT going to fix the issue. I finished the walk and headed home to do some troubleshooting but I had the feeling that I'd be sending this perfectly beautiful camera back to the dealer and take advantage of their 30 day warranty. Sadly....

When I got back to the studio I did a quick Google search for: "Is the Sigma 45mm f2.8 incompatible with the Leica SL?" I instantly got links that all said the same thing. And that was that the original firmware in the lens caused an erroneous reading of battery levels in both the SL and the SL2. You could mount the lenses and they would work in a fashion but here was a known fault. A rent in the L-mount armor. 

I checked the firmware in both of my copies of the Sigma 45mm f2.8 lens. One was parked at 1.0 and the other was mildly updated to 1.1. The current software for the lens is 1.3. I downloaded the latest software and updated both lenses. Now they work flawlessly with both Leicas. 

But it illuminated my blind spots for me. I'm pretty quick to update the firmware in cameras because it usually fixes an obvious fault or, on the other hand, adds some new feature I'd really like. But I never have kept up with firmware evolution for my lenses. It just didn't seem vital.

I am now a new convert to lens firmware enhancement as often as I can get it. Both lenses work charmingly well and I no longer have to harbor doubts and insecurities about what is quickly becoming my favorite camera. At least my favorite camera of the week. 

The moral of the story is to make sure all your firmware is up to date before you start pointing troubleshooting fingers at your gear. It may be that you are the limiting factor in your system's overall performance. And it's crazy not to stay up to date since the cost is zero and the time commitment is minutes, not hours or days. 

Do I like the Sigma 45 on the SL? You betcha.

Yeah. So the 45mm is pretty awesome when you shoot it at f5.6 in the 

middle distances. Not at all "soft." 

My mannequin girlfriend changed outfits and I know she wanted 

me to document the new look. I even found and angle that 

allows me to selfie the whole thing at the same time. 

That's all folks.

 

A "Good Friday" Post From Our Time in Montreal...

We're taking the day off on Sunday. 

It's Easter.

 

A second review from the "reprint file." This one from 2009 of the Mamiya DL28. The camera actually worked well. I think the top photo is a good proof of performance.... This is a reprint just to look at what we wrote back in the "old days" of digital.

 Another Camera Paradigm Shift.  Mamiya Gets Sensible.   And a few end of the year thoughts.

By Kirk Tuck

Noellia gives the Alien Bees Ringlight a test flash.  Camera:  The Mamiya DL28.  Degree of difficulty:  Not much.

If you’ve read my stuff here this year you probably know that I’ve had the opportunity to test a couple other medium format digital camera systems.  And every one of them had a unique selling proposition.  But the one thing they all seemed to have in common was price tag on par with the sticker price of a nice BMW automobile.  If you’ve read my reasons for wanting a MFDC you know why I want one.  If this is your first visit then let me bring you up to speed.

I’ve always liked the way the longer focal lengths we used on film medium format cameras created portrait images.  The sharp areas were really sharp and then the images rolled out of focus very gracefully until the backgrounds were just a gorgeous amalgam of softness and mystery.  Somehow I’ve never been able to get precisely the same effect with shorter optics (giving the same angles of view.…) on 35mm style digital cameras.  

We also loved the sweeping image area of the larger format in film and by extension in digital precisely because it rendered images with a much greater subtlety than the smaller formats when all other parameters were equal.  In digital capture the sheer quantity of pixels goes a long way to making images look smoother and cleaner.  The larger pixel wells (when compared to high res 35mm DSLR’s) also contribute to very wide dynamic ranges.  In the Mamiya DL 28 system the Leaf back is rated at 12 full stops of d-range which is almost two stops more than the best DSLR’s (excepting the exceptional six megapixel Fuji S5 pro).

Finally, it is only in the MFDC realm that you are able to shoot with a true 16 bit imaging file.  This means lots and lots more gradations between tones and colors.  The big drawback to MFDC’s has always been the price of entry.  But that’s the paradigm that Mamiya shifted.  The entry price has plummeted.  The new camera package is just shy of $15,000.  That includes the latest Mamiya AFD3 body (usable with both film and a range of digital backs.…), a newly computed 80mm lens that’s been optimized for digital capture, and a newly released Leaf 28 megapixel back with an enormous touch screen.

Still a bit more money than a Canon 1DS mk3 or a Nikon D3x but maybe a much better investment in the long run.  How could that be?  Well, for starters the sensor industry isn’t standing still but none of the 35mm style bodies are currently upgradable.  That means a big breakthrough in sensor technology demands the purchase of yet another body.  With the Mamiya system it means trading in the back and keeping the camera you know.  It means being able to buy a back up body at a much lower price.  And while DSLR’s keep improving so do the MFDC’s.

The latest from Mamiya goes a long way toward separating a portrait specialist from the pack.  With state of the art autofocus,  digitally optimized lenses and an open standard interface for a wide range of backs, it may be the most scalable, practical and sensible professional system on the market today.

The DL28 is state of the art in a number of ways that give it leverage against competitors.  The Leaf back uses a new generation LCD screen on the rear that presents a lot of real estate for checking composition, histograms and relative color.  The back is also a touch screen and it makes setting capture parameters very straight forward.  Your clients will love the way this camera tethers to laptops and workstations because they’ll be able to see your work writ large.

The well protected touch screen keeps the camera design sleek and pared down.  I think it’s the nicest designed of all the MFDC’s on the market.  Note the battery for the back at the bottom of the camera.  The camera itself takes six conventional double “A’s”.  The back is good for 250 exposures per charge while I shot over 1200 exposures without budging the battery indicator for the body.

So why would you want to spend the money on one of these?  Well, if you are in the business of providing carefully composed and styled images to art directors or big portraits to families, this system will give you a better image than you’ll get with the latest generations of DSLR’s.  If you aim for the top of the markets you serve the difference in price will certainly be offset by the sheer quality improvement.  In some ways it’s an intangible but to the really picky customers you can rest assured it’s noticeable!

The second reason is pure marketing.  If you are truly the best (and most expensive) of the suppliers in your market your customer may want to know why you shoot with the same kind of camera as uncle Bob.  You may think the gear doesn’t matter but if you are in competition with someone who is equally proficient and just as personable as you (I know, that’s hardly possible.….) the choice of shooting gear may just tip the scales in someone’s favor.

If you were a Mamiya shooter back in the film days and you still have your gear you’ll be pleased to know that all the AF lenses work flawlessly while all of the manual 645 lenses can be mounted and used with manual aperture stop down.

Given my recent article about surviving the recession how can I justify singing the praises of a $14,000 camera system?  Simple, if it can give me the edge over several of my close competitors it could pay for itself in a week’s worth of shooting.  Besides, I’m not saying you need to rush out and purchase one of these without regard to the overall market.  I’m sure there will be plenty in rental and I think you’ll be wise to try one on the next large scale production you book.

Caveat!!!!!  If you are a fast paced wedding photographer who routinely slams out 4,000 available light shots per wedding then no medium format camera system is currently for you.  The frame to frame time is too slow (less than one per second), the autofocus isn’t as speedy as that on a Nikon D3, and the luscious, elegant files are Raw only and far too big to make speedy, templated processing fun.

If you are a methodical worker, a portrait photographer, still life shooter or architectural shooter one of these will certainly raise your game to a higher level.

Other News.  Making Book.

My second book is wending its way through the production process and will become available at Amazon.com and at quality bookstores around the country on April 1st, 2009.  It’s all about studio lighting and it’s aimed at advanced amateurs and working pros.  We all know a lot about photography but I might know different stuff than you.  It’s already up for presale on Amazon.

One of the early photos done with the Panasonic S1 and the original L mount 85mm Sigma Art Lens.

Mary Bridget Davies as "Janis." 

A little over a year ago I was pacing through the Zach Theatre auditorium at the technical rehearsal seeing "A Night with Janis Joplin" on stage for the first time and trying to predict where I needed to be, minute by minute, to get good photographs for marketing and promotion. 

I'd purchased two Panasonic S1s and some great lenses and I had already shot the big Christmas play just before the tumble into 2020. One of the cameras I had over a shoulder was equipped with the 24-105mm f4.0 Lumix lens while the other was outfitted with the big, heavy 85mm f1.4 Sigma Art lens. The image above was done with the Sigma. 

The Panasonic S1 cameras were (are) a good choice for theatrical photography because their sensors are among of the best performing when it comes to high ISOs. I was shooting the camera with the 85mm at ISO 1600 but mostly because I was interested in setting a fast shutter speed (this was at 1/400th) and I wanted to stop down just a little bit. But as I become more and more experienced with the cameras I found I have no trepidation about using them at ISO 6400 and, sometimes, even up to 12,800 ISO. The files clean up nicely. The sharpness and saturations remain good. 

I really wish the theatre was back in full scale production, inside the main theater building, because I'm very interested in shooting a show with a Leica SL2 or SL on one shoulder and a Lumix S1 on the other. It would make for a great comparison between not just the image quality differences (if any) but also the overall usability of each camera. 

It's one thing to walk around and point a camera at stuff that's not moving or changing much and trying to catch a live show on a stage with ever shifting lights. That, for me, is the litmus test. 

The 85mm was great. Thankfully, so is the new version. And it's smaller and lighter. 

Pix from rehearsal below:

definitely the week of the 85mm 1.4 Sigma. Art.

As more and more Austinites get vaccinated we're starting to slowly creak the studio door open again and starting to play around with more portraits. Here's a blast from the good old days.

 

Back in the pre-pandemic days we felt a lot less constrained about inviting people into the studio to make portraits just for fun. Now we're starting to hear from friends (and even adult children of friends) who want to come over and collaborate in some portraiture. 

Tomorrow I'm putting some time aside to make some portraits and headshots for one of my video collaborator's daughters. It's a pretty open-ended brief as long as we get some great stuff. 

Austin seems to be doing a decent job at getting large swaths of the community vaccinated and it seems most natives are still abiding by the mask mandates even though the "personal grievance" political party is doing everything they can to sabotage the recovery. If we can cut down on tourists from the bright red, surrounding cities we might just have a chance to thrive again.

And that means more and more beautiful faces tromping through the hallowed halls of the studio. For fun and sometimes, for profit.