1bwana1 wrote:
Here is a few more quick portrait edits this morning before I get busy with the day.
The big challenge at this event was to try and detail the very elaborate costumes, while maintaining some sort of context of place to tel thr story. The vast majority of the costumed people stood around in the main squares while herds of photographers surrounded them and took pictures. So, I decided to move out of the crowds and haunt the back alleys and canals to do a bit more story telling in my images. I am hoping this comes across as I post the images.
The SL3 with the new v4.0 firmware is now a superb even platform. And of course the APO-SL lenses are just amazing when it comes to capturing the subtleties, and details of the costumes and the people wearing them. I find that many sensors and lenses have trouble holding detail and smooth transitions simultaneously with reds and blacks. Not this camera lens combo however. For me the capture of the blue eyes in the first portrait exemplifies the ability to capture fine detail and color..
What would a visit to Venice be without a bit of poking around the back less travel canals. Amazingly I didn't have travel far from the intense crowds of the major areas to find peace and solitude for photography. The architecture, colors, reflections are always unique and wonderful in that classic Venetian way.
Sl3 50mm APO-SL Summicron
Even in the hectic main area of Piazza San Marco if you point your camera in the right direction you can avoid the crowds.
I had some time to edit yesterday evening so I will do a larger than normal upload of images this morning. I apologize in advance if it is too much for some.
This morning a friend and I have been invited to a private party to preview in advance the new (same location, totally redone) Leica Flagship Store in Milano. It is a short 50 minutes or so from my home. I'll take some pictures to share later. I hope I have the discipline not to buy anything today. !
I hope you enjoy seeing what Venice Carnival looks like!
Couple having aperativo in the famous Florian Cafe. Image shot throug a window.
Pizza sign for fitted my intention for context in this set
Another column image
Her costume mate in the background
Nobody home. Just a mask on a rack for sale. I liked it, almost bought it. But couldned use the camera wearing it.
The same red lion woman with her partner in background
This next set is of a group of Italians who came over from Milan to celebrate Carnival in Venice. They were having a blast. They rented the costumes locally. The service includes dressing and makeup. Looks like fun.
They saw I was shooting with a Leica and asked me to make some portraits and send them to them. I did one group and some solos for each. They seem to have liked the results enough to ask for high resolution versions to print large. I obliged of course for free.
1bwana1 wrote:
What would a visit to Venice be without a bit of poking around the back less travel canals. Amazingly I didn't have travel far from the intense crowds of the major areas to find peace and solitude for photography. The architecture, colors, reflections are always unique and wonderful in that classic Venetian way.
Exactly so. Your first photograph here captures that perfectly. We have been to Venice many times. I’m sure it’s a total cliché to say so, but one of the greatest pleasures there is simply walking around (and, ideally, getting a bit lost).
1bwana1 wrote:
Amazingly I didn't have travel far from the intense crowds of the major areas to find peace and solitude for photography.
Indeed. If you avoid the major spots, you can have wonderful places all for yourself. And at night in winter, you are alone.
This is the Venice I like because the Piazza San Marco or the Rialto are not welcoming.
1bwana1 wrote:
The Geisha didn't look so Venice to me, but I liked the outfit.
Well, Venice was kind of a "world city" for a long time. And last time we were there, we ate in a italian restaurant near Ospedale where the entire staff was asian. Food was perfect.
So the Geisha is not out of place nowadays.
I was up in Milano today to preview the new Flagship Leica Store Milano. It is beautifully done and more than twice the size of the store prior to the remodel. I shot this street scene out of the new classroom window on the just added second floor. The store now has a great gallery, plenty of display space, a beautiful and large classroom, and a cinema room upstairs. If you are ever in Milan be sure to stop by for a visit. It is right across the street from the Duomo. Grand opening event is scheduled for Early March, but you can go now.
Well, this is not Milan but suburban Minneapolis. My neighborhood . . . just some shots with the SL3 and Zeiss Distagon 35/1.4. I love the 3D this lens produces.
End of day glowing landscape in Tucson Arizona captured with a 70 year old Leica thorium 50mm summicron and a similar vintage photographer, note the theme. With good light the image capture with thorium glass can be remarkable. The lens being weakly radioactive is a glass type that is obsolete and no one anywhere is making thorium glass lenses. This one is a Leica 50 mm F2 summicron collapsible made in early 1950s on a Leica M11 EV1. even with 60 mp the detail for this old lens is remarkable, and the rendering is warm and compellingly different from other lenses. This lens can be safely collapsed on a M11 EV1. New purchase in Tokyo, now home a quick capture in good light from my driveway.
The term "Last Church" refers to the smaller church built in 1717 at Pecos Pueblo, New Mexico, after the Spanish reconquest following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
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