early morning Archives - Page 2 of 7

Using Vintage lenses on Mirrorless Cameras

June 1, 2020 by Kirk

Using vintage lenses that were manufactured many years ago has always fascinated me! For photo geeks it’s intriguing but for most people they just care about the image. So recently I went out to test a lens that was made in 1958 the Leica 35mm f3.5 LTM (thread mount) Summaron. I was given this lens when I was 15 years old along with the external viewfinder. A few years ago I had the lens cleaned of fungus and started using it on my Leica M-P 240. The unfortunate thing is that the thread mount to bayonet mount I have on it is for a 90mm not a 35 so the wrong frame lines come up in the viewfinder. I am sending mine to Tamarkin Camera in Chicago in return for a 35mm one. It will be fun to be able to see the frame lines correctly for once.

This lens has a very nice vignette to it as you can see in the image above. It’s like a piece of jewelry all cleaned up. What a gem! I was curious to see how the color would be an I was pleasantly surprised at the images I got.

Dinghy's — Dinghy’s at the Gloucester Maritime Center

The black and white conversions were outstanding as well meaning that the contrast was top notch. I found very little wrong with the results they were outstanding.

Finding compositions over at the Maritime Center is a breeze as they are everywhere. I just loved poking around the old hulls etc. The combination of this little lens and camera brought me back to the old days of shooting with my Leica M3 with this lens. I can’t wait to shoot some film with that combination later on this summer it should be fun. Below is a video I did on this little project.

Up to the Gunnels – Schooner Sylvina W. Beal

May 29, 2020 by Kirk

Harold Burnham is going to rehab this old schooner the Sylvina W. Beal over the next two years but for the moment she has been tied up next to his shipyard in Essex, MA. This gave me a great opportunity to check out my most versatile lens the 16-80 mm or in 35mm full frame terms 24-120mm. This is a great range and which these images will give you an idea of. The morning was very still and the water was barely moving when I arrived in Essex. The reflections were outstanding and gave me some very nice images of this vessel at high tide.

The reflections, peeling paint, and old hull made for some intriguing compositional elements. In black and white this became even more apparent.

Walking around for different vantage points gave me some even more exciting images using this great all-purpose lens! I shoot mostly at the wide and long end with very little at the 35mm/50mm mark so this latitude was a true god send for this particular project.

The old abandoned hull of the schooner Maine sits sunk in the mud near the Burnham Shipyard in Essex. The long throw of the 16-80 gives some nice perspective on this rotting relic.

Another shot using the 16-80 at 16/24mm also gives some nice perspective. I really enjoyed the outing with this lens as I find myself using it more and more as my go to lens. Below is the video on my experience photographing the Beal.

Working the composition

November 22, 2019 by Kirk

One of the things that I teach in my workshops is to work the composition. What this means is to not just make one image. When you see something that catches your eye, make the shot that initially pulled you in then look for other angles moving the camera position around and trying new shots. This morning I found some great looking window boxes out in front of the Rockport Art Association. I was pulled in by this initial scene below.

fall window box — Fall window box at the Rockport Art Association

It’s not bad, but in post I did nothing to make it better, like cropping in from the left a little more. Instead I worked the scene a little more with the following images.

These images are ok, but as I looked around I noticed that the window box next to it had what I was looking for. I placed the cabbage in the lower right corner leading up to the bright orange mini pumpkins in the left corner. I decided to have the cabbage (or whatever you call it) in sharp focus and the pumpkins a little out which helps your eye start out right in the middle of the cabbage. At this close distance f8 will still render the background out of focus which is what I was aiming for.

I love the way the flower here is in sharp focus and the veins of the leaf pull you up to the pumpkins and then the red berries pull you back around to the plant in the foreground again. So the viewers eye keeps moving around the image. Then as I was about to leave another composition pulled me in from the same window box but to the right of this.

The vine with the red berries pulls you up to the pumpkin then out to the left of the frame and then circles back in again. I love it when things come together.