Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/10/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Arne, Nice site, I was inspired to download the software to give it a try. As for the pictures, first, they look just fine on my monitor. Some comments on the pictures: 1) Stelvio collection I like the first picture, having spent many hours myself in traffic jams on the German and Dutch motorways. But you may have done a bit more editing--the second picture is virtually identical to the first one, so only one of them is needed. This is a general impression--there are many good pictures, but there are also some that do not add much to the series, besides making it longer. It is difficult to be one's own editor. I recently faced this problem when going through my Oktoberfest pictures. I initially edited the four rolls down to about 20 images, which I scanned and then choose 9 to post on my web site based on how they looked on the screen. What I would also like to have seen are some photos of brave souls bicycling up to the pass. I visited the Gotthard and Furka passes here in Switzerland this summer, and found the sight of these guys on the way up absolutely amazing. 2) Concert This is for me the stronger of the two sets, and I like it in B&W. The chromogenic film has coped really well with the high contrast nature of the scene. I would have liked to see more photos of the other members of the group, but again, I think this is a very strong portfolio. Makes me want to check out this group! Keep up the good work. Nathan Arne Helme wrote: > Dear fellow LUGers, > > I would like to draw your attention to two series of photos that I > have made available via my newly created web site. Comments and > suggestions for improvements are welcome. We are all here to learn, > right? > > The first series is from last weekend's trip to Passo Dello Stelvio at > 3000m above sea level in northern Italy. Two of my colleagues wanted > to bicycle up the pass --- a daunting task if you ask me: 45 sharp > turns and a climb from ~1200m to 2750m over a distance of 27km. > Absolutely stunning. > > The second series is from a live concert I attended about a month ago. > The band in question is Foetus, the band of industrial music icon > J.G. Thirwell. Clue to the music flavour: I am sure Kyle would have > loved to be there...:-). > > For the trip to Passo Dello Stelvio I decided to bring my R equipment > (R8 + Motor Drive + 2.8/19mm (latest) + 1.4/50mm (latest) + 2x APO > Extender). I also brought a tripod but it actually never got used. > All shots are made hand held, thus. One of my colleagues commented > that even my lightest R lens weighed more than his entire camera > equipment. Personally I did not suffer due to the weight of the R8. > It is for me the ultimate manual focus SLR, and that is also the > reason why I chose it. At 3000-3500 meters altitude, lack of oxygene > was what made us suffer. > > I try to follow the KISS principle: Keep it simple, stupid! > > All photos have been scanned with a Nikon LS-4000 using Ed Hamrick's > excellent Vuescan program. No post-processing is applied except for > the use of color correction and contrast controls in Vuescan. What > you see is the output of Vuescan, thus. KISS. In addition, all > photos are as close to 'full frame' as I could get them. > > Sure, with Photoshop, it would probably have been possible to > manipulate these photos beyond recognition. However, I am not into > that. To me, digital complements my darkroom work, and I strive to > obtain the same look in the digital prints for online publishing as I > do with the analog prints. > > The online presentations have been made with EZ Web Show. Web > publishing according to the KISS principle. Thanks to Sander van > Hulsenbeek for recommending this program. > > Some of you might find the contrast in the photos way to high. > However, at least on my computer screen, these photos accurately > represent *my* impression of the scenes. That is to say, what I > strived to do was to express the extreme landscapes and intense > sunlight found in and around Passo dello Stelvio. On my laptop, > though, the photos are not rendered that well. I recommend that you > look at them on a standard CRT. For similar reasons I decided to use > the Ilford XP2 Super film, the built-in orange filter on the 19mm, and > a polarizer on the 50mm. Some of the photos could probably have been > improved upon with fill-flash. I decided to not use the flash because > it would take away some of the harsh look and feel that I wanted to > record on film. KISS. > > I rated the XP2 Super at 320, the Ektachromes as 125, and Kodachromes > at 80. For XP2 Super, the light meter was set to multiple field > metering, and for the chromes it was set to center weighted integral > metering. I usually set the program mode to shutter speed priority (T) > and 1/500s to obtain high shutter speeds and large(r) apertures. > KISS. > > The concert photos were made with an M6 TTL (0.72) + 1.4/35mm ASPH. > All photos except no. 1 (with SF20 flash) were shot wide open at > shutter speeds of 1/60s-1/125s. Film: XP2 Super rated at 400. I > measured and exposed for the highlights created by the spot lamps. > > Here are the links: > > http://helme.stelvio.nl/stelvio01/ > > http://helme.stelvio.nl/foetus01/ > > There is one error in one of the pages that I have not had time to > correct yet. Picture no. 19 in the Stelvio collection is made with > the 1.4/50mm and not with the 2.8/19mm as the caption says. I'll > scans of the chromes the next couple of days. > > Lastly, I am an amateur photographer, and these are the first pictures > I publish online (or anywhere, to be honest). My wife says that I can > make a perfect picture of absolutely nothing. She is referring to the > thousands of "test" photos that I have made of subjects in and around > our house and in our neighbourhood. Personally I feel that the photos > you now can view on my web site are among the first one I have made > that goes beyond 'happy snapping' and making test photos. > > Your comments are solicited. > > Regards, > > -- Arne > Arne Helme > Email: Arne.Helme at stelvio.nl (^" at "^@) > Work: +31-33-4697340, Fax: +31-33-4697341, GSM: +31-620135827 > M&I/Stelvio bv, Zonnehof 41, 3811 ND Amersfoort, the Netherlands > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/ General photo site: http://belgiangator.tripod.com/ Belgium photo site: http://members.xoom.com/wajsman/ - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html