My friends accuse me of seeing in black and white. I admit it I do not see color well and some of my best photographs tend to be of a monochromatic nature. When color is obvious then I'm fine with it. But contrast always draws me in whether it's a strong light play or a strong design element that lends itself to B&W. Interestingly when I shoot images for my job everything is in color and translated to B&W for the paper. Only a few of them land on the front sections in color.

Early in my career everything was in B&W. The film was Kodak Tri-X and by god if it did not pop then it was kind of useless. So I learned early on that if the image did not pop it was going nowhere. So my favorite way to shoot (and still is) is against the light - I love it. So whenever I can I shoot against the light to give me that great contrast and an image that pops. News photography is all about impact. We look for images that make you look and pick up the paper. I don't know why but when I switched back to using the M9 I found myself converting my color images to B&W. Even my first shots with Leica M glass and the Nex-7 I converted, and man do I love the way they look. I find myself converting 75% of the time and bringing them into Silver Efex Pro to tweak them a bit.

This afternoon I went out for lunch and as usual had the M9 hanging off my shoulder. The sun was bright and the shadows straight down (boring) but the image below presented itself as I was walking into the building. The flowering bushes drew me in but in color it did not resonate with me that well so I converted it and it came alive. As far as photos go it's not the best but hey not everything you take is going to win awards. I love my Vers. 1 (11 801) 28mm Elmarit. It is a really beautiful lens for something that is really old. This lens was made in the sixties and is the 1,637th 28mm Elmarit made in Wetzlar. I love the red feet numbers. This lens is a rare bird and sings every time it makes a frame, it's awesome. What's really cool is I have the original box it came in with the S/N hand printed on the bottom of the box.

Thanks Dad!

Leica M9 w/Leica 28mm Elmarit

Exposure ISO 160 1/750s @ 5,6

The image below was made yesterday as the spring showers came through the area. I was stuck inside doing work on several papers and wanted like crazy to be outside shooting so I went over to the window to make something. This is what I came up with. Double click on this to see it larger.

It's not often that I sit down to pen something that moved many. But today I picked up a tweet from Time that really made me want to add my two cents and post the video that I viewed on Time Lightbox. As many of you know photojournalists Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington were killed during a firefight in Misrata Libya three years ago. But how many of you equate a famous photo with Hondros. I did not know Chris personally but I have known many like him. Always going where the action is, fearless to a fault but always there with a purpose, to show the world what we ourselves cannot see. This video with Getty Vice President/News, Pancho Bernasconi narrating, talks about Hondros and this iconic image and the circumstances surrounding it that brought the war in Iraq into our living rooms. This is not for the squeamish so be aware that these images are powerful.

Think about what Hondros and the unit he was embedded with were thinking as the car speeds towards them. I know for me I would have been firing at the car just like our soldiers did. After all these guys were in self preservation mode and a speeding car can only mean one thing "bomb". Hondros was there to record the aftermath, the horror these young children were going through. We will miss him and his images just like those of Tim Hetherington!

Every Easter I bring my camera to our early morning service. This service in Annisquam started in the early 60's when I was quite young and I have attended many of them over the years. Most of the time I bring my Canon G15 but this year I decided to bring the Leica M9 to see if I could get something different from the usual. The G15 gives me the opportunity to shoot wide and tight without two cameras. The quality is really good but let's face it it's not a Leica. The view finder sucks on the G15 and you have to hold the dam thing in front of you to frame a shot properly. I absolutely hate doing that. Take note Canon - wake up and put a proper EVF on one of these cameras. I own a Sony Nex-7 because you can't seem to figure that out. Correction: They have kind of figured it out. The G1X Mark ll they just came out with has an optional EVF. But it's huge and really makes the camera ugly plus it's another $300! But I digress! Back to the Leica experience.

Leica M9 w/Leica 28mm Elmarit

Exposure ISO 160 1/250s f 5.6

In this shot our music director is leading the congregation in song at the beginning of the service. Trying to get something different from an event you have shot so many times over the years is a tough one. As a news photographer this has been something of a practiced craft. As a news assignment you try to get the normal stuff you always do then you look for the unusual things that will get you that one shot people will remember. The Leica M9 really gives you that opportunity. The camera is very quite and not imposing at all. I have the red dot and the M9 logo blacked out and people don't seem to react much to me taking photos. If I was carrying around two big Canon pro cameras with big "L" glass I would be noticed by everyone. When I am on the job that's what I carry.

For this shot I just placed myself off to the side so I could see everything going on. As luck would have it the music director turned as she was singing and I was able to make this shot. Nothing else really moved me photographically besides just a few odd things here and there. I will post a few more photos in a gallery some time today so you can see the other images. I did bring my Leica 90 mm Tele-Elmar along and made some images before the service. I really miss having another camera along with that lens on it to give me some balance (long and short). As a news photographer I have always shot with two boxes. You miss shots when you have to change lenses.

Update: Click HERE to go to the gallery of more images.

I am one of those people that always needs a camera with me most of the time. If I don't have my pro gear with me than I will usually have my trusty G15 or my iPhone. This image was made while watching TV back in January. I had finished drinking a bottle of water and it was sitting on a table in front of me. When I laid down on the couch it was blocking my view of the TV. Looking through the bottle created this interesting pattern of water droplets inside the bottle with the light from the TV shining through it. The G15 was the perfect camera for this application as it was easy to use and the result was really interesting. I purposely used a low f stop to show the layers of the droplets inside the bottle.

Canon Powershot G15

Exposure ISO 1600 1/125s @ f2,2

I really like the way some of the droplets show the scene upside down. Overall I would like to keep experimenting with this somehow and see if I can get more interesting effect.

Recently I was at an awards dinner in Boston at the Copley Plaza. Before dinner I was walking around looking for something interesting with my Canon G15 and noticed these giant photos of models around the lower floor of the hotel.

Canon G15

Exposure ISO 400 1/25s @ 2.2 @ 54.5 mm

I looked all over for a way to fit one of these model mural's with some people and came across these two people having a drink under one of them. It took a couple of shots to get something I liked but was amazed at the quality this little camera gives me. I converted it to B&W as the giant mural was a B&W and the lighting was an interesting slight yellow. I also liked the motion the guy is making to the waiter. I recently ran across this blog post that highlighted a 58 yr old photographer in Brazil who uses the Canon G15 exclusively. He posted some really nice images. HERE is the link to the blog.

Palm Sunday at the Annisquam Village Church is always a fun time. We hand out palm fonds to everyone before the service and the service revolves around Jesus and the story of Palm Sunday and leading to his crucifixion. This year I decided to shoot this event with the Leica M9 and the Leica 28mm Elmarit. The lead shot on my home page is my favorite image from the group.

Leica M9 w/ Leica 28 Elmarit

Exposure ISO 1000 1/25s @ f2,8

To me this really tells a story. The design of the palm fonds really makes it for me. I wanted to do these in B&W which I am doing a lot of recently. In color it's just ok as the palms are a nice green yellow color. I added a slight vignette to this image to focus on the palms. The darkness on the left was already in the image so I did not have to do much.

palm6

Exposure ISO 1000 1/15s @ f2,8

This is another favorite of mine. I focused on the girl in the center as she was getting ready to walk down the isle as part of the service. The movement around her was great as it showed that in the midst of all the commotion this little girl was concentrating on what page the hymnal was supposed to be on. I enjoy doing these events on my own where I don't have to just record what is going on but can look for more interesting images. Click HERE to see the rest of the images.

In 2012 I had the pleasure of helping fine art model builder Eric Ronnberg deliver his beautiful model "America" to the International Yachting Museum in Newport Rhode Island. This model is historically accurate to the yacht America as she would have appeared as she raced in the 100 Guinea's Cup around the Isle of Wight. Ronnberg did extensive research on how the yacht looked from historical documents from around the world. I followed him as he built this model for eight months shooting photos and video along the way. The photo below is from our trip to Newport as we delivered the model. Click here to see the whole gallery

Model builder Eric Ronnberg adjusts the rigging on the model yacht "America"

Today I was able to get outside to do a little shooting with the Leica M9. I headed over to my favorite place in the world Annisquam Village in Gloucester. I grew up here and have been making pictures in the village since I was a young boy. It has changed over the years but the famous Cape Ann light never ceases to amaze me. The first shot is of a lobster boat tied up at a float near the walking bridge that goes over Lobster Cove. Looking back into the light at low tide gave me a nice opportunity for a great image with the light shining off the mud and water. I love the footprints in the mud. I did not see these when I made the photo.

Leica M9 w/28mm Elmarit

The second image is one I have made before but I wanted to try it again with the M9 and the 28 Elmarit. I got down to a lower angle and made this perspective shot that is kind of interesting. Both shots were processed in Silver Efex Pro after some minor tweaking in Lightroom.

Leica M9 w/28mm Elmarit