Author: merisser229

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Do You Really Need a Wide Angle Lens for Street Photography? | Fstoppers by Lucy Lumen

Shooting Street Photography has never been my Forte but I always enjoy looking at, and am fascinated with, the pictures of those who do it so well. My plan is to study it and start practicing with it more and hope to come away with some good shots myself very soon.

https://fstoppers.com/gear/really-need-wide-angle-lens-street-photography-614752

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My “Little” Leica in the Streets

My Leica D-Lux 7

I call this camera my “little” Leica because it is smaller than than other Leica models in size and price, but by no means in quality. I won’t go into a technical review of it here (there are many online), but more wanted to talk about why I bought and use it when I have other quality camera options in my possession available .

First, I wanted a small pocket size camera that is user friendly that I can easily carry around anytime I am out and about. I always have arguably the one of the best phone cameras currently available with me, a Samsung Galaxy s22 Ultra, that takes stunning pictures and use it constantly, especially for the convenience it provides being connected to the internet 24/7, and with all the many Social Media platforms and apps for uploading pictures, videos and images along with various editing software all in one device. I am just like everyone else on that.

And that brings me to one big reason I wanted this Leica because it is never connected to the world around me. When I am out and about, I can walk the streets with just a camera and shoot pictures with one of the best small cameras available. I never touch my phone. My phone is always connected to the world in one way or another, and I use that for different reasons. Unfortunately, there are times over the years I have seen pictures I took ending up in places I never intended them too. How they got there is a mystery, and I am sure with detective work I could find out but but that is not how I like to spend my time. It has not been a serious issue (yet) and I understand I can check multiple settings, turn some off, etc. but that is a hassle. My phone is connected to “Big Tech” in many ways, with the ever evolving and changing terms, conditions, software updates, AI, API, enchantments, improvements, etc., and the unintended consequences that go with that. When I am walking the streets with my “little” Leica, I focus on simply shooting photographs. My phone stays in it’s holder, under my shirt, on my belt. There is little chance of dropping it on the pavement, in a puddle, having someone snatch and grabbing it, and all the pains that go with taking pictures in the street on a mobile device. If any of that happens with my camera instead, it simply won’t impact my life in the same way. I love the easiness and care free nature of shooting pictures on my Leica as well as it’s user friendly design.

Finally, when I want to upload the pictures from my Leica later at a coffee shop, Leica’s phone app turns on the camera WiFi, and there are the Leica pictures on my phone and I simply do what I want with them, same as with my phone camera pictures. I will also say the image quality of the Leica pictures are without equal and superb . I am still just learning all the more complex settings the camera offers and setting them on the fly and hope to get more out of this camera on my future photography walks .

Those are my personal reasons for wanting this camera and are obviously not for everyone. For me, it is great to have it as a camera that fits comfortably between my full frame Nikon and my Samsung Galaxy s22 Ultra camera phone.

Here is link to a video for the Leica D-Lux 7

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Should Always Auto Bracket a Landscape for Exposure Blending – CreativeRAW

https://creativeraw.com/why-auto-bracket-landscape-exposure-blending/

I have been bracketing in RAW when I shoot for a.while now.. I takes up a lot of memory once downloaded so I have to manage my files on import more carefully and delete files more often to keep from using up my overall storage capacity too quickly. That was happening and I was lazily buying more storage as a solution, rather than carefully managing what I had and developing a streamlined workflow for deleting files I would never use sooner rather than later. It takes overcoming a “hoarder” mentality in a certain way.

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Trinity River after the Flood

All the images above were taken the day after Dallas received a historical level of rainfall the day before. The rain amount was from 10″ to 15″ in 24 hours depending on where it fell. This record of rain fell days after a heat wave record of 67 consecutive days without rain and heat above 100 degrees ended. This deluge caused the Trinity River bed to go from cracked parched earth to flood stage above 30 feet in less than 24 hours. With that rain, the dry cracked earth caused by the drought and heat was under water.

The picture below was taken a few days before the rain.

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Urban Exploration in Black and White

 Photo walks for me sometimes involve a minor level of urban exploration of manmade structures, both abandoned and active, that have a story, detailed components, and unique interesting designs in a manmade environment.

Often, my favorite time for these explorations is a Saturday afternoon when the natural light of the day is brightest, into the twilight hours, when there is a mix of artificial lights mixed with the changing natural light. It is also a time of recreation from family play in the daytime, to a more adult dinner and nightlife time.

Early Sunday mornings are another time I enjoy urban exploring but for entirely different reasons. It is a time when the urban landscape is relatively empty and quiet. I have gone before sunrise, to catch the changing morning light illuminating all the manmade structures and as people begin to emerge into the scene.

Unlike street photography, my images at these times focus only on the inanimate manmade objects I see of interest and not the human element active among them. I leave that part of it to others.