A Leica Diary

Lloyd Arntzen, 2011

2011-12-15T13:05:00.000-08:00

M3/50 with XP2

Black and White Weekend

Nanaimo BC, 2011

2011-10-21T09:50:00.000-07:00

M3/50 with Ilford XP2

Black and White Weekend

Kathy, 2009

2011-09-09T16:44:00.000-07:00

M3/50mm with Ilford XP2

Black and White Weekend

Mare and Foal, 2011

2011-07-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

M3/50mm/XP2

Black and White Weekend

Portia's Quilt, 2011

2011-07-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

The quilt was made by her grandmother from her mother's baby clothes. The photograph is part of a series of pictures of people and their favourite things. See them all HERE

M3/50mm/Ilford XP2

Black and White Weekend

Aging Population, 2011

2011-05-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

Black and White Weekend

Peggy Seeger

2011-04-16T19:20:00.001-07:00

Peggy Seeger between sets at The Roxy, Gabriola BC. The vintage Martin 0-18 guitar was a gift from her brother Mike who passed away in 2009

M3/50mm Summicron/Ilford XP2
1/60sec at f2

Black and White Weekend

Florida, 1990

2011-03-04T19:48:00.000-08:00

M6 with 50mm Summicron, Tri-X rated @ 200 and developed in HC110B. Negative copied with a Canon 40D and 50mm macro lens

Black and White Weekend

Taylor's Alpacas, 2010

2010-12-24T10:50:00.000-08:00

M3/50 with Ilford XP2

Black and White Weekend

Veterans' Cemetary, Portland OR, 2010

2010-11-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

M3/50, Kodak BW400CN

Black and White Weekend

Bike Race, Moline IL, 1989

2010-10-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Leica M6, 28mm Rokkor, Tri-X @ 200, scanned from a print

I'm working on a new series called 36 Spokes, the common denominators of which are film and bicycles. The photos are from 1988 to the present. View HERE

Black and White Weekend

Penticton BC, 2010

2010-10-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

I was on the road and ran out of my usual Ilford XP2 so I got some drugstore Fuji Superia 200 colour film and converted to monochrome in post.

Black and White Weekend

Look, 2010

2010-07-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

M3, 50mm Summicron, Kodak BW400CN film

Black and White Weekend

Float Plane, 2009

2010-07-16T06:55:00.000-07:00

If you live in British Columbia's Gulf Islands and you want to get somewhere fast, a float plane is the ticket. The view from the shotgun seat is usually worth the price of admission.

M3/50

Black And White Weekend

Analogue or Digital?

2010-07-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

M3, 50mm Summicron, Kodak BW400CN film

Black and White Weekend

Portland OR, 2010

2010-07-03T14:09:00.000-07:00

M3/50

Black and White Weekend

Paris, 1988

2010-06-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

M6/50 w/ Tmax 3200 (exposed @ 1600), image scanned from a print. Photo made on the street around 11pm

Monochrome Weekend

Helena MT, 1989

2010-06-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

M6, 50mm Summicron, Tri-X

Monochrome Weekend

Nanaimo BC, 2009

2010-05-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

M3/50 with Ilford XP2

Monochrome Weekend

Madrid, 1990

2010-05-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

I framed this with a 28mm Minolta Rokkor using a separate viewfinder mounted in the hot shoe.

M6, 28mm Rokkor, Tri-X

Monochrome Weekend

More Shopping, 2010

2010-05-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

Men tend to be disinterested in shopping, unless it's for cars or boats. And the older we get, the less interested we are. This fellow didn't even see the sign.

M3/50 with Kodak BW400CN film

Sophie, 2010

2010-05-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

M3/50 with Kodak BW400CN film

Monochrome Weekend

Skype, 2010

2010-05-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

The Leica was beautifully unobtrusive during this meeting of scientists on Quadra Island, BC. I was not very impressed with Skype though.

M3/50 with Ilford XP2super

Antony and Leslie Dancing, 2010

2010-04-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

This is my new favourite photo. Antony Holland and his wife Leslie were dancing near the end of his 90th birthday party. I was standing against a wall, shooting wide open at 1/15s and hoping for the best. Thanks to the Leica, I got lucky.

M3/50 with Ilford XP2

Cabin Fever, 2008

2010-04-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

M3/50

Cordoba, Spain, 1990

2010-04-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

Photo made on the street about 10pm. M6/50 with Tmax3200 rated @ 1600, scanned from a print

Acoustic, 1989

2010-04-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that it's not critically sharp, this image has been very well received on Flickr so posting it here as well. I suppose what it might lack in technical perfection is compensated for by the content.

M6/50 with Tri-X

Joelle's Author Photo, 2008

2010-04-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

My wife Joelle writes young adult fiction and her first novel, Restoring Harmony, will be published by Penguin next month. When we were going through my files for an image to use for her dust jacket author photo, she chose this candid of her reading on the couch with Sophie. Visit her website HERE to find out more about the book and to watch the trailer featuring photographs by yours truly and some truly great music by Emma Beaton.

M3/50

Coffee And Fiddle Tunes, 2009

2010-03-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

M3/50

Enchanted Forest, 2009

2010-03-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

M3/50

Suzy Newton, Nashville TN, 1985

2010-03-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

I had just gotten my first Leica, a single-stroke M3 with the old chrome rigid 50mm Summicron. I sure wish I still had that lens as it had a quality that the newer black tab-focus lenses just don't possess.

Suzy doesn't much like to have her picture taken but she's a very gracious Old South lady so she was patient with me while I played with my new machine. I lucked out on the mirrored lights for a background but I can't remember the name of the restaurant. Oddly enough, I do remember the exposure: 1/60 @ f2.0 on Tri-X rated at 200 and developed in HC110B.

Manhattan Beach CA, 1989

2010-03-16T09:16:00.000-07:00

This is scanned from a print so I had to crank the contrast way up in post to get it to look OK. I have the original negative but haven't gotten around to bringing it into the digital realm yet.

M6/50, Tri-X

Anchorage AK, 1990

2009-12-27T09:25:00.000-08:00

M6/50, Tri-X

Joelle's Hoodie, 2009

2009-12-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

I love winter light...

M3/50

Monochrome Weekend

Uberlingen, West Germany, 1988

2009-12-20T15:00:00.000-08:00

M3/50 with Tri-X

Monochrome Weekly

Play Time, 2009

2009-12-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

M3/50 with Kodak BW400CN film

Monochrome Weekly

Midnight at DFW, 2009

2009-11-26T07:32:00.000-08:00

This is one of the busiest airports in America and I've never seen it so deserted. All flights were delayed due to thunderstorms. The lightning was so intense that the crews couldn't go out onto the tarmac to load and unload the luggage.

M3/50

Remembrance Day, 2009

2009-11-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

I don't know many people that have their own Wikipedia entry but Antony does. I had just taken a snapshot when the hand entered the frame from the right, he looked down and I got something better than I'd hoped for.

M3/50 with Ilford XP2super

Tofino Air, 2009

2009-11-21T09:32:00.000-08:00

I'm reading a book called The Art Of The American Snapshot by Sarah Greenough and Diane Waggoner and I can recommend it highly. The photos (from the collection of Robert E. Jackson) are exceptional and the essays illuminating. People have been making snapshots for well over 100 years and most of us tend to click away during the happy moments of our lives. As the decades roll by, the pictures become the memory and we are all grateful to have them. So in that spirit, today's post is a recent snap, artless but cherished nonetheless. M3/50

David Gogo, 2009

2009-11-18T19:44:00.000-08:00

This is the kind of situation where the Leica really shines. David Gogo was playing solo in an intimate, fifty seat venue. Flash would've been out of the question and the shutter of an SLR would've sounded like a cannon.

M3/50 with Ilford XP2super

Remembrance Day, 2008

2009-11-11T07:47:00.000-08:00

M3/50, Ilford XP2super

Summer Arts Day Camp, 1990

2009-11-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

M6, 50mm Summicron, Tri-X

Monochrome Weekly

Michael Defosche, circa 1986

2009-11-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Michael is one of the best musicians I've ever known and he just keeps getting better. Here's a YouTube clip from back in the day.

M3/50 with Tri-X

Monastery, West Germany, 1988

2009-11-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

M6, 50mm Summicron, Tri-X

Dancer Warming Up, 1990

2009-11-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

M6, 50mm Summicron, Tri-X, scanned from a print

Monochrome Weekly

Leipers Fork TN, 2009

2009-11-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

M3/50 with Kodak BW400CN film

Halloween, 2008

2009-10-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Government Street, Victoria, BC

M3/50

Berry Point, 2009

2009-10-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

M3/50

Skywatch Friday

Port Angeles WA, 2009

2009-10-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

Available darkness in a motel room, M3/50 with beanbag for support, Ilford XP2super

Venice Beach CA, 1987

2009-10-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

Venice Beach has got to be one of the very best people-watching places on the planet.

M3/50 with Tri-X

Port Angeles Ferry, 2009

2009-10-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Traveling to the states is unsettling for me these days. But the ferry ride from Victoria to Port Angeles is nice, at least in midsummer when this snap was made. M3/50 with Ilford XP2super

Blue Ridge Parkway, 1987

2009-10-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

I used to own a 28mm Rokkor that Minolta made for its CLE, which was an aperture-priority version of Leica's CL. It required a separate viewfinder on the M3, mounted in the hot shoe, but that wasn't a big deal. Wish I still had that sweet little lens for those occasions when the 50's perspective is too tight.

M3, 28mm Rokkor, Tri-X

Monochrome Weekly

Bob's Pitchfork, 2009

2009-10-23T16:25:00.000-07:00

M3/50

Lap Steel, 2009

2009-10-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

I photographed this old lap steel in digital as well but there was something odd when comparing that file to this film version. See the little halo of light around the instrument's headstock (top left corner)? That wasn't there in the image taken with my Canon 40D. I don't know if that's a function of the Leica glass, digital vs. film or what but I definitely prefer this photo. M3/50, 1/125s @ f5.6, window light

Monochrome Weekly

Saturday Market, 2009

2009-10-01T19:12:00.000-07:00

Exposure and focus preset, point and click. M3/50

Bob Deck, 1986

2009-09-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

This negative went missing some years back so I had to scan a print to bring the image into the digital realm. M3/50 with TriX

Monochrome Weekly

Marbach Stables, West Germany, 1988

2009-09-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

M6/50, Tri-X. panned, probably 1/8 sec or so

Joelle, 2008

2009-09-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

M3/50

Susan's Guitar, 2009

2009-09-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

From my Musician's Hands series. Some nice grain in the out of focus areas. Open shade on my porch with the M3/50 combo.

Buddha, 2008

2009-09-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

Today, Leica has introduced the M9. Of course I'm curious but I can't think about it too much as the new digital M is way beyond my means at this point. I've used an M3 for over 20 years now and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. I have just one lens, a 50mm f2 Summicron, though I may post some older photos from the days when I owned other M-mount glass. I'm using C-41 films at present but plan to return to my old friend Tri-X in the near future.