Downtown Chicago

Re-post May 2011

It was a nice clear night and I was looking for a good shot of downtown Chicago. We walked below the Michigan Ave. bridge crossing the Chicago River. This is a 5 exposure HDR. Initially shot in color, I prefer it in black and white. I hope to return to Chicago soon, it’s my favorite city to travel to.

Des Moines @ Night

Re-post June 2011

I drove into Des Moines tonight for a meeting and thought I would capture some pictures.  Des Moines is one of my favorite cities.  Since graduating in 2005 from Des Moines University there has been a significant amount of renovation to the downtown area.  I love the architecture and it’s always a great place to take pictures.

Iowa’s State Capitol sits on the east side of downtown (immediately behind me in this picture).  There is a lot of sidewalks and landscape to its west.  It also sits up high in comparison to the remaining downtown which allows for some great cityscapes.  Also, I love how Locust street ends in front of the capitol thus allowing for a unique perspective.

This shot was taken at dusk using my Leica M9 and 90mm summarit-m.  As Leica owners know, summarit is considered their “affordable” lens (most would disagree).  Anyway, I’ve been very happy with its sharpness and have taken many great pictures with it.

 

On the go

Recently I purchased Leica’s new 21mm super elmar.  All I can say is WOW!  The sharpness and minimal distortion is phenomenal.  Last, I love using “zone focusing“.  I just set my aperture and shooting distance and I’m ready to go.  If you set your aperture to f/8 (has to be a sunny day) and shooting distance to 5 feet, anything beyond 3 feet will be in focus.

This shot was taken from the hip.  This guy was definitely on the go.

ISO 160 1/250 f/8 21mm super elmar

Verified by ExactMetrics