Farewell to Leica

April 11, 2024April 10, 2024iz4vve Leave a comment

Well… not Leica in general: this is just about one camera.

We travel to India at least once a year (at least after the events of 2020 and 2021) to visit family and to take a bit of a break from life, and this trip was the perfect opportunity to test my new travel kit.

I bought my first ever Leica camera in 2023, my dream camera! I have been into photography for almost 30 years and I had a treasure trove of accumulated gear: cameras, lenses, accessories… I sold a good 80% of it to fund my new M11 with a 35mm f/2 Summicron.

Initially I wasn’t sure I would get used to the rangefinder system, but within the year I ended up selling more lenses and buying a second camera body which I planned to use for travel: an M10. I also bought a few lenses to use for the same purpose: a Voigtlander 35mm f/1.4, a Zeiss ZM 50mm f/2 Planar, and a Zeiss ZM 28mm f/2.8 Biogon. These made up my general purpose travel kit, which I took to India with me.

I know, I know, I could have picked a better, or more general set of focal lengths, perhaps skipped the 35mm in favour of a 75mm or a 90mm… But these are my most used focal lenghts: I love the look of both the 35mm and 50mm, and I am a sucker for the perspective you get using a 28mm, probably my favourite focal length of all.

I was a bit worried that using a rangefinder camera with no autofocus capabilities would make me miss shots, and it did, but way fewer than I expected. I loved using my M10 throughout the whole trip, be it while exploring the streets in Bengaluru or when celebrating with the family at a wedding in Delhi.

I have used film cameras for many years (still do) and I don’t usually try to shoot wide open at all times, especially in the streets. When I walk around town I usually keep my lenses stopped down at f/5.6 or f/8 (and the Indian weather helped with plenty of natural light), which allows me to zone focus most of the time. I have become quite quick with the rangefinder, but zone focusing is quicker still…

In Bengaluru, my camera captured the essence of everyday life – from street vendors selling colourful flowers to the animated traffic scene for which the city is notorious. Each snapshot revealed a glimpse of India’s rich heritage, modern charm, and delightful quirkiness.

As the title promised, here’s where I need to talk about my farewell to my travel kit… here, at the end of our trip, when I left the whole bag on the plane…

Losing my whole kit was the result of many factors: a sleepless night, an early rise, a very short layover in Dubai, a delayed first flight that made said layover even shorter, having to rush to our gate, our son deciding to not sleep during the flight only to fall asleep right as the plane touched the tarmac… I realised I didn’t have the bag while scanning our stuff at the security checkpoint… if I had noticed a minute earlier I could have still tried to go back…

My two only consolations were that I had already downloaded the photos from the card and that I made sure to have a good camera insurance before leaving…

Will I ever travel again with a Leica M camera? You bet! I have already replaced my travel camera and I can’t wait to capture more unforgettable moments!

Our last trip before the world went belly up

June 26, 2021June 20, 2021iz4vve 1 Comment

I have always loved black and white photography. Using only shadows and lines to create depth, contrast to create structure. It’s my favourite way to see the world.

Even photos that end up being in colour: I usually shoot everything in black and white (I shoot RAW, so only the preview is black and white in reality). When I get rid of colour I can focus on composition, it makes me feel focused and able to find new angles.

Lisbon is a city that suits black and white well. It’s a city of contrast, lights and shadows, new and old.

It was also the last destination of our trips, before the world shut down.

Unfortunately we didn’t get to visit it thoroughly, the landscape of rolling hills and narrow lanes was ill suited for my then pregnant wife.

Alas! I am afraid we’ll have to go back and finish the job… 😀

Also, not all photos end up in black and white 😛

The early bird…

June 19, 2021June 15, 2021iz4vve Leave a comment

One of the perks* of being a parent is getting up at oh-my-is-it-early o’clock every morning and go watch the sun rise. There is something that speaks to us as humans when we look at the night leaving space for the light of day. And there is something that speaks to us when we realise how freaking early sunrise is in Ireland in June…

We have been told that it’s not uncommon for babies to wake up very early during summer; insanely early, in fact. Sunrise around here is at about 4.30am these days, and being able to see it means that you had time to get up, get dressed, get the baby dressed, and then go out.

Well, since I am up early in any case, I thought I might as well get something out of it; we might as well go for a walk and explore the area: we have only moved here recently anyway… In the past weeks we have been on many walks and hikes all over the coast, within a short drive. And since we are already out, I have started bringing a camera with me as a matter of course.

Now, I always have a baby strapped to my chest, so a big camera with multiple lenses is out of the question; after all I am just trying to keep the little one calm (and perhaps make him sleep a little more). For these reasons, my default choice is my Fujifilm X100T.

It’s small, it’s light, it’s battered, and it’s scratched. Severely so. I have had it for years, and I have not been kind to it, but despite everything I have thrown at it, it just refused to break down.

I admit 35mm – in 35mm equivalent – is not my favourite focal length (I usually prefer either 28mm or 50mm), but when I am out and I don’t want to think about what gear I want or might need, then 35mm is fine. Also, the fact that I am picking a camera in a half asleep state at 4am helps me in making a decision: the x100T is the camera I keep by the door. That’s a huge component of why I pick it…

We are lucky to live in an area that has a lot to offer in terms of natural beauty, and so close to the sea and multiple parks! The sea is only a couple of kilometres away, so we can just go there and have a long walk on the beach, or on the cliff path to Portrane. Everything is so calm in the morning, and quiet.

There is something oddly satisfying and soothing in watching the sun rise over the horizon, waves crashing on the beach the only sound in your ear.

In many ways I am glad that the little one started waking up so early: I don’t think I would have ever pushed myself to wake up and go out so early. I would have missed all of this.

*I am trying to convince myself.

Early morning in the mist

June 14, 2018June 14, 2018iz4vve 1 Comment

“Go to the lighthouse for sunrise!”, they said; “It’ll be grand! You’ll get great pictures!”, they said. “Great idea…”, I thought…

A grand day indeed…

That was how it began.

The previous day was nothing but a flurry of “Should we?”, “Shouldn’t we?”, “Let’s do this!”, “But sunrise is at 5AM! That’s too early!”, “It’ll be worth it.”, “Are you sure?”, “Yeah, we’ll get great photos!”.

Once we convinced ourselves that it was a great idea, we got our stuff ready: what do you need to photograph dawn? Most people would be fine with a camera and a lens, but me? No sir, let’s do it big. I should get at least four lenses, and possibly a spare camera, you never know… (don’t judge me, that place is jinxed: while there I have been in a storm once and swallowed by the sea a few months later).

Imagine leaving your home in the middle of the night, carrying a horribly heavy backpack, filled with things that you ABSOLUTELY need to have on you (not really though); imagine struggling to get a taxi while in a crowd of half crazed/half drunk teenagers (it was a Sunday before a bank holiday, and there had been a concert of some kind in the city); imagine getting at your target location after spending a good fifteen minutes trying to convince your cabby to drive you through isolated and dark roads; imagine then looking at the clear sky and at your hopes to get a great pic of the sun rising from the sea…

Now, imagine walking towards your target, and – as you’re walking – realizing that all around you a very thick mist is appearing as if out of nowhere [*sound of hopes being crushed*]. I was kinda like being on a set of a pirate movie…. Water all around, all sounds muffled by the mist, the smell of seaweeds and fish, the sea so eerily calm… it was almost like we were about to be hit by some kind of curse (‘The Curse of the Black Pearl’ came to mind).

No such thing happened (phew).

So we spent a couple of hours half complaining, half making fun of the situation. We also spent some time taking pictures as the day grew brighter:

Smokestacks

Ghost town

And the, all of a sudden, out of the mist… a single cyclist (a pretty unexpected event, am I right?).

The cyclist

We weren’t the only hopeless photographers lost in the mist! Yay…

And that’s when the day turned, when the disappointed photographers started to make their way back to land. That’s when the sun started showing over the horizon (I assume, we couldn’t really see it, but the day grew brighter).

The mist started to fade, we were suddenly able to actually see the sea (did I mention how we couldn’t even do that?).

And that’s also when we saw the sun. We had clearly missed sunrise, as the disc was WELL above the horizon.

Mist vanishing

Red

Morning

Sunrise, kinda…

And thus my SECOND attempt to shoot sunrise at Poolbeg lighthouse failed. It’s time to start planning for the next. And, you know, third time’s a charm…

A day at the park: of horses and men

September 10, 2016September 10, 2016iz4vve Leave a comment

Okay, okay… I know: it’s been a while…

This summer has been quite uneventful (at least for me): no real holidays, all the time spent working and so on…

Today I finalyy got some photography done 🙂

Photowalk in Phoenix Park! Ok, I know: been there, done that; but still…

Big bunch of guys, fighters, horses and games 🙂

Polo

Stop!!!

Off the ground

Watching the game

Pregnant kick

Hit

Cartwheel

Capoeira

Referee

Not many keepers, but lots of fun 🙂

Soccer fans

August 1, 2016iz4vve Leave a comment

Celtic vs. Barcelona!

The streets are full of supporters… and beer, lots of it…

Celtic supporters in Temple Bar

A good and fun crowd 🙂

Lots of fun, even considering the final result…

Easter rising centenary

March 28, 2016March 28, 2016iz4vve Leave a comment

This year marks the centenary of the Easter Rising, during which Irish Republican took up arms against the British army.

The celebration included a parade featuring Irish soldiers from many different forces.

We tried to catch a few glimpes of the parade (which wasn’t easy due to the crowd) and here’s part of the result…

At the Garden of Remembrance

Is that the best backpack to wear today?

Those must be a pain to keep clean…

Hey!

It was a very nice (and cold) day…

I lost count of the number of sesaons we had this weekend, but look at the (double) rainbow!!! If you can’t see the second, it’s on the right… ending on the smokestacks…

Irish Army seal of approval

St. Patrick’s day!

March 20, 2016iz4vve Leave a comment

First year in Ireland, first St. Patrick’s day in Dublin!

‘Stay at home’, they said. ‘It’s going to be crazy’, they said. I didn’t listen 🙂 .

We met at 10 to go see the parade, we were very close to the route it would take. We got even closer, we could have almost touched them… And still we couldn’t see anything…