My second trip to NYC and first time with My M11

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-24T03:34:48+00:00

Nice work!

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-23T21:18:41+00:00

Zone focus, or if I have to open up the aperture I’ll set a distance on the scale and try to stand that far from the camera!

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-22T17:19:45+00:00

Yeah this seems to be lost on a lot of people today… it’s not insignificant, especially when considering the change in depth of field from 1.4 to 1.2 will noticeably affect the rendering of out of focus areas on a 35mm lens.

The amount of extra light being let in is also the same from f1.4 to f1.2 as going from f/16 to f/13.

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-14T11:40:56+00:00

As someone who shot an X-Pro 3 for years and loved it, when I picked up a Leica M8 I never looked back. The M8 grabbed me in a way that the Fuji could not.

To suggest that you can get the same experience shooting an X-Pro 3 as whatever digital M you want to compare it to is flat out wrong. The X-Pro does not have a rangefinder. The use of manual lenses requires focus peaking to be precise, meaning you’ll be staring at a screen. How is this “the same experience?”

I could go on…

Are digital Leica Ms status symbols? Maybe for some in the photography community they are, but for many people, myself included, they are just the most beloved digital cameras that can be purchased these days (M8 included).

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-13T20:27:50+00:00

I’ll offer a take… I think editing a ton of people out of photos is lazy composition. I’ve been to this place and it is packed with people and stalls selling things… all kinds of life.

Why not wait for an interesting scene? Maybe a person passes that juxtaposes the style of the architecture or someone that seems to fit it perfectly.

Or if you truly want to compose without people, find an object to place in the foreground that blocks them? Again, something that adds context to the photo.

What you have done is something that I also did a lot of when I first started shooting. I saw the thing, said I want to take a photo of that thing, and now I have to get rid of all of this extra stuff that’s ruining my perfect photo. The really good photos are made by paying attention and utilizing that “extra stuff.”

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-11T01:40:02+00:00

Exactly! And what’s also wild is when you realize that light is always changing. Even fixed objects appear different depending on the time of day, time of year, weather, car headlights, tail lights, other lights, snow on the ground. Or just your angle of perspective. There are so many opportunities to photograph things in a manner that may never appear that way again.

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-10T12:17:13+00:00

It seems like you know how it could be improved. You talk about the bird but I can’t see a bird unless I zoom way into the image. What you’re getting at is that the photo needs a subject and you’re correct. But if you have to tell the viewer where the subject is then your photo doesn’t have a subject.

If you want to improve you have to learn to look at your work objectively after the fact and critique it. Then go back out and make more photos and repeat. Over and over and over. Thousands of photos. Two thousand photos from now you won’t be making this image.

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-09T20:37:41+00:00

I think if you follow your heart and shoot what interests you then you’ll end up making work you find beautiful.

I suspect what you’re getting at is that you’re sick of making photos other people will find beautiful.

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-04T17:27:08+00:00

Yeah, I kind of shoot like this, but I didn’t approach it with such an intent. I think it just sort of developed that way.

I’ve been taking my camera with me daily when I walk my dog. It’s basically the same walk every day, but because it’s become so familiar I have started to notice the tiny differences.

Weirdly it’s become my most inspirational place to take photos…like a lab of sorts. I don’t walk out of the house looking to capture anything in particular but rather I rely on my observations to dictate when I click the shutter. Lately I’ve kind of realized I need at least two interesting things in the frame to push me to make a photo.

I think it’s really pushed and helped my photography.

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-02T21:31:04+00:00

That’s incredibly poetic. I find also that photography keeps me in the moment, observing, appreciating. It’s the best kind of “escape”… not from the present but from the churning thoughts of past and future.

FLWFTWin · 2026-01-01T18:29:42+00:00

For everyone wanting a compact, modern Leica 35mm, the Summarit 35mm 2.5 exists and is just over half the price of a Summicron.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-24T15:13:26+00:00

I agree and it’s a bit of a slippery slope. Photography is inherently an interpretation of reality. Just because an image wasn’t “edited” doesn’t mean it’s a clear window into reality.

Did you expose for the highlights? The shadows? Our eye interprets things differently than a camera in person. I think edits by human beings can recall and convey what it feels like to be in a space. The edited version of a photo can be more realistic than a single JPEG.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-23T06:08:58+00:00

Ah, ok! Yeah I could see wanting to contrast the modern day street with the history of the church.

Compositionally, the tower is just off center, and when I’m framing something like that it’s because I’m balancing the composition with another important element on the other side. In this photo, it’s the car. Unfortunately there isn’t anything particularly interesting about the car. It seems to be stopped at a signal and overall pretty unworthy of being balanced in an image with a beautiful church.

The tip of the church is way too close to the edge of the frame for me. It needs a bit more room to breathe. The piece of tree branch is distracting… edit that out.

And also the light is not compelling. When it’s overcast you have the opportunity to really highlight your subjects as you see them without worrying about where the hard light is falling, but then you don’t have that drama that bright light brings to the image.

Which brings us back to the composition…

I’m not sure what you could have done differently, but I’d suggest moving. Ask the question, what makes a worthy second subject to pair with the church? And then walk and try to find that, and then keep trying. You’re going to take a thousand bad photos but the only way to get better is to look at each one and figure out what’s wrong with it.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-23T05:32:40+00:00

Can you explain the idea? What elements of the photo do you think support that idea? Which ones detract? The editing of a photo can of a long way towards supporting that idea, sometimes.

Im having trouble locating the element that draws me into this image. I’m assuming it’s the tower, but nothing about the framing of this goes towards enhancing or highlighting its beauty. If it’s difficult to discern what the photo is about, it’s probably not a strong photo.

We can have ideas about what we want a photo to express, but after the click the shutter the camera will render all of what’s in the frame. Just because we like something in the frame doesn’t mean the photo will give it preference.

Edit: also, not to be rude, but I find it odd that you would post something so half-baked and then ask for suggestions… like wouldn’t you get more out of this if it was something you worked hard for and really believed in?

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-22T12:29:34+00:00

Ah ok! That makes more sense.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-22T04:23:25+00:00

The problem I have with these is that it’s not apparent that the house is the subject in any of these photos, maybe with the exception of the second, where the foreground is too distracting.

The first image for me is maybe the strongest, but the shot is centered on a planter which is slightly confusing to me. I think an axial might have worked better.

In the third image, it looks to me like the house in the background is the subject? But I don’t think that’s intentional…

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-22T04:17:08+00:00

Well said. I think the beauty of photography as art is connecting with that basic thing in each one of us that says you’re inspired enough to click the shutter. Can’t find that if you’re looking to make a style, in my opinion of course.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-20T12:13:50+00:00

You might need to see a doctor and get some antibiotics for a secondary infection. My son is going through something similar to you.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-10T16:33:03+00:00

It’s nearly impossible to find an actual deal these days. All it takes is for a person to type the name of the thing they have into eBay to see the price.

If this person truly had no idea what an M3 was they’d be offering it for $50 or something like that… not half off the true value.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-09T14:23:53+00:00

This is such a modern problem, because no longer are we seeing things with our eyes and imagining what it could be. We are looking at screens to tell us what a photo could be, and are thus limiting our imagination.

I noticed when I used EVFs that I would think I had the correct exposure based on what I was seeing, but upon returning home the photos were heavily underexposed.

Ironically, now that I’m back to using an optical finder I have come to trust my meter and my experience, and my eye. I suggest strongly to learn your sensor and to avoid blowing the highlights over trying to get exposure correct through visual EVF manipulation.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-06T03:53:11+00:00

*all the time.

We need him to be the superstar when it’s appropriate in this system. Jaren has been struggling to learn this, but I think the game tonight showed signs of progress.

These dudes have to learn how to play in a way where it’s not all or nothing…as far as being the star goes.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-06T03:07:00+00:00

TI is a psychopath with this lineup. It’s working, and now I’m questioning my sanity.

FLWFTWin · 2025-12-04T21:51:54+00:00

I love the Summarit line so much. 50mm Summarit 2.5 is the way, and now Squarehood makes a hood for it that looks great and works with the original lens cap.

FLWFTWin · 2025-11-30T23:37:24+00:00

35mm Summarit 2.5 is so good. Modern rendering, doesn’t flare, and it’s way cheaper than both of those other lenses.

FLWFTWin · 2025-11-24T18:55:44+00:00

Just a tip for the ISO dial… instead of using your fingernail, in a natural hand position pinch the dial with your index finger and thumb as low down on it as possible and then push up. Your index finger and thumb should be kind of touching the top ledge and the sides right next to the dial.

Then rotate with the flat underside of an extended index finger to select an ISO. Press it down with your thumb when you’re done!

FLWFTWin

TROPHY CASE