On the road again - Robb's Leica Adventures

[lifeandmylens]

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15 hours ago, robb said:

I pre-ordered my really right stuff L-bracket for the hasselblad x2d today.  $255

So for those of you who are like me and shooting that camera along with the SL2, grab those plates now.  
I’d order an Sl3 plate but… you know, gotta see what develops.
Robb

Ordered the RRS plate too thanks.  I have a 45p lens along with the new 55v (rental). The 55v is quicker and quieter to focus than the 45p - which I believe is quicker and quieter to focus than the 45 3.5. 

Neither of these are as fast as the SL2/S to focus, which has really improved over time.  Nor are they as well built as the SL lenses. But the new V lenses are good build quality and lighter than the SL summicrons.  They also have have DOF scales and a great manual focus implementation.

The 35-75 is pretty much identical build quality to the 24-90. I think you’ll come to find the X2D image quality spectacular.  I have the 21, 30 and 90 (f/3.2) arriving next week. 

[robb]

Back from West Texas visiting several construction sites.  Winds were at 65mph gusts so I took that opportunity to do some interior portraits of the workers.  Great grit and determination on the faces of those that build our world.  Could use anything but the apo 75 is my favorite lens ever...

Construction Safety Officer in Snyder, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto B10 and Elinchrom octa

Robb

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[robb]

Construction Project Engineer in Kress, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto B10 and Elinchrom octa

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[robb]

Civil Construction Manager in Kress, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto B10 and Elinchrom octa

Robb

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[robb]

Construction Electrical Superintendent in Kress, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto B10 and Elinchrom octa

Robb

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[robb]

Construction Piling Installer in Snyder, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto B10 and Elinchrom octa

Robb

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[oldwino]

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Those are really great portraits. 

[kobra]

@robb- great work, as always. Thanks for sharing!

Brad

[Jim B]

On 2/19/2023 at 8:35 PM, robb said:

Construction Piling Installer in Snyder, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto B10 and Elinchrom octa

Robb

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Nice Photos Rob! I just ordered some new canvases from Gravity…. I wanted to ask you for corporate headshots, it seems the aesthetic has change and not a lot of people light up the background with a spotted, gridded light. They seem to evenly light it, or put people up close and don’t light it at all. What do you think about it? Some times space doesn’t permit…. And also a lot of guys shoot them horizontally,  but that can be tricky if you haven’t left enough room to crop vertical later if the want…. What is your favorite?

[robb]

1 hour ago, Jim B said:

Nice Photos Rob! I just ordered some new canvases from Gravity…. I wanted to ask you for corporate headshots, it seems the aesthetic has change and not a lot of people light up the background with a spotted, gridded light. They seem to evenly light it, or put people up close and don’t light it at all. What do you think about it? Some times space doesn’t permit…. And also a lot of guys shoot them horizontally,  but that can be tricky if you haven’t left enough room to crop vertical later if the want…. What is your favorite?

Jim, I'm definitely not the expert on the headshot side.  Most of my work in 35 years has been built projects and occasionally people on location with natural blown out backgrounds but not as often for headshots.  I've never been a fan of spotted highlights on backgrounds as they seem to look kind of 80's mall glamour shots to me... but that's just my opinion.

There are many top notch photographers shooting magazine covers with the spotted highlights on the background so pick your style and go for it.  

I do think corporate or editorial shooters tend to stick to solid background "savage" papers while portrait and family shooters mix in marbled muslin cloth. That's just what I see.  These headshots I have been doing are mostly white stretch cloth backdrop and only lit with spill light.  I will start to add more than one light in future portraits - including a light on the white background to get it more pure white and bright and less light gray.  

This last week I added a second light to some office headshots on gray backgrounds with a fill board.  I really like the results.  So I will likely add a few more profoto b10's to keep the setups lighter weight and easily adjusted.

I also think that with photoshop's latest iteration of the smart selection tools, shooters are using just gray backgrounds and then dropping the person outlined onto colored plates like Southwest Airlines recent campaign, etc... Again, not something I have been asked to deliver but they let the graphic designers do this if needed.

I always lean toward horizontal photos in general even with portraits, because most uses today for my clients are power points or big wall prints rather than printed magazines.

Accounting Specialist in Houston, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto Acute 600B and Elinchrom 5' octa main light, B10 with OCF 3' octa hair light rear high, and white fill board right side.  Crazy Sharp...

Robb

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Edited February 26, 2023 by robb

[Jim B]

7 hours ago, robb said:

Jim, I'm definitely not the expert on the headshot side.  Most of my work in 35 years has been built projects and occasionally people on location with natural blown out backgrounds but not as often for headshots.  I've never been a fan of spotted highlights on backgrounds as they seem to look kind of 80's mall glamour shots to me... but that's just my opinion.

There are many top notch photographers shooting magazine covers with the spotted highlights on the background so pick your style and go for it.  

I do think corporate or editorial shooters tend to stick to solid background "savage" papers while portrait and family shooters mix in marbled muslin cloth. That's just what I see.  These headshots I have been doing are mostly white stretch cloth backdrop and only lit with spill light.  I will start to add more than one light in future portraits - including a light on the white background to get it more pure white and bright and less light gray.  

This last week I added a second light to some office headshots on gray backgrounds with a fill board.  I really like the results.  So I will likely add a few more profoto b10's to keep the setups lighter weight and easily adjusted.

I also think that with photoshop's latest iteration of the smart selection tools, shooters are using just gray backgrounds and then dropping the person outlined onto colored plates like Southwest Airlines recent campaign, etc... Again, not something I have been asked to deliver but they let the graphic designers do this if needed.

I always lean toward horizontal photos in general even with portraits, because most uses today for my clients are power points or big wall prints rather than printed magazines.

Accounting Specialist in Houston, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto Acute 600B and Elinchrom 5' octa main light, B10 with OCF 3' octa hair light rear high, and white fill board right side.  Crazy Sharp...

Robb

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Thanks for your reply. I am a fan of savages’ Thunder grey 🙂  Using that new flashpoint/godox ad 100 soda can light is amazing. You can really hide them for environmental portraiture. I can put it on low power with the diffusion magnetic dome on and get a really evenly lit background… I bought two of them as they are so small and portable, but I haven’t been able to get the trigger to HSS yet. I’m old school anyhow, and purchased the Leica neutral density filter…. One other feature is the ability to go stroboscopic with them! 
Some people claim they shoot a little green but I haven’t noticed that it needs color correcting gels ….I shoot the Broncolor Scoro pack in my studio. 

[robb]

Last week or so, on the border between Texas and Louisiana, I photographed lots of pipeline construction in heavy mud.  But I also took the guys inside as well to my portable studio and there were more excellent moments capturing their character.  I try to catch them as they come through without altering their clothes or equipment.  The APO lenses are the sharpest I have ever seen and they get me exactly what I want.  I'll be headed to Florida and the Carolinas this week and will likely swap out the 75 for the 90 and mix in f2 for some of these to see the differences in falloff.  But I love the look of the 75 and at f4 on the eyes, I seem to get just the right amount in and out of focus.  

In other news, my new Hassy 38mm arrived.  So the x2d will start to get more work.  Still waiting on the 55 and 90mm lenses.  But I've installed Phocus and will use it combined with LR Classic for my processing.

Pipeline Welder - Beaumont, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto B10 and Elinchrom octa

Robb

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[M.V.L]

On 2/27/2023 at 4:33 AM, robb said:

Jim, I'm definitely not the expert on the headshot side.  Most of my work in 35 years has been built projects and occasionally people on location with natural blown out backgrounds but not as often for headshots.  I've never been a fan of spotted highlights on backgrounds as they seem to look kind of 80's mall glamour shots to me... but that's just my opinion.

There are many top notch photographers shooting magazine covers with the spotted highlights on the background so pick your style and go for it.  

I do think corporate or editorial shooters tend to stick to solid background "savage" papers while portrait and family shooters mix in marbled muslin cloth. That's just what I see.  These headshots I have been doing are mostly white stretch cloth backdrop and only lit with spill light.  I will start to add more than one light in future portraits - including a light on the white background to get it more pure white and bright and less light gray.  

This last week I added a second light to some office headshots on gray backgrounds with a fill board.  I really like the results.  So I will likely add a few more profoto b10's to keep the setups lighter weight and easily adjusted.

I also think that with photoshop's latest iteration of the smart selection tools, shooters are using just gray backgrounds and then dropping the person outlined onto colored plates like Southwest Airlines recent campaign, etc... Again, not something I have been asked to deliver but they let the graphic designers do this if needed.

I always lean toward horizontal photos in general even with portraits, because most uses today for my clients are power points or big wall prints rather than printed magazines.

Accounting Specialist in Houston, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 100, 1/250th at f 4.0 with Profoto Acute 600B and Elinchrom 5' octa main light, B10 with OCF 3' octa hair light rear high, and white fill board right side.  Crazy Sharp...

Robb

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very nice corporate headshot! Bravo!

[robb]

Just left Florida after some similar black and white portraits.  I can report that the 24-90 (for me) does not focus as perfectly as the apo summicrons for these portraits when using af.  It was good to try out.  My hit rate on critical focus is at like 95% using the summicrons.  It’s much lower with the 24-90 - so it requires me to touch up many using zoom in and focus peaking.  Definitely slower.  Not as sharp at 75 or 90 (even at f4) as the apo summicrons.  But we knew that already.

so it was good to try it out.  I’ll be going back to using my summicrons whenever possible.  I’ll stick the 24-90 to more outdoor scenes and walk around use.  It could be just fine for almost anything as long as you learn it’s needs…

I have updated the profoto connect and camera firmware so will see how it does for outdoor fill tomorrow.  I have high hopes.  I added a magnum ocf reflector when more throw is needed.

Robb

[robb]

I’ll also add that I have been waiting 8 weeks so far on a new 50 apo SL - already paid for…

it seems Leica is out of them currently.  I hope they hurry up and get them out for delivery soon.  Love the apo’s

Robb

[tangosix]

Robb, are you using the SL90APO lens? 

What are your thoughts on the sl75 vs the sl90 for portraits?  

 

 

[robb]

5 hours ago, tangosix said:

Robb, are you using the SL90APO lens? 

What are your thoughts on the sl75 vs the sl90 for portraits?  

 

 

The 75 apo SL is my favorite lens ever made.  I will likely always grab the 75 over the 90 for portraits because it has a closer working distance on talking to your subject and not needing a ton of space in a room.  
 

but if you have the space or plan to shoot predominantly outside, are traveling for landscape photography, or want to be just a little less noticeable, I’d likely choose the 90 all the time.  
 

All of the apo’s are equally stellar so you are left predominantly just picking your favorite focal lengths.  None of them give up anything to the others.  
 

I brought the 24-90 with me this week since I had outdoor variable work along with portraits so it could pull double duty and I could pack less gear.  But it doesn’t feel the same to shoot with on portraits.  And it’s slower to use because focus can be on other facial features bs locked on the eyes.  So I will always bring a 75 or 90 any time portraits are planned.  Never a problem with either.  and they are smaller and lighter.

Robb
 

 

[robb]

Sorry that I haven't posted on this thread in a couple of months.  It's been very busy with lots of travel for work.  I'll try to catch up the group on some of the adventures and my experiences with the gear and situations.

First up today - Shot a golf tournament benefitting a 9-11 charity and primarily worked with the 24-90 and 90-280 on an SL2-s.  Made it fairly easy.  I like the slight blur on the club head.

Follow-Through in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina - Leica SL2-s with APO-Vario-Elmarit-SL 90-280mm f/2.8-4, iso 100 at 194mm, 1/125th at f 3.5

Robb

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[robb]

Lots of rain on and off during the day and darker skies.  Didn't cover up the gear at all.  No issues with the weatherproofing.

Bunker Shot in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina - Leica SL2-s with APO-Vario-Elmarit-SL 90-280mm f/2.8-4, iso 640 at 192mm, 1/125th at f 4.0

Robb

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[robb]

Inside a hangar, the overhead lighting wasn't the brightest, but it was fairly uniform.  I love the 75 and all the APO lenses with their incredibly clean color rendition, contrast, and sharpness.  

Pilot - Amarillo, Texas - Leica SL2 with APO Summicron SL 75mm Asph, iso 500, 1/60th at f 2.0

Robb

 

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