Calm

Careful composition with the three rocks in a triangular perspective. There were plenty of rocks in the water, thus it takes longer then you might think to find what you are looking for. The final result looks quite obvious, but in reality it wasn't. [50/1.4 Summilux]

Shadows

There is a straight, vertical line in the centre, dividing the image almost like a mirror image. Late afternoon produces strong shadows and made this image idea possible.

Paco, the Crocodile

Paco is Europes largest crocodile and he lives in Torremolinos, Spain. He is mighty impressive with his 600 kg and almost five metres long. There are 300 crocodiles in the park of which Paco is the father to 95%. Imagine that...being 80 years old....

Take off

The one legged bird takes off across the water. The contours appear clearly with the smooth one-tone grey behind the bird, no distractions. Follow the line at the bottom of the wall, top left of the wall and top right of the wall. Now, draw an imaginary line across the wings, that line is a continuation of those other lines. This actually helps to make it a well balanced composition. [Summilux 50/1.4 asph]

The couple

Charles and Jane Wood love each other. Charles is standing straight and tall no matter windspeeds or what nature throws at him. Lovely Jane who is filled with joy and happiness for being planted right next to her lifelong companion, leans in towards her man to show affection and constantly remind him of her devotion. They are certain that for the next 150 years they will grow stronger and closer of each other for every year that passes. Now, that is what I call true love.

A thousand forms

Architecture without lensmovements? Perspectivecontrol is indispensable for a serious workflow in architectural photography. However, if you do not have this possibility and are reluctant to fix everything in PP, then, one approach is to exaggerate tilting lines enough to make a statement that it is not an attempt to reproduce reality, but rather creating a pleasing image with a myriad of lines and forms. [Summilux 50/1.4 asph]

Three in a row

Foggy conditions is almost like carrying with you a giant backdrop, smoothing out the surroundings. This image looks quite obvious from a framing point of view, but the truth is that I shot several exposures walking around the whole area from various positions before I saw this particular one. As soon as I layed eyes on the scene irl, I thought that this will be a personal favorite. There is a light sepia tone but it works well having a blue tone or strict greyscale, anyhow, I file it under black & white. [50/2 Summicron]

The Landing

This is a standard boat landing with nothing on it. How on earth could this be worth photographing? Well, most ordinary things and scenes around us are potential images and can in fact be quite dramatic if you plan your shot carefully. The main trick is to keep the camera in the bag and use your eyes to constantly analyse and evaluate possible images as you walk. Every 100 metres or so I usually do something odd, I make a full circle of where I am standing, slowly, to see if there is anything of interest from this point looking backwards as well. When you do take out your camera, stay calm and think of options before you just blast away 6 exposures. To me it is a personal sport to use as few exposures as possible, but still creating good photography. [24/3.8 Elmar]

Solitude

Another wintery image from a blistering cold Sweden! I usually shoot at low iso but in this location I cranked up the iso to no less than 2500...since I was thinking black & white and then "noise" would only add to the atmospher. The distribution of the light in the sky also caught my attention since it was inverted, in the sense that the horizon was darker and the graduation going upwards. The distinct horizon forms the classical triangle composition together with the snow formation centered in the foreground. [24/3.8 Elmar]

Stairs

I waited until the sun just came around the corner of the building to achieve an even light of the facade but at the same time heavy shadows for the flight of stairs. The combination makes a typical geometrical image.

Sheep

I like provokative framing and would like to encourage you to put all rules of composition aside and be brave. [50/2 Summicron]

Follow me

First of all, welcome John and Morris :)
Cables in the air are most times just in the way when looking at an otherwise good looking landscape. If there is no way around them, use them creatively. Patience is crucial here! Exposure is easy and dof nothing you need to worry about, but the exact framing makes (or breaks) the photograph. A tripod is essential to get all lines and angles right. [24/3.8 Elmar]

Migrating Birds

Welcome to the very first post of what will be a Leica M image blog. In the south of Sweden winter has struck heavily in the last week, so the migrating birds in this image were lucky to escape just in time. The birds appear as sensordust in the sky. [24/3.8 Elmar]