Category Archives: Photographs

In the style of the Dutch Masters

Leica, Macro, Paintings

Lighting is the key.

For an index of all Leica-related articles click here.

Whereas the southern European painters of the 16th and 17th century typically focused on the adulation of religious figures, northern artists – Germany, Belgium and especially Holland – were more interested in showing property, a secular conviction. Never was this more so than in the 17th century work of the Dutch Masters which typically had a high window light one one side with the other half of the subject in the shade, some light captured from an adjacent white reflecting wall. And whether the subject was possessions, food, flowers or people, much the same lighting approach was used, to great effect.

A fine example is the work of Jan de Heem (1606-1684) who specialized in still life painting. This splendid Vase of Flowers (1660) can be found in the no less splendid National Gallery in Washington, D.C.:



Jan de Heem, Vase of Flowers, 1660.

In my image of the Common Ninebark wildflower I have emulated the Dutch lighting approach and while the subject is simpler than de Heem’s complex one, the lighting effect is similarly dramatic:



Common Ninebark

Leica SL2S, 100mm Macro-Elmar-R at f/11, Bellows-R, three Novatron strobes, ISO 100. Composite of 55 images, focus stacked in Helicon Focus. I prefer a touch of light on the black background to emphasize depth.

I had the local Postal Annex print this on their Canon 12-ink 44″ wide printer in a 24″ x 36″ size for wall display and the results is a knockout. The file I uploaded included the related Adobe sRGB color profile. With this not so little hummer costing over $5,000 and a set of ink cartridges running over $2,000 alone I’m not about to buy one for home use, especially when the print cost me a modest $45, and the color rendering is exactly what I see on my monitor. I would imagine that maintenance of this monster must be an absolute nightmare, what with 12 ink jet nozzles just waiting to clog …. definitely a case of where delegation beats ownership.

David Hockney passes

Paintings, Photography

The greatest living artist.

David Hockney, Yorkshire born artist and some time Angeleno, has died aged 88. A two pack a day man he chose to disregard his doctors’ advice and outlived the lot. Clearly he had what I think of as the ‘Keith Richard gene’.

Acrylics, giant murals, iPad and iPhone paintings, Polaroids – Hockney did it all. And his sense of fun, his sheer joy of seeing, pervades all. After graduation from the Royal College of Art Hockney was soon selling his prodigious output, having always been a workaholic, and moved to Los Angeles the first chance he got. Heck, if you were from Yorkshire – what Monty Python once called ‘The Third World’ – you would have moved, too.

While Hockney denigrated photography as ‘not really seeing’ he was an adept user of the medium, never less than with this cover for a newly revitalized Vanity Fair:



Hockney’s shoelaces.

Then there’s this exceptional Polaroid collage of an intersection in the California desert:



Highway 138.

The book of that deYoung exhibition linked in the opening of this piece remains available and is a great introduction to (later) Hockney art.

The Knipex SW40 adjustable wrench

Motorcycles

Every motorcyclist should have one.




Click the image for a larger version.

Six things make this tool special:

  • The jaws stay parallel at all times – try that with the usual adjustable wrenches which are designed to round nuts and the heads of bolts, AKA The English Bodger Wrench or Crescent wrench.
  • It has a unique ratcheting design which allows the wrench to be used as a ratchet when turning nuts and bolts, torque forcing the jaws to firmly clamp the object. Try that with the EBW. As the ratcheting feature cannot be overridden, flip the wrench over (showing the inch markings) when unscrewing a nut or bolt.
  • The adjustment range is a large 0 to 40mm with 10-40mm clearly marked in the cut-out window. Set to 0mm they behave like pliers. The handle length is 180mm/7”.
  • The push button adjuster sets all the common metric sizes exactly – 6,7,8,10,12,13,16,19,22mm. Inches are marked on the other side.
  • It’s made in Germany, where you want your tools to come from.
  • It is a thing of beauty, an heirloom tool you will be passing down to your offspring.

I keep one in my motorcycle’s under-the-seat tool kit. You know, from the days when bikes and cars came with tools:



Everything you need in one kit.

Given my bike is now 51 years old – a 1975 900cc BMW Airhead Boxer Twin – I think you may forgive the stains on the tool pouch. Note the presence of a spoke wrench (real wheels wear spokes), a spare centerstand spring (just in case), feeler gauges for adjusting the valves with a set of carb needle reamers underneath, and a cheap stick-type tire pressure gauge which is dead accurate and requires no batteries … and little space.

You can find the Knipex at Amazon – other sizes are made but this 40mm one covers everything you need on a bicycle, motorcycle or car and fits neatly in the toolkit. (I get no financial gain if you click that link).

Cheap? Nah. You want cheap you get the English Bodger Wrench version. Every motorcyclist should have one of these in his toolkit, and if he rides an old British machine two would be in order ….

At the bird box

Nikon lenses, Photographs

Bird photography for the lazy man.

I set the camera up with a long lens on a tripod on the patio, with a wireless shutter release fitted:



The Nikkor 400mm f/5.6 ED IF Ai-S lens on the Nikon D800.

Then I repaired to the office whence I have a great view of the bird box and banged away when the bird(s) arrived. Now if only I could get something better than a common sparrow ….



The view from the home office.

And here are a couple of happy results:



Common sparrow.



Common sparrow with prey.

Nikon D800, 400mm f/5.6 ED IF Nikkor at f/22 on a Linhof S168 tripod.

I made the box from odd wood scraps and it has been nothing but a joy.