The Daily Photo #10- Leica M3

The Daily Photo- January 10th, 2016.

Leica M3

By TJ Hansen
1/200 at f/14, ISO 100.

You have to know its quirks. You have to pay attention to it. You have to take into account all the things that it can’t do. But, when I picture a camera in my mind, I picture the Leica M3. I love the quirks and the limitations. No battery, no meter, no screen. It doesn’t distract you from the act of taking photographs.

I wanted to light the camera in a way that flattered the texture of the metal and the black vulcanite material, but most of all I wanted I wanted to keep it classy. I got some glass from a picture frame and some black paper to go for that classy “Cigar Aficionado” look. For the background, I used the black side of a 5 in 1 reflector to make it appear like a seamless black. The black reflector also acted as a negative fill, keeping the highlights in check and keeping the fill-light low.

The key light was the 24″ Promaster Softbox with an LP180 at 1/4 power. Having a large diffuse source up close like that was great for setting the tone of the main highlights, I put a bare LP180 to the left to paint in some fill on the far left-end of the camera and send some cross light. I moved the bare LP180  back a about 3 feet from the Leica to make the fill-light from the left a little more direct.

Also, I had my trusty old LP160 in the front with a flashbender bouncing some fill-light and helping maintain the reflection.  The Rogue Flashbender was bent to prevent throwing too much light into the front of the Leica’s lens, and making it too bright. I just wanted some soft light on the black vulcanite stuff.

Diagram #10

Gear used:

See you tomorrow!

TJ Hansen

Photographer at MPEX.com

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