Both photographs were taken with a Leica R4 + 50mm f2 Summicron-R lens using Tri-X. The first picture is entitled "Sexy Sadie" after the Beatles' song from the White Album. Sarah's nickname is Sukie and Sadie so you can view this photo over here. The second picture is entitled "Enlightenment" which I thought depicted my fiancee in deep thought. I enjoy her bemused reaction to my R4 :) This photo can be seen right here.

Critique, condemn, curse but at least respect some good Tri-X Leica photographs from my batch of B and W photos from my engagement session :)

Leica-fully, Alfie

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), December 07, 2001

Answers

Cool Beans! Certainly a leap forward from previous submissions. Rock on Big A

-- Hugh Jass (Cjass@hotmail.com), December 07, 2001.

Thanks Hugh :) Of course I hope to get a 20mm for my R4 so that I can shoot Sarah at 5-6 inches away from her face :) Very good looking distortion I would hope for...

I think that I would be happy to continue practicing Leica Reflex Photography. After all, being an amateur isn't all that much fun and games as people would suppose :)

Alfie

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), December 07, 2001.

Alfie - You're getting there! Take a look at Peter Hughes' "goth girls' portraits - ravensart.com - for inspiration. Move in a little tighter with the lens you have.

Alas, you will have to choose between a 21 and a 19 for your R4 - Leica never made a 20.

"Bemused reaction" - the typical spousal response (either sex). You really ARE engaged.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), December 07, 2001.

I agree. Next time I will. Of course, it was a challenge to shoot a Leica R4 while eating a juicy burger :) at the same time at Shoney's. Of course, I was thinking about sitting beside Sarah before shooting but she wanted me to ogle her romantically across the lunch table. Her roommate Kay was beside me which limited the amount of space I had to shoot. Of course, there was a lot of food on the table which didn't allow me to keel over with my elbows on the table so basically I had to shoot from a cramped position...

Oh well, this Xmas I get a second chance to shoot her close-up hopefully with my new focusing screen which is going to be coming in :) Split-screen will help me quite a bit! :)

Alfie

-- Alfie Wang (alfiewang@hotmail.com), December 07, 2001.

Alfie,

These pictures certainly show improvement over the previous postings. One suggestion (NOT meant as criticism): You are way too concerned with always getting some new piece of equipment to improve your pictures. (Guess who else is guilty of this.) You already have sufficient equipment to produce very fine photographs. Why not concentrate on just using your current equipment and realizing the potential it possesses? In doing so, you will improve your skills considerably. Best wishes. LB

-- Luther Berry (lberrytx@aol.com), December 07, 2001.

I would agree with all... If I understand correctly, you're relatively new to this, and if so you're making great progress. I esp. like the OOf areas in the backcground. Tri-x is a great film- magical for some, and one would do well to stick with it awhile.

Thanks for sharing your photos, Alfie.

-- Mike DeVoue (karma77@att.net), December 08, 2001.