Just a really quick post... Saw the light this morning and really wanted to capture it.  I think this will come out well in print and go on the wall!

How about a closer crop?  I'm undecided...

Even closer???

It's pretty hard (impossible) to take macro shots with the M9, and I've always been kind of curious about it.  So today, I break out the Olympus OM-D EM-5 (it hasn't been used for over a week) and try it out around the backyard.  Once you're getting that close to the subject, it's very hard to hold still because any small shift of my body will render the image out of focus.  Also, because there is probably only one of two things in focus, composition becomes quite important... I think people will get bored quickly if everything is centered.  Anyway, here are some of my first attempts at Macro Photography:

This shall be a post without images, I think.  Not that I'm running out of images to post, just the opposite, as it will be difficult to pick out a few that can summarize my experiences for the past 3 months.  It's been nearly 90 days since my first post, and I can honestly say that the M9 has brought some joy to my life every single day.  I touch (some may say "fondle") it everyday, and the images that I get from it still blows me away.

Here are some photos taken recently but didn't make into any posts.  They're not even particularly interesting, since I'm just shot them around the house or some non-exotic locations.  Nonetheless, I guess they touched me in some ways and I wanted to share.

I've started playing around with the mobile app "Instagram" lately (my nickname: Hosermage).  I began browsing some photos, liked a lot of them, and started to follow a few people that I found to have consistently nice photos.  Only after a while that I noticed a couple of Japanese users that I follow, they're able to take photos of seemingly boring everyday things and turn them into beautiful images.  It could be tea cups on a table, or just simple scenery through a window.  Maybe it's the simplicity, or the lines and arrangement, somehow I was able to connect with them.  So, when it comes to taking photos: "No Excuses Needed!"

I've written a post before about how I love the sun light near the Golden Hour [HERE].  I think a lot of it has to do with its softness in intensity.  Here in California, the noon day sun can be quite harsh, and often cause the image to over-expose if you like to use fast glass like me.  After I noticed a few over-exposed shots at f/1.4 and ISO 160, I began to look for some solutions.  Since I'm not willing to stop-down, neutral-density (ND) filters seemed to be a common solution.  It is a piece of dark glass that reduces the intensity of light of all wavelength equally, result in no changes in color.  Sunglasses for your camera!

So, I hopped to Amazon and order me a cheap 46mm Tiffen ND 0.6 Filter [HERE] that'll fit my 50'Lux, for about only $15.  It arrived soon enough and I quickly took some test shots while there were still plenty of daylight out.

I hear this a lot... The camera is nothing but an instrument that exposes light to the capturing film/sensor, and Photography is the art of controlling that exposure.  The photographer, you, controls what subject and how it is exposed to the film/sensor.

Since the aperture controls the iris on the lens, it's easy to understand that it has a direct effect on how much light is let in.  When it's sunny and bright, you may want to stop-down to avoid over exposure, and when it's dark, you'll want to open it up to allow in more light.  Maybe that was the original intent for aperture, but it's not how I use it today.  Another thing that the aperture controls, is depth of field (DOF).

As great of a camera as I think the Leica M9 is, I'd be a fool to think that it'll be the only camera I'll ever need.  The M9 has many well known weaknesses:

• No autofocus
• No zoom lenses
• No macro lenses
• No video recording capability

But sometimes, there are occasions where those features will be greatly appreciated.  I owned the Sony NEX-5n camera before the M9, so I was relying on the NEX for those duties.  However, I quickly sold my entire Sony NEX system that I had after I learned about the new Olympus micro-four-thirds camera: the OM-D EM-5.  The camera is sold out everywhere, and I've just recently received mine after purchasing it from someone in Spain (Thanks, Alberto!)  So, for the past few days... I've been cheating on my M9 :)