ƒ/2.8 | 1/60 | ISO 100
Spaceship Jörðin // Spaceship Earth
29
ƒ/1.7 | 1/30 | ISO 800
One of my many, many favorite moments in Istanbul was going out for a walk late on a Sunday night to find an authentic döner kebap, when we happened upon a guy being handed stuffed mussels one after another at the top of the metro station escalator. We couldn’t resist figuring out what was going on, as he was hoovering them down at a quick rate. It took all of a millisecond to understand what was going on when I tried one myself. This photo perfectly encapsulates the attitude of the Turkish people I met: provide for you a new experience, willingly pose for a photo, and smile knowing that they have something special going on in that ancient city.
28
ƒ/4.5 | 1/125 | ISO 400
This photo is one that comes from having your camera on your neck the entire day. I was at a gallery opening and was shooting mainly my friends and the people there when this subject was admiring a painting below and out of the frame to the right. What makes me so happy about this shot is the yellow face on the wall mirroring the subjects gaze. A serendipitous moment if there ever was one.
27
ƒ/5 | 1/1600 | ISO 400
Hagia Sophia
Working within the parameters of the 28mm lens on my Leica Q is a fun challenge. I know that I would be going to Istanbul with only that camera, and I chose to deliberately challenge myself to it. When you have a zoom on hand you tend to shoot a lot more and end up with less quality photographs. This moment was captured after a few beers adjacent to the oldest church on the planet.
26
ƒ/1.7 | 1/640 | ISO 800
Vesturbær
Walking home from Melabuðin in the last light of yesterday, I turned back to check on my daughter who always finds something more interesting than walking at a reasonable pace than keeping astride with me, only to notice that the sun was gone and the light was just hitting that sweet spot where the ice gleans and the silhouettes make great subjects.
25
ƒ/8 | 1/250 | ISO 400
Esja with graduated filter
This is a departure for me. Normally I apply almost zero work in post to my photographs in order to maintain the integrity of the photograph itself. Well, with this photograph it is impossible to reconcile the sun on the mountain with the dark shade of the sea so a graduated filter is needed to keep the exposure balanced. I absolutely love the outcome here and find this style incredibly relaxing. i take inspiration here form Andreas Gursky’s “Rhein II” of which he stated, “Paradoxically, this view of the Rhine cannot be obtained in situ, a fictitious construction was required to provide an accurate image of a modern river." In the end, editing is your friend.
24
ƒ/2 | 1/125 | ISO 400
The whole, “magic hour is the entire day” is a special part of winter in Iceland that makes it slightly more bearable. This photo was taken an 30 minutes after the sunset on Winter Solstice and as you can see, the dynamic range is otherworldly. The shallow arc of the sun’s path through the sky allows for it to sit in the haze longer, and create this pinkish-purple hue. All I have to do as a photographer is find the right moment to capture it. I’m also lucky to have a fantastic model with me a lot of the time.
23
ƒ/1.7 | 1/60 | ISO 400
Orange is never a color that photographs well, and yet, the Leica Q tackled it with ease. I saw these two at the opening of a new food hall here in Reykjavik a while back and couldn’t resist the surreptitiousness nature of their orange coats and bald heads making it look like a glitch in the matrix.
22
ƒ/14 | 1/125 | ISO 400
Esja
This photograph is a favorite of mine and most of the people I show my work; especially those who know the magic of Esja. The mountain stares at you from across the bay here in Reykjavík and the thing about Esja, is that because it undulates along the coast, you never see it the same way twice. When I bought my camera with a fixed 28mm lens I knew I would have to learn how to get the most of the lens as it is a relatively short lens compared to how I had been accustomed to shooting over the last few years. For this photograph I wanted to create a gradient with the clear sky and still stretch the dynamic range of the sensor with the sunset. To do that, I set Esja at the bottom of the frame as much as I possibly could, but still left some of the sea in between. The detail at that distance with a 28mm lens is a testament to the camera. I didn’t do any color correction to the photo, but I did add a medium contrast curve preset. For the most part, this comes straight out of the camera.
21
ƒ/1.7 | 1/400 | ISO 400
Icelandic Realism
Shooting a dance festival all weekend and needed to take a break from shooting the standards, so I turned around and saw this guy smoking. The grey of it all, especially on a winter day, speaks to the reality that is Iceland in the middle of December.
20
ƒ/8 | 1/200 | ISO 100
Tree of Life
Dragør, Denmark is a tiny hamlet about 45 minutes bus ride from central Copenhagen. It’s only about 15 minutes drive and being that close and then having such a sleepy life outside the center of an amazing city is really incredible. This house and yard were either suffering hardcore from the summer heat wave, or they were making a cool choice in landscaping. Either way, this tree reminds me of the Tree of Life.
19
ƒ/1.7 | 1/30 | ISO 1600
Unfiled Records
This is a photo of two friends of mine, Allenheimer (L) and Good Moon Deer (R). They are the label heads of Unfiled Records and produce some spectacular records. This was the first shot I took this evening and hadn’t settled into the camera yet. Somehow, the slow shutter produced a super crisp photograph. The Q is pretty amazing in low-light, but I was shocked at how sharp this one was. Usually I find that the grain at 1600 is really nice, without having too much problems in the editing phase. This photo is almost entirely untouched aside from a slight adjustment to the contrast curve. Nothing done to the blacks, which shows how nice the sensor is at that ISO.
18
ƒ/8 | 1/1000 | ISO 400
Honn Homage
This is a stylistic departure from what I try to shoot. A copy of a friend’s work, trying to figure out how he does it so well — connecting light and shadows without much of a subject, making the shadows the subject themselves. It’s not something I think about much when I am out and walking around, but it is something I have learned matters a great deal from him. It’s fantastic to walk around and pretend you are shooting through someone else’s lens.
17
ƒ/3.2 | 1/800 | ISO 400
1995 McDonald’s
This is a very nostalgic interior for me. It is exactly the same as the McDo’s I grew up frequenting, pretty much a frozen moment in time. We were a bit hungover and in need of a quick pick me up , and there is really nothing better than a greasy McDonald’s breakfast for soaking up all the alcohol. Luckily, this was directly across the street from us in Pittsburgh.
16
ƒ/16 | 1/80 | ISO 100
Malibu
I opened the lens all the way up and adjusted every setting around that. After all, it is not often I get to shoot in sunkissed days, so I have to take advantage when I can. The 28mm offers a lot of challenges when it comes to filling a frame and this Malibu sign is so famous I was dying to get a good snap of it. My daughter loves to pose and dutifully did so when a surfer was walking by I knew I had something great brewing. The result is a lot of action and I am super proud of this one.
15
ƒ/4.5 | 1/60 | ISO 400
🚶♂️
Reykjavík presents so many opportunity for moments like this one. Alleys painted bright colors are on every block and all it takes is walking with a friend to find a good photo op. I blew out the background a bit in hopes of getting the subject to be perfectly exposed, but it ended up being slightly under and that still works for me. The yellow came through really well, which is a testament to how amazing the sensor on the Leica Q is. Yellow is not a color that does well in the digital world as any printer will tell you.
14
ƒ/11 | 1/1000 | ISO 400
DTLA
Downtown LA is a place that somehow fits itself right in between the most glamourous part of California and the absolute grungiest. The sidewalks are dirty, the people are fashionable, and the light is undeniably Los Angeles. The special light of LA is something that I physically miss and it matters enough to me that I go back there every 2-3 years.
13
ƒ/1.7 | 1/2000 | ISO 400
Free Art
This is a photo called ‘Free Art’ in reference to the fact that my wife and I decided to keep the walls of our bedroom naked. The light in Iceland can create some beautiful lightscapes in the fall and this one kept appearing on our wall. Love the texture of it. I might have to put up a blank canvas next year and trace this shadow.
12
ƒ/16 | 1/50 | ISO 400
Armistice Day
It was a surreal experience to sit behind a row full of sailors and marines at an NFL game on Armistice Day. These two guys were enjoying the game, so I took the opportunity to snap a shot while the Bears and Lions were playing down below.
11
ƒ/1.7 | 1/80 | ISO 1600
Techno Wizard
Mood is something that I am always looking for when I take portraits. This was taken around 5:30 in the morning heading home from a friend’s home and there is something really special about the quiet of that time of day. The only light comes from street lamps, so the unnatural feel is really quite nice.