Category Archives: Photography

The Leica M Monochrom Hands On Review

Posted on May 17, 2012 | 24 comments

The King Of The Tones?

Opening of the Leica Studio-S, 27 Bruton Place, Mayfair. Portraits of photographer Edmond Terakopian trying out the new Leica M Monocrom and APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. May 16, 2012. Photo: By Brett / http://www.bybrett.com

I have to admit that when I first read rumours of a black and white Leica M, I thought it would never happen. When I saw the announcements, I was a tad surprised, until I saw the images. Such tonal range and amazing detail at very high ISOs all of a sudden made so much sense.

Test shots with the Leica M Monochrom and APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. Camera was set to jpeg. 640 ISO. ***All shots on a pre-production Leica M Monochrom***. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

Test shots with the Leica M Monochrom and APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. Camera was set to jpeg. 640 ISO. ***All shots on a pre-production Leica M Monochrom***. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

I was fortunate enough to be able to try out a pre-production Leica M Monochrom today, along with the astonishingly great Leica APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. In my enthusiasm to shoot with the camera I unfortunately didn’t check to see if the camera was set to RAW, so all these test images are from jpegs which I have processed a little in Aperture. Naturally RAWs produce the best files, so take these jpegs, which have been saved again as jpegs and thus degraded the image quality (especially at higher ISOs) as a guide. Even so, they are amazingly good!

Test shots with the Leica M Monochrom and APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. Camera was set to jpeg. 8000 ISO. ***All shots on a pre-production Leica M Monochrom***. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

Test shots with the Leica M Monochrom and APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. Camera was set to jpeg. 8000 ISO. ***All shots on a pre-production Leica M Monochrom***. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

Test shots with the Leica M Monochrom and APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. Camera was set to jpeg. 10,000 ISO. ***All shots on a pre-production Leica M Monochrom***. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

Test shots with the Leica M Monochrom and APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH. Camera was set to jpeg. 10,000 ISO. ***All shots on a pre-production Leica M Monochrom***. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

One of the great aspects of the launch event for the press at Leica Mayfair’s S-Studio was being able to discuss the camera with friends and colleagues.

Photographer Ian Berry from Magnum Photos tries out the new Leica M Monochrome. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian (Image shot on an M9-P and processed in Silver Efex Pro 2)

Photographer Ian Berry from Magnum Photos tries out the new Leica M Monochrome. May 16, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian (Image shot on an M9-P and processed in Silver Efex Pro 2)

I must admit to being blown away and yearn to be able to work in black and white like the good old days!

The huge thing with this camera is not needing the bayer filter in front of the sensor. This makes the sensor much better at picking up ultra fine detail and a wider tonal range, not to mention it’s ability to produce really gorgeous files at 8000 ISO. Just playing with these jpegs it’s clear to me that Leica have in fact pulled off a master stroke of absolute genius. I can’t wait to get my hands on this camera again, shoot in DNG and process them properly through Aperture. It is going to be lush!

For a full set of images taken with the M Monochrom, visit my Flickr stream.

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Posted in Camera Equipment, Leica, Photography, Pictures, viewpoint

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Camera Club Talk

Posted on May 15, 2012 | 2 comments

Presentation At The Thatcham Photographic Club

Photogrpher Edmond Terakopian during a street photography workshop for the Metropolitan Police Photographic Society. London. September 17, 2011. Photo: Steve Osborm

For anyone in Berkshire or the surrounds, I’ll be giving a presentation of my work and having a chat with a Q&A at Thatcham Photographic Club on June 13th. If you’re interested in popping by, it would be good to have you. Contact the club directly to make a booking.

We’ll be raffling one of my prints, with the proceeds going to the club. Additionally, it’s my pleasure to announce that I’ll also be making several prints, from two of my images from Armenia available for purchase, at very special prices.

Images from Armenia. Signed and embossed prints, made available at a special rate for the Thatcham Photographic Club talk in June. 24cm x 16cm (roughly) archival and embossed print, signed, £25.00. Photo: Edmond Terakopian (These prints were made on a Canon iPF6300 during the testing of the machine which is why I can offer them at this reduced rate).

Images from Armenia. Signed and embossed prints, made available at a special rate for the Thatcham Photographic Club talk in June. 45cm x 30cm (roughly) archival and embossed print, signed. £45.00. Photo: Edmond Terakopian (These prints were made on a Canon iPF6300 during the testing of the machine which is why I can offer them at this reduced rate).

For anyone wishing to purchase a print, please note that on the night, it will be cash only, so kindly make sure you have sufficient means! Alternatively, you can contact me via the Contact page to pay via BACS beforehand and collect your print on the night.

A note on copyright: Please note that by purchasing prints, you are buying a print and not the rights to the image.

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Posted in education, News, Photography, Pictures, workshop

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Reportage On The RNOH

Posted on May 1, 2012 | 17 comments

The Power Of Photographs

Following the RNOH film, I decided I wanted to do a different edit to our TAPTV film. My thoughts were to combine some photographs within the edit. At first I looked through the beautifully edited by Neil Patience film and realised that there were some nice still images within the footage. With Quicktime 7, I went back to the original Canon 5D MkII footage and exported some still images, particularly from the interview sections.

These images were imported into Aperture 3 where I processed them. For the B/W conversions I exported them into Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2. Here I created four custom looks and these were applied to the images as appropriate. Using FCP X I then did an re-edit of the film, incorporating the images captures. I also used Red Giant’s Magic Bullet Looks 2 to grade the film slightly differently to our original.

Earlier this year, we decided that to coincide with the launch, it would be a great idea to shoot a proper photo reportage on the RNOH, so over a three and a half day period, using a Leica M9 and M9-P, I wandered the operating theatres, halls and wards (with the invaluable help from the fundraising and communications teams), making a set of pictures. I mainly shot the entire project using the Leica  50mm Noctilux APSH, the new 35mm Summilux ASPH and the 28mm Summicron.

These were first edited in Aperture for my agency Eyevine and once done, I set about incorporating them into my video edit. As before, Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro 2 was used for the B/W conversions and I set about importing them into FCP X and making the new edit of the video.

There is something much more powerful with B/W imagery and for me, this version is even more powerful. It’s a full multimedia marriage of video, audio and photography. I’d love to know which version of the film you find stronger and why.

My biggest ask though is that if you were touched by this amazing place, please help in their redevelopment and donate to the RNOH fund. Thank you.

Lastly, here is a slideshow of my favourite photographs from the project:

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Posted in Apple, Canon 5D MkII Video, Film, Leica, Mac, multimedia, Photography, Video, viewpoint

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RNOH Appeal Film Launch

Posted on April 27, 2012 | 1 comment

Film Premiere & Exhibition

What an amazing evening. We had the launch of our RNOH appeal film; a project we have been working on since our first meeting in April 2011. The film was premiered at a special event at St James’s Palace by HRH Prince Andrew and HRH Princess Eugenie. I shall be posting a in-depth article on the project with some behind the scenes photographs and technical briefing on techniques and equipment used. Firstly tough, it is my pleasure to show you our film:

Alongside the film was also a photographic exhibition of images I had taken around the hospital, documenting the amazing work that goes on there, despite the conditions of the fabric of the hospital.

The RNOH launch their funding appeal at St James’s Palace in London. Photographer Edmond Terakopian’s exhibition of photographs documenting the state of the hospital. April 26, 2012. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

The RNOH launch their funding appeal at St James’s Palace in London. Photographer Edmond Terakopian with his exhibition of photographs documenting the state of the hospital. April 26, 2012. Photo: Theodore Wood / http://www.theodorewood.com

Here are some images of the exhibition of prints, and some photographs by Theodore Wood from the event, showing Princess Eugenie viewing the exhibition and being presented a print on her departure from the event.

The RNOH launch their funding appeal at St James’s Palace in London. Photographer Edmond Terakopian shows HRH Princess Eugenie a series of photographs documenting the state of the hospital. April 26, 2012. Photo: Theodore Wood / http://www.theodorewood.com

The RNOH launch their funding appeal at St James’s Palace in London. Photographer Edmond Terakopian and Rosie Stolarski (head of fundraising), present HRH Princess Eugenie with a portrait of herself (taken by Edmond Terakopian). April 26, 2012. Photo: Theodore Wood / http://www.theodorewood.com

To make donations to this extremely worthwhile project to rebuild one of the world’s top three orthopaedic hospitals, please visit the RNOH Charity website. Thank you.

HRH Princess Eugenie of York who had spinal surgery at the RNOH. RNOH Fundraising Film stills grabs from the film. June 02, 2011. Photo: Edmond Terakopian

HRH Princess Eugenie of York is also helping raise funds for the hospital by taking part in 100km bike ride; please pop by her page and make a donation if you can.

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Posted in Canon 5D MkII Video, Exhibition, News, Photography, Pictures, printing, Video, viewpoint

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Photography From The RNOH

Posted on April 26, 2012 | 4 comments

Photo Reportage On An Extraordinary Place

As we count down to the launch of the RNOH (Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital) funding appeal, we thought to share a few images from the photographic exhibition accompanying the premiere screening of our film. The event will be at one of the Royal Palaces later on today. To say it’s an exclusive and special venue would be an understatement.

The RNOH is known for transforming people’s lives and our film, launched later on tonight, will go into more detail. Meanwhile, here are the images: