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Route 66, California Desert
04-06 February 2011

04   05   06   11   12   13 February 2011

 

These are snaps from Dave Wyman's tour of Route 66.

These were shot on a LEICA M9 as DNGs (only) with 6,000K White Balance.

I converted to JPGs with Apple Aperture 3. I did this because this is the first and only way I've been able to get decent colors out of the M9.

The M9 ran better than ever, since it wasn't set to record any JPGs. The M9 never coughed or lost data, and playback zoom was three times as fast as ever before. Clearly, JPGs choke the M9, and they look terrible anyway, so the heck with them. You Nikon and Canon shooters have no idea how good you have it, getting great JPGs directly from your cameras.

I'd never used Apple Aperture 3 before, and figured out in minutes how to import the DNGs. Then I applied Auto Enhance to most images (Adjustments tab, Presets drop-down, Quick Fixes > Auto Enhance), made any other adjustments, and then exported it all out to JPGs (File > Export > Versions) in record time.

I'm astounded at how I chewed through, selected, optimized and completed this entire job in just a few hours. It usually takes days doing these same selections, rotations and corrections in Adobe Photoshop CS5 with menus, layers and masks. In Aperture, everything is just a mouse click and slide from the same screen, only one hand needed!

The JPGs were run through my usual Photoshop Action in Adobe Photoshop CS5 to resize, sharpen, brand and save-for-web to see here. I'm sure Aperture can do the same thing; I just don't know how yet.

No tripods were used — ever. Why would I? I used 21mm, 35mm, 50mm and 90mm lenses. I mostly used the 21mm, 50mm and 90mm by day, and at night, the 35mm f/1.4 was all I needed. I still brought too much.

 

04 February, 2011, Friday

Today we drove from San Diego to Barstow.

First stop: the train museum.

Yellow, 3:21 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/360, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.)

Yellow, 3:21 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/360, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.)

 

Orange, 3:26 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Manual 1/250, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

Orange, 3:26 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Manual 1/250, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

 

Orange Square, 3:29 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/180, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

Orange Square, 3:29 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/180, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

 

Green and Less Green, 3:51 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/360, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

Green and Less Green, 3:51 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/360, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

 

9950, 3:32 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/180, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

9950, 3:32 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/180, LEICA ELMARIT-M 90mm f/2.8.)

 

After the train museum, we headed straight to Hell, uh, make that Tom's.

Katie helps people carry her bagHELL, 3:52 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/90, LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50mm f/2.), 7:00 AM.

HELL, 3:52 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/90, LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50mm f/2.)

 

Signs, 3:53 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/125, LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50mm f/2.)

Signs, 3:53 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/125, LEICA SUMMICRON-M 50mm f/2.)

 

Beetle, 4:08 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/90, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.) I brought up the shadows a litle bit in Aperture 3, which is a simple mouse click and slide.

Beetle, 4:08 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/90, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.) I brought up the shadows a little bit in Aperture 3, which is a simple mouse click and slide.

 

Tom's, 4:19 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/180, LEICA ELMARIT-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH.)

Tom's, 4:19 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/180, LEICA ELMARIT-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH.)

 

Tom's, 4:19 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/250, LEICA ELMARIT-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH.)

Tom's, 4:19 PM. (Auto ISO 160, Auto 1/250, LEICA ELMARIT-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH.)

After Tom's, it's back to the Holiday Inn.

 

Holiday Inn Express, 5:40 PM. (Auto ISO 500, Auto 1/30, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.) This is the only shot to which I didn't need apply Aperture's Auto Enhance; it's already at 100% levels.

Holiday Inn Express, 5:40 PM. (Auto ISO 500, Auto 1/30, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.) This is the only shot to which I didn't need apply Aperture's Auto Enhance; it's already at 100% levels.

After the Holiday Inn, it's a highlight of the trip: dinner at Barstow's world-famous La Costa Azul.

 

Christmas Special, 7:08 PM. (Auto ISO 200, Auto 1/30, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.)

Christmas Special, 7:08 PM. (Auto ISO 200, Auto 1/30, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH.) I snapped this from the inside, and the window was painted to read correctly from the outside. I simply flipped it in Adobe Photoshop CS5.

 

Green Pole, Green Motel, 10:10 PM. (Auto ISO 800, Auto 1/24, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH hand-held at f/1.4.)

Green Pole, Green Motel, 10:10 PM. (Auto ISO 800, Auto 1/24, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH hand-held at f/1.4, no stinking tripod or VR.)

Green Motel, 10:11 PM. (Auto ISO 800, Auto 1/16, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH hand-held at f/1.4.)

Green Motel, 10:11 PM. (Auto ISO 800, Auto 1/16, LEICA SUMMILUX-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH hand-held at f/1.4, no stinking tripod or VR.)

 

NEXT DAY > >

 

04   05   06   11   12   13 February 2011

 

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