The Pictures of Mike Rotch (now with added development)

[Mike Rotch]

Some of this is very cool! Standout would have to be the broken window from the first post - but then again I am a sucker for strong geometrics 👍

Thanks man . I look at your stuff and it blows my mind and makes my stuff seems like kind-y quality, so any tips are more then welcome!

Two Teddies
Super Takumar 55mm​

 

[Shaun]

Quick question mate, are you shooting the shots in B&W or post processing them that way?

 

[Mike Rotch]

Quick question mate, are you shooting the shots in B&W or post processing them that way?

Hey mate - I shoot in RAW, and then post process into B&W. I usually stick to pure B&W but sometimes I play with duotones as and when the picture lends it self to it, like the one a few back of the sea or the Teddies one which was a bit lacking mood.

There is a lot written about having a mindset of shooting in B&W vs shooting with the intention of keeping it in colour, as something that looks nice in colour, might looks pretty bland in B&W.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Noodle House
Super Takumar 55mm F1.8​

 

[Mike Rotch]

A lonely wait
Super Takumar 55mm F1.8​

 

[Mike Rotch]

Reality is imperfect
Super Takumar 55mm F1.8​

 

[Mike Rotch]

Somewhere to be
Industar 50mm 50-2​

 

[Monatsende]

So you`re in "slice of (real) life" photography. I like this subject. And your realisation. 👍

 

[Mike Rotch]

Body Language
Super Takumar 55mm F1.8​

 

[Shaun]

Liking that one mate. 👍

Question though on your B&W pics.
Is it a deliberate act to insert some grain during processing to achieve the look you are after.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Liking that one mate. 👍

Question though on your B&W pics.
Is it a deliberate act to insert some grain during processing to achieve the look you are after.

Thanks mate. It was borderline on going with a B&W one or a colour one, but the colour one whilst looking good, didn't have the same subject pop. Interesting how flicking between B&W and colour on one image can have such major interpretation differences.

Anyway, on grain; kind of depends. That was with my Alpha and I'd have bumped up ISO to 400 or 800 to keep shutter speed up as I would have been using F16 or there abouts. The RAW shows some grain as the Alpha's ISO performance is so-so.

Depends on your subject too - for landscape-y stuff, I will try remove any grain or noise.

For street, processing wise - I start with some presets and go from there, overlaying some film emulators which will have some grain, and then add or soften or rejecting to try and get balance. I like it as I think it works well with B&W, as long as its not overdone to distraction.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Unimpressed
Industar 50-2 50mm​

 

[Shaun]

Very nice. 👍
Perfect title.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Patiently
Industar 50-2 50mm​

 

[Sprite]

Hey mate - I shoot in RAW, and then post process into B&W. I usually stick to pure B&W but sometimes I play with duotones as and when the picture lends it self to it, like the one a few back of the sea or the Teddies one which was a bit lacking mood.

There is a lot written about having a mindset of shooting in B&W vs shooting with the intention of keeping it in colour, as something that looks nice in colour, might looks pretty bland in B&W.

Great shots fella, those Russian lenses getting sme decent use.

With regards to your reply above to @Shaun

Does your camera allow you to show B&W and Colour at the same time? My Fuji allows me to do this and its how I shoot, I agreed that some shots look much better in B&W. What I found when shooting B&W (in dual mode but is showing in VF as B&W) you force yourself more towards intersting compositions and lighting as I can get distracted by all the shiny colours

 

[Mike Rotch]

Great shots fella, those Russian lenses getting sme decent use.

Cheers mate! My Industar-69 28/2.8 arrived last night, I can't wait to give it a go

Does your camera allow you to show B&W and Colour at the same time? My Fuji allows me to do this and its how I shoot, I agreed that some shots look much better in B&W. What I found when shooting B&W (in dual mode but is showing in VF as B&W) you force yourself more towards intersting compositions and lighting as I can get distracted by all the shiny colours

Yep, that is a good reminder actually. I didn't have the Alpha set to B&W on the LCD as I was using the OVF, but with the NEX you are right, both EVFs can be set to B&W representation and I should do that as an aid given its available.

 

[Sprite]

Cheers mate! My Industar-69 28/2.8 arrived last night, I can't wait to give it a go


Yep, that is a good reminder actually. I didn't have the Alpha set to B&W on the LCD as I was using the OVF, but with the NEX you are right, both EVFs can be set to B&W representation and I should do that as an aid given its available.

I look forward to the Industar-69 shots.

 

[Mike Rotch]

I like this one. It reminded me of job's I've had during university, and hated so much that if given the chance I'd also rather have spent my small breaks standing next to garbage in a back alley, then with colleagues.

In the company of one
Industar 50-2 50mm​

 

[Shaun]

Like it also. 👍

I do however find it a bit off putting that the black guard (or whatever it is) on the edge of the bricks isn't parallel to the edge of the photo.
I took the liberty of rotating in LR and found it much more to my taste, but if you deliberately left it like that disregard what I just said.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Fair point, rotating it around certainly doesn't hurt but I am ok with it as it's true to how I saw it.

That said, it is something for me to be aware of in the future 👍. I think Turtle mentioned something similar a few months ago

 

[nobuffalo]

I think the rotation is fine, you shot it from an angle so things aren't gonna be straight. I guess I would have to see it first but I feel like if it was rotated the woman would appear to be leaning too far back. Had you taken the picture from several feet to the left as if you were looking straight at the wall/door it would look better if it was lined up with the edge of the frame, but I'm not sure it would necessarily be a better photo. 👍

Edit: So curiousity got the better part of me and I gave it a bit of a rotation to see how it would look and now I have to agree with Shaun, it is a bit more pleasing to look at when rotated. I don't think that edge has to perfectly line up but it does help if it's a little more parallel.

 

[Shaun]

Fair point, rotating it around certainly doesn't hurt but I am ok with it as it's true to how I saw it.

That's fair enough.
The problem is on my end and I think it's due to my engineering background. I just can't help but see the things when they aren't square or parallel etc.

Something I'm going to have to train myself to do as I take tender steps away from mainly just taking pics of the family and whatnot.

 

[Mike Rotch]

La-Di-Da
Industar-69 28mm​

 

[Boffin]

I feel some of your shots are losing the human subject in their surroundings (like in 'Unimpressed' and 'Two Teddies'). I know this is hard to avoid though - one technique I use is a narrow depth of field just to separate them. That said, really enjoying 'Body language' (I think perhaps because of the DOF), 'Patiently' and 'La-Di-Da'.

👍

 

[Mike Rotch]

Cheers for the feedback @Boffin, much appreciated.

Valid points about the balance of subject and surroundings. At the moment I am still breaking down the barriers of street shooting ito getting comfortable taking pictures of people that they don't necessarily want taken. My approach is to use zone focusing, which obviously places everything in focus, but at least I am able to look for the "decisive moment" rather then fiddling with aperture. I am doing almost everything manually on legacy lenses, chiefly pancakes, which have the most ridiculously inconvenient way of quickly adjusting aperture .

The byproduct is relying on composition to emphasis subject, not DOF. Still, possible to do ZF with narrower DOF I guess, so something for me to consider....

Keep the feedback coming, it's the only way I'll develop .

 

[Boffin]

Hahaha yeah, taking a shot without someone realising they are the subject can be an acquired art. I guess with the rule of thirds in place, I usually make out that I am shooting something next to or behind the person, and this throws them off slightly as the camera isn't pointed directly at them.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Engrossed
Industar-69 28mm​

 

[Mike Rotch]

Tuned out
Industar-69 28mm​

 

[Mike Rotch]

Scale
Industar-69 28mm​

 

[Mike Rotch]

Someone else's problem
Industar-69 28mm​