Daily Inspiration #147 by Steve McOrmond

It’s Friday! Hope you all have a great and relaxing weekend and enjoy today’s daily inspiration submitted by Steve McOrmond. – Steve

Hi Steve,

I love your site and visit daily to get my Huff fix. I also love rangefinder photography, both film and digital. I’d like to share a few photos taken recently with my Leica M8 and wonderful Zeiss ZM 25mm f/2.8 Biogon T* lens, which rarely finds its way off my camera.

These pics were taken at “The Ex” or, more formally, the Canadian National Exhibition is Toronto. This annual exhibition includes a carnival midway, farm petting zoo and a whole lot more.

My wife and I hadn’t been to the Ex since we were kids. As an adult, I was struck by the contrast between the pure joy of the children at the midway and the general griminess and dilapidation of the rides and games tents; the clash of innocence and experience.

The post-processing in these images is a little heavier than I normally employ. There was just something about the over-the-top, garish quality of the midway – and that ominous sky – that seemed to call for some equally over-the-top processing and toning to bring out the atmosphere I was after. I used Lightroom, Nik Software Color Efex or Silver Efex Pro to get the look I wanted.

Larger versions can be viewed on my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevemcormond/

Thanks for the great content, reviews and the inspiration to get out and shoot, Steve!

All best,

Steve McOrmond

12 Comments

  1. Steve
    Thank you so much for the follow up and the link
    I really appreciate it.
    I’ve been thinking of the ZM 25 for a while, so this is very helpful
    be well and happy shooting.
    am

  2. Steve M
    thank you for the answer and posting the great images.
    how is the hand coding done? do you have to send the lens somewhere?
    also funny as I also live in TO.
    Thank you once again.
    am

  3. Thanks for looking, everyone, and for your comments.

    Arash M: The Zeiss 25mm is hand-coded as a Leica Elmarit-M 24mm f/2.8 ASPH and brings up the 24mm frame lines on the M8. With the M8’s crop factor, it’s equivalent to a 32.5mm, which makes it a great walking around/travel lens.

    Efix: I definitely find carnivals creepy, but then I’m one of those people who is frightened by clowns. The dark storm clouds that were rolling in off Lake Ontario that day didn’t hurt. Moody by nature.

    Steve

  4. That first image looks creepy – and the others aren’t really inviting either! If that’s the look you were after – good job! 🙂

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