How I made this Leica Master Shot...

[@MrSimyou]

"Look at old work with new eyes"....that's a great suggestion and very true indeed. Thanks for sharing how you post processed the photo.... simple yet so effective. Wonderful video with great visuals and music.... very well produced. Love it!!

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thank you. Glad you are liking the channel 🙏🙏

[@colinwhite4710]

What I like here is that the photo we don’t expect to like or to work might just end up as one of our best appreciated pieces

[@WalkLikeAlice]

I think we all have different perceptions of what makes a good photo and these perceptions change over time.

[@colinwhite4710]

@@WalkLikeAlice absolutely

[@ernestthomas9406]

glad you mentioned that, because I put my images in a folder labeled weather it is film or digital and the date taken, this is after I edit, then sometimes reedit.

[@opotopo1]

Many thanks Jeff. I was inspired to register and post a few snaps on the Leica site after watching this. To my delight, one got chosen for the 'Selection' section. Its called 'Family viewing' under my name in the Europe gallery. Now I need to take lots more to try and get one as a Master Shot. Thanks again. Love your content. Simon

[@WalkLikeAlice]

That's great news. Keep going as it took me a while to get a Master Shot. Sarah got one with her first attempt...:D

[@johnwaine56]

Fascinating insight. It is very satisfying to find gems hidden in the archives. Please keep up the videos 👍

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thanks John. Will do!!

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

Brilliant liked and subbed. I'm a lifelong photographer but a 5 day old con art to Leica (Q2). I Love street and documentary, I work in newspapers, I can't wait to really hammer this Q2. Long long time since I've been in Blackpool rode the wild mouse and biog un so man times, had a knife pulled on me in the tower lounge after the footy, sobered up fast that night. Awesome set of photos you showed. Regards

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thank you!! It hasn’t changed much although I’m not sure the wild mouse is still there. I remember it being really uncomfortable!!

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

@@WalkLikeAlice haha still got the bruises mate. Good times.x

[@thegroove2000]

I liked how you kind it did a kind vignetting with that brush stroke around the edge to alter the exposure. .

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Similar to what I used to do in the darkroom 🙂

[@isoseismic]

Love the photo. Thanks for taking us through its creation! I find the same thing happens with music. I used to buy an album/cd based on a hit or two, but over time I’d grow to love a song or two on the album that would never be hits. Good insight on your part.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thank you. I totally get the music analogy.

[@studiokaufman]

Thank you Jeff, for sharing your photography, and in particular this enlightening journey through your post-processing of an image I would have surely not considered. I shoot with both the Q2 and Q2 Monochrom; the Q2M is my primary camera, I rarely convert Q2 color images to BW. I was intrigued by your preference to use a Profile vs a Preset in your conversion to BW. I am so compulsive about getting the shot “right” in camera; your image selection and post-processing “save” was an eye opener. Thank you.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video. There is so much latitude in M9 files that, as long as you don’t run the iso too high, you can pull a lot of detail up in the shadows. You can’t overexpose the shot though. There’s no latitude for that.

[@derrenleepoole]

Nicely done Jeff. Amazing what we take and then archive away and forget. I’m so guilty of it.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

For me, I’m always learning so revisiting old work with new knowledge is always a good thing.

[@derrenleepoole]

@@WalkLikeAlice so true, something I don’t do enough of admittedly.

[@kevinronald4137]

Absolutely beautiful.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thanks Kevin.

[@juho1109]

this is a really beautiful work.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thank you 🙏

[@ikicaq]

Great video. Just wondering why you don’t use the B+W mixer sliders? Also, have you tried using the gradient map in PS for BW images? Thanks!

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thanks for the questions. I use my own profiles which have the b/w mix built in. Once the profile is applied to the image, the sliders become grayed out in LR. I first used Grad Map conversions about 15 years ago. They worked well but I haven’t used PS for b/w conversion for around ten years now. It’s all done in LR.

[@thegroove2000]

Thanks. I am a newbie and understand that editing can be a very subtle process with little moves.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Editing, for me, is the part of the process which brings the image to life. It's a way of imparting my personality onto the shot and showing how I want it to look. It's as important as taking the image in the first place.

[@thegroove2000]

@@WalkLikeAlice Defo.

[@charlesrankin6768]

Thank, Columbia, SC. US

[@jamesdearment411]

I think the fact that the bird is flying by helps add interest to the background too. And of course that's something you can't plan for and I'm guessing didn't notice when you took the shot.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

I think it was Ralph Gibson that said that the eye sees more than the brain can take in. I kind of like that idea!! But then Cartier-Bresson said “it’s all luck”!!

[@JoeLopez]

Very interesting watching your workflow on this image. Thank you! What makes a ‘master photo’?

[@WalkLikeAlice]

It’s something that the editors at LFI award to images that are submitted to LFI galleries.

[@insomnia224]

Thanks so much for sharing your process and what a brilliant shot! I was wondering how your profiles ans presets work with monochrom files as there's no colour data to draw from? I have a Q2M and was curious how you would edit similar files?

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Hi Richard. Three of the profiles you can use on Monochrom files. They make a world of difference to the original image and you can control the amount of contrast using the profile slider. I use two of them for all of our Monochrom images. The presets add grain and contrast and are designed to be used once the image is b+w. So they will all work fine.

[@insomnia224]

@@WalkLikeAlice oh amazing thank you very much for the reply! I'll definitely have a look at those. Love both of your work btw, I'm hoping to start mastering zone focus next and rely less on auto focus to try and get more spontaneous momentsshot from the hip.

[@tjmanou6422]

Hi, Does your pack also include the Grains set? thank you

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Yes it does!!

[@chriscard6544]

your best video

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Thank you.

[@joechan4447]

do you shoot by the hip ?

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Sometimes. It depends on the situation.

[@thegroove2000]

Why would you need to go into photoshop for that image when it looks done? Sorry, I'm learning so intrigued to know.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

I use photoshop for retouching dust spots, sharpening, and fine-tuning the image. For example, if an image is going to be printed it will need to be assessed under soft-proofing within Photoshop and changes to the density will be made there. If certain parts of the image need more critical dodging and burning, then it will be done in photoshop as I have more control over the image. ALL retouching is done in PS as LR has really awful retouching tools. Dust spots in complex parts of the image are almost impossible to retouch in LR. Photoshop has better sharpening tools than LR and images are sharpened on a per use basis. So a large print will have different levels of sharpening to something which is destined for Instagram. I also have a number of plug-ins which work better within Photoshop. They aren't necessary for this image but can be useful in others. Hope this helps.

[@thegroove2000]

@@WalkLikeAlice Thanks again.

[@gstefanos2792]

So you just got lucky with the focus?

[@WalkLikeAlice]

Zone focusing. I know what is going to be in focus at any given distance.

[@chrisloomis1489]

I need to understand Lightroom better , I have some amazing work , but I have not edited the shots , and I never get any acclamation from Flickr for any awards , or notice , so I have largely given top ever being recognized for anything .. a sad state of affairs ... What do you do when your enthusiasm is dying ?? I bought a M3 to experiment...my 1st. Leica ever , I am 62 years of age ...and hope I still have some time ...left.

[@WalkLikeAlice]

I'm 55 so not too far behind you. Back in the day I was shooting an event. I was having a break with the band that was playing at the party. There was this middle-aged lady with the most soulful voice. She was doing her warm ups in between laughing and joking with everyone. I asked her why she was so happy. "I'm paying my bills doing what I love doing. What is there not to be happy about?". In the same room, there was another member of the same band who looked as miserable as a long weekend in Skegness. The video guys who were with me recognised him from a TV talent show. Evidently, he had got to a semi-final stage or something and then was rejected. He looked crestfallen. Broken. The girl loved to sing and that's all she wanted to do. The guy wanted to be recognised and be famous. And yet, here they both were about to do the same job in the same band on the same night. Only one was happy to be there, because it's what she wanted to do. And if you want some help with understanding LR, let me know.