Maclay Heriot 'Dirt, Dust & Grain'

Swinging guitars, flying drumsticks, eager punters and apocalyptic red jellyfish. We all know the life of a music photographer is far from dull. Whether it’s on the road or backstage, you’ll likely find Maclay Heriot with his patina Leica M6 TTL. A beloved object that has not only documented the moment, but also has shielded him from the occasional antics of ‘The Pit.’
The photographs that feature in this new exhibition sit outside what Maclay Heriot would usually be asked to exhibit. Focussed on Australian artists and live music scene, ‘Dirt, Dust & Grain’ is a selection photographs that share Maclay’s passion for the film photography and celebrates our local music industry.
Biography
Maclay Heriot is an Australian born music photographer working globally. Over the last seven years has divided his time between Sydney and Los Angeles. Like few committed music photographers, he has spent time “sleeping” on hundreds of couches, vans, buses, airports and hotel rooms in the pursuit of documenting authentic images. He has toured globally with for Grammy winning rock band Portugal. The Man since 2014. While on home soil, he has toured with Big Day Out and then Laneway Festival for the past five years. He has photographed many wonderful Australian musicians, including The Preatures, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Gang of Youths, Peking Duk, The Chats, Grinspoon, Peter Garrett, Jack River, Jagwar Ma and many more. Maclay has been published in Rolling Stone US/AU, RUSSH and Monster Children magazines and has exhibited with The Australian Centre for Photography and Newcastle Art Gallery in 2020.

[@SourPlanet]

It took me a long time to capture what he's talking about with the presence. Not looking at the back of the camera. Not looking at a little screen which presents exposure to you. Not knowing what you'll get until you see it later. All of these sort of things are what make film so exciting, and what drew me to photography in the first place. Eventually worked my way back to a Leica M240 after using a bunch of other brands and kit. Since the LCD is so bad it's basically like having an M-D, it really does feel like shooting film again. Anyone watching this who's pining for that feeling, just go get it. There are ways to do it.. and you'll be overjoyed you did.

[@julioestebanperezescudero6246]

I love the energy and enthusiasm from him.

[@kerwynwilson]

Great body of work from the photographer.

[@micheleren1534]

Wonderful LHSA Black Paint M6 TTL!

[@TheVFXbyArt]

Wow. Very inspiring

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@yasha8951]

Great images!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad you like them!

[@VictorAffaro]

Pretty cool

[@PerryCarbonell]

there's a shout out in there to Rewind Photo Lab for dev scan :) Great vid and work guys

[@zairrewright4131]

Got that good eye!

[@gottanikoncamera]

Great short piece! Looks like a well brassed LHSA black paint? Gorgeous patina. Mine still has a long way to go to look like his.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Keep working on it!

[@Shmyrk]

Which model is this 😍

[@gottanikoncamera]

@@Shmyrk Looks like an M6 TTL LHSA Special Edition black paint (you can see some sort of special edition branding on the right rear panel of the camera but it's barely legible at 01 sec in the video.)

[@Shmyrk]

@@gottanikoncamera ah thank you! I didn’t think the m6 was brass. Time to start saving!

[@gottanikoncamera]

@@Shmyrk It isn't typically but the LHSA Society forced Leica to think outside the box (the old brass molds were gone) so they used the then-new CNC machining process to create brass top plates for this special edition. They're beautiful! They go for about $4500 on eBay...

[@sharonleibel]

Funny: when everyone explains why viewing with the right eye - And keeping the left eye following the environment, He explains why it's just the opposite for him.

[@aidanbarbar5243]

nice video! :)

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Thanks for the visit

[@0oCalumo0]

I thought the M6 was Zinc rather than Brass. Does he have a special edition?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

There were special M6 editions with a brass top plate but most M6s had a zinc top plate and a brass base. I don't know if Maclay has one of those special editions.

[@kurocamera]

that is the Black Paint LHSA version of a M6 TTL if I'm not mistaken. In my opinion these are the best looking M6 :)

[@StuartWeir]

wait, so I dont have to walk around with the lens cap on in direct sunlight? At 1:12 it shows him without a hood/lens cap kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJW0fox8pNmEpKc

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

The M cameras have a shutter which is in the down position when not in use. No lens cap is fine in direct sunlight and the camera should be available for quick use when out and about.

[@StuartWeir]

What do you mean “in the down position when not in use”? Like when the shutter is not ready to be fired (aka if I press the button, a frame doesn’t fire)? I guess my concern/understanding was that even if you don’t have the shutter cocked and ready to fire a frame, you could burn a hole in the shutter curtain if you aren’t careful. Is the suggestion then to set the lens to its narrowest aperture while walking around?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

What I mean is that the shutter on an M10 covers the sensor between shots - there is no cocking of the shutter, it's motorised. The shutter curtains are metal and it would take a lot to damage them. That's not to say the sun cannot damage a camera - it's not common but it can happen. If you left your camera pointing at the sun on a hot day for a few minutes, then I suspect it would be a bad idea. But walking around in the sun with no lens cap on is fine - I have been doing this for decades all over the world, sometime in 40 plus degree c temps. The camera tends not to be actually facing the sun if the sun is high (and hot) and when the sun is lower, it's not as strong. My advice - don't worry too much about it, but if you want to be super careful, then use a lens cap.

[@StuartWeir]

Fair enough! Ya I more so meant for the film Leica’s with cloth shutters. But if you’ve been fine for the last 40 years, I’m sure that speaks volumes to it!

[@hellatightdude]

@@StuartWeir I’ve burnt a hole in my shutter before. What I’ve learned from my experience is if I want to leave the camera around with the lens cap off, stop it down to around f/16 when I’m not using it to mitigate risk of burning holes through the shutter.

[@bergpastrana7452]

Is it okay to do double exposure on leica cameras especially on M body?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Sorry, there is no built in double exposure feature in the M10. You can of course shoot two images and combine them in Photoshop.

[@bergpastrana7452]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia ohh. What about analogue camera? Is it okay to unwind the film roll? Thank you for the reply! 🤙🏻

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Yes, pretty sure that can be done. However, I suggest a Google search for that as I have no experience rewinding and reloading Leica film cameras.

[@bergpastrana7452]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia thank you very much! 😊🔴📷

[@sharonleibel]

@@bergpastrana7452 You can rewind, There is no technical limitation. Even with an M body. but you never know how much to rewind. So you'll probably get some "Half frame double exposure".

[@mustbebc]

Pretty offensive comment about comparing warfare to taking photos at a concert. Really ignorant and tone deaf. Shame.

[@errole]

What's the lens

[@youkyoungoh]

35mm summicron v3

[@philipsutton2316]

Nice pic's, but who on earth goes back to Film. After shooting with it for decades, I'm like Steve McCurry - I was glad to see the back of it. Digital is so liberating in so many ways. I don't have to lump bags of film with me at airports, worrying about this and that. Why make life harder for yourself?

[@peterhirzel]

Respect, but I would not go back to film. So much extra work, extra chemicals, extra storage, especially if you end up with 100s of gig pics...

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

True, but there is a certain satisfaction in the full DIY approach.