Home - Chris Stump

'Best' Of The Year

1/1/2024

I contribute on occasion to a travel photography site, and they solicited favorite photos of the year from us. Not 'best', but photos that meant something to us. So I thought I'd post mine here as well.

Happy New Year to all!

Photo 1 was taken in Halifax, NS late in the afternoon. It has remained a favorite for the mood and the timeless story that it tells.

Photo 2 is from the back porch of the house we bought this year. The wonderful views to the north-west were a revelation after years of living in the deep woods here in Maine. Sunset photos typically leave me unmoved...but this view and the amazing contrast was special for me.

Photo 3 is also from our new community. For years I've enjoyed photographing the beach, and especially surfers. I actually had a gallery show of such work years ago. This image just barely holds together at 10,000 ISO on an MFT camera. But I love the ethereal nature and skewed colors.

A stroll around the grounds.

10/12/2023

Meetings over, beautiful day, thought I'd take a walk around the new property.
--Lumix G9 w/ Leica DG 50-200mm f2.8-4 ASPH

Tropical Storm Lee at York Beach, Maine

9/17/2023

Well, Hurricane Lee was not that big a deal down here where we now reside, but apparently it hit our old neighborhood pretty hard. Hope all is well up there. I actually drove up to Portland Saturday morning for a concert that evening, only to find out that it had been postponed...I'm not a social media maven but I checked a lot and saw no notice online. No bother. I had a nice evening out in a great small city and made new friends. Calling this one a win.

More pool fun

9/5/2023

Shooting through water with an iPhone the other evening. What interesting and unpredictable results.

Move to SeaCoast, ME

8/12/2023

The move from rural, beautiful, remote St George to the SeaCoast region of Maine has been as smooth as we could possibly have hoped for. Neighbors have been welcoming, services available sometimes at urgent notice, all in all a very comfortable transition. The Boy will start 2nd grade in the local system soon, and we look forward to settling in for a warm and wonderful winter here. Best to all.

Nova Scotia

7/9/2023

My wife, son, and I started what was intended to be an annual vacation to the eastern provinces of Canada a few years back...just before covid. My mother's side of the family hail from here so I'd like to think it feels familiar. Bonus is we really enjoy the area and people.

The pandemic and other priorities put things on hold until this year, when we were able to pick the tradition back up, and travelled from Maine to Rothesay NB, Lunenburg NS, Indian Harbor NS, Halifax NS, back to Rothesay and home.

As different as the towns and settings were, there was really no favorite in the bunch. It was more of a smorgasbord of experiences, each one successful in its own way. A little car trouble along the way spiced things up, as did some torrential rain...apparently the new normal for parts of the world this spring/summer.

As for kit, I just realize that I was still hauling around full size DSLR gear last time. One afternoon in particular comes to mind. We'd been walking all morning in Charlottetown, PEI. It was hot, and we collapsed at a small outdoor table hoping for refreshments.

Even then, hauling a big Canon body with multiple L zooms around in a bag was just too much like work. So instead the camera and one lens sat strapped across me, heavy and at risk of whacking into tables, chairs, and passersby. But where to set it down safely amongst all the bustle? How uncomfortable.

Was it then and there that my later decision to sell it all and switch to a smaller, lighter system was born? I suspect that to some degree it was.

This year, my walkabout kit was the Lumix G9 body and one lens...usually the Leica DG 9mm or 8-18mm ASPH, while the 50-200mm sat at home in the sling bag. This system did not weigh me down, nor seem likely to hit and injure itself or others. The one change for next time will be to take the 15mm f1.7 instead of the 9mm. Just a preference.

At the end of the day, the wet conditions added punch to the already brilliant colors of the area. I did not have any goals in mind while shooting. It was just a family vacation, and mostly I was simply recording whatever caught my eye. But I seem to have captured the flavor of the different towns, and truly enjoyed the process. Success.

Boston!

4/26/2023

So, it was school vacation week recently, and we spent three days down in Boston.

This is "ol' stompin' grounds" for us, as my parents met there, I was born there, we were engaged there, and my wife attended undergrad there. It's a favorite city for the family for sure.

We arrived just two days after the Marathon, but you'd never have known...the city hosts so many events and cleans up so quickly.

Highlights were a Red Sox game...which they unfortunately lost...the Hayden Planetarium, and the Common and Garden. It's a great walking city.

I took the GX85 and Leica DG 9mm [e-18mm] f1.7 ASPH along for the visit. Mainly as a trial run before our upcoming vacation in Canada. [I'd like to say 'annual visit', but covid ruined that tradition as soon as it started.]

The 9mm is quite a departure from the other short Leica DG primes for MFT. It has a very noticeably plastic barrel for one, and more importantly lacks an aperture ring. When street shooting, which is broadly what I use these lenses for, I really appreciate the option to quickly select a rough aperture on the fly...without having to verify my choice on a screen or in the view finder. Move from bright sun to shadow? Open up a few. Done. And vice-versa.

This lens does not allow for that. I've often described the GX85 paired with a 15mm Leica DG f1.7 as the digital equivalent of my M3 and 35mm Summichron. And it is. And it's small and light. But.

I think the G9 is going to make the trek to Halifax. I really enjoy the larger finder and controls. And it handles the zooms much better. And the 15mm as well. It has an aperture ring for quick snaps. All the better.

So, the GX85 is fun for a quick trip or around town, but I'll stop doubting the G9 when it counts.

It's Paris, Baby!

12/20/2022

So my son and I flew to Paris to meet up with my wife, Bri, who was there for work. What a wonderful week of restaurants, museums, and shops.

After a very long career in photography and related endeavors I don't shoot professionally anymore [or as a hobby for that matter.] However, the upcoming trip to Paris gave me a kick to the creative head. Most recently I shot Canon gear, but downsized to a Lumix micro 4/3 [MFT] system a number of years ago. It's a trade off, but the size and weight savings suited me at the time.

While not shooting much I have of course kept my kit relatively intact and functional. I did sell the Voigtlander Nokton 10.5mm f0.95 [e-21mm] manual focus lens recently. It was too specialized to justify the weight and value. I'm sure the new owner is putting it to good use.

Of my two current cameras I've always considered the Lumix G9 and the larger, faster Leica DG ASPH lenses to be for local landscape work and any unavoidable pro jobs, and the much smaller GX85 paired with a couple cheaper, lighter, slower but very capable Lumix branded kit lenses to be for travel. This is what I packed into a tiny Tamrac bag for our last [pre-covid] trip, to Canada, and it served me well. [link to that post here]

But this trip was different. It's Paris, baby! I have a Manfrotto backpack which holds the entire G9 kit along with a small tripod and full 15" MacBook Pro. I decidedly did 'not' want to deal with that on an overseas trip. But I did find a nice sling bag that was smaller and more ergonomic, yet specifically made for DSLR gear, and still had a slot for an 11" MacBook Air.

I would never have designed something this...hybrid...but it was a wonderful find. The laptop pouch was taller enough than my MFT gear that a nice space was available for easy access to other travel stuff as necessary [gloves, scarf, snacks, etc.] The bag, an 'Incase DSLR Sling Pack' worked out very well. I do wish the zippers were more robust, but I managed not to break anything hurriedly repacking whilst exiting Ubers, buses, and planes.

So, since the bag offered to accept full-sized gear that's what I took. The Lumix G9, Leica DG 8-18mm f2.8-4, 50-100mm f2.8-4, and 15mm f1.7 lenses [all focal lengths x2 for 35mm- equivalent, of course] made the trip along with the laptop, chargers, cables, filters, card reader, passports, itinerary, and car keys.

Much of the above was offloaded to the hotel safe upon arrival, so weight when traipsing around for the day wasn't 'too' noticeable. But I have to admit that towards the end, and in the evenings, I was just carrying the camera with the fast little 15mm around on a strap.

What is interesting about this last fact is that I have been thinking about what the perfect travel camera might be. I've considered the newer D-Lux 7 upgrade to my old Leica pocket zoom [Typ 109], and the Leica Q2 as well. That is an apples to oranges comparison though, since the Q has a full frame sensor as well as a fixed [28mm] lens.

And I did, really have to admit, notice that the MFT files can be a bit noisy...lacking just a little at times. Full sun, tripod, remote release, and the MFT files are terrific. But take a lens extended to f4 length handheld, add a polarizer and occasional clouds, and the shutter speeds start heading down while ISO creeps up. Not a great combination with this sensor, especially when printing to A2.

I was reminded that you have to be very careful and intentional when shooting MFT. And that's not always possible when you're moving, jostling in the crowd, keeping up with other people in an unfamiliar place. And, concerning both cameras, I did have an [admittedly few] very successful shots with the longer focal length lens that they simply can't accommodate.

So the takeaway for me is that, well, no future trips are on the horizon. So no decisions need be made soon. I'll continue to mull over my impressions and the 1k+ files from this trip, keep a more informed eye out for a better solution, and dream of my next fresh croissant and jam.

I so love it...

8/9/2022

I so love that a couple of friends 'got it' on this shot from my last post. I almost titled it 'Three Gulls'. Look closely, stay with me...

There is so much motion. So much going on. Not tooting my own, but what a story here if you just let your eyes wander. And the people! I've long held, after years of static landscape photography that was technically fine but lacking emotion, that only images of people connect with viewers.

I also have the opinion that by and large B/W images are the most effective. And that's still the case, most of the time, for me anyway.

But this, total serendipity, takes any viewer on a journey. Likely a familiar one. And that's what matters. That's what makes a photograph successful.

Drift Inn Beach

6/30/2022

Wonderful late afternoon light at Drift Inn Beach, Port Clyde, America.

--Lumix G9, Leica DG e-100-400mm, f4, ISO200