John Buckley: Featured Galleries and Collections

The Leica M9

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:57:42 GMT

Here are some images taken with the Leica M9, which I consider to be the perfect camera. The camera arrived in late September, and over the next few days and weeks, I've added pictures virtually daily. I'll continue to do so. All photos taken in Washington, D.C. and vicinity. Consider this a long photo essay on my hometown. JB

Jackson Hole (and Yellowstone)

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:09:34 GMT

A friend of mine once said it's hard to take a bad photo in Jackson Hole. That may be true, but with all of the great photographers who live there, or who have passed through, it's hard to take a photo that hasn't been taken better by someone before you. This gallery comprises photos taken over the past six or seven years, in different seasons, with different cameras (mostly Leica M8s, but also in the earlier shots, Leica M7s shooting Fuji Velvia.) Sequentially, the first photos tend to be the most recent -- working backward from images taken in Oxbow Bend, or up near the Sleeping Indian in August 2009, to Yellowstone's Lamar Valley in August 2008. If you've ever spent time scrambling up the Teton canyons, or wanted to, think of this as a time-elapsed view of the prettiest valley and ecosystem in America. View this gallery as a slide show if you want to get a sense of what a great corner of the world Northwest Wyoming is. JB, August 2009

Welcome To Bhutan

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 12:06:00 GMT

Bhutan is a small Buddhist kingdom surrounded on three sides by India and one side by Tibet. It is a land of roaring rivers and foothills higher than the Rocky Mountains, occasionally punctuated by Himalayan peaks that are like bugle blasts. Valleys unfold in waves from West to East, and one corkscrews up and down winding one-lane roads to travel from valley to valley. Here are some photos taken in March 2007 in the Paro, Thimpu, Phobjika, and Punakha valleys. The photos include visits to the famous Taktsang Monestary, poised on the edge of a 3000-foot cliff, and two Tsechu festivals, in Talo and Paro. Throughout our stay, which included a trek to remote villages, the people of Bhutan were wonderful to photograph - confident and friendly. It is a really magical place and I hope these photos give you a glimpse of it. All photos taken with a Leica M8.

Nokton 50 1.1 (M9) vs. Noctilux 50 1.0 (M8)

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:47:46 GMT

I had a Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1.0, but traded it in while buying the Summilux 21mm earlier this year. A few days ago, I picked up a CV Nokton 50mm f1.1, which costs literally 10% of what a new Noctilux (f/0.95) or 1/5th of what it would cost to buy a mint Noctilux. Because I'd taken a number of images with the Noctilux and an M8 at Washington's National Cathedral on an overcast day in September 2007, returning there in similar weather (November 2009) with the Nokton and an M9 seemed like a reasonable basis for comparison. You make the call, but let me just say I really like this comparatively inexpensive CV Nokton. The first 7 photos are the Noctilux and M8; the rest are the Nokton and M9.

NOTE: After posting this, I took some shots with the Nokton in the Adams Morgan district of D.C. after the sun went down. I thought these might be useful to add, for anyone interested in seeing what this lens does in different lighting conditions from what was found at the Cathedral. JB