In a series of stories named “One Photo, One Story” I will describe the picture and how it was done. Hopefully, this will inspire you when you are out taking photographs.
The photo was taken with the Leica M9, and Summilux 50mm 1.4 ASPH lens. Shot wide open at f 1.4 so there is a very narrow DOP (depth of field). ISO setting 160, shutter speed 1/90.
The intimacy of a Café is something special to photograph. First of all, you have to be very discrete, because most of the time a Café is like a private home. People feel safe and often they may be silent. Making you more visible as a photographer than on the street among a crowd of people.
Light is a major factor in all kinds of photos. Light is what makes the magic happen. Observing light therefore is very important.
In this situation, the light from the windows lit up some of the room, and also lamps and light bulbs help it on the way and create a certain atmosphere.
The exposure is set for correct skin tones. As close as possible. The rest must fall into darker areas or be a bit overexposed if so. Here it all ends up being a little noir with dark surroundings and the girl as the center of attention in the picture. The red lips. red couch and red colours repeated in the scene help balance colours and make it of extra interest. The devil is in the detail.
The Leica M9 has a certain colour expression even when captured in RAW for full digital information and post-editing. Almost no editing was done with this image.
