Faisal is a San Francisco based lifestyle photographer who currently shoots with a Leica M 240 rangefinder camera. These are his thoughts.
Leica Q2
Leica was kind enough to send me a Q2 to play with for a couple weeks. The Q2 is their followup to the cult classic 28mm fixed-frame Q that launched back in 2015. I remember being in London the day the original Q was announced and I rushed over to Leica Mayfair to check it out. I ended up purchasing one for myself a few months later once they were able to be purchased through the stores after being sold out for months.
Fast forward to 2019 when Leica announced the highly anticipated Q2. How does one make something so great even greater? Leica decided to develop a new sensor with a higher resolution sensor, add better weather sealing, and a host of other practical enhancements that make the camera even more pleasant to use. As soon as I received the Q2 in the mail, I took it out to a Porsche event I frequent to capture some of the cool classics that make their way through it. Despite being a wide angle lens at 28mm, the Q2 also excels at macro photography which you can see in some of the photographs of watches towards the end.
Neighborhood Alfa
Stumbled across this Alfa Romeo Juliet on my way home from work.
Stumbled across this Alfa Romeo Juliet on my way home from work.
A Date With Two Alfa Romeos
I'm not usually a morning person, but a few days ago I woke up at the crack of dawn, downed an espresso, grabbed my cameras, and hauled my way towards Ocean Beach. I was meeting with Steve from GTO Engineering to capture the morning with a couple of Alfa Romeos in San Francisco. When I got there, I was introduced to two beautiful examples of Alfa Romeo at its peak, a 1967 Duetto Spider and Giulia coupé, both in varying shades of a classic Italian red color. The Giulia was in pristine condition, an excellent example of the car and a tribute to classic Italian sports cars. The Duet, on the other hand, was a bit of a different story, as it had seen better days. San Francisco is a tough city to own a car in, let alone several cars, and because of this, the Duetto was parked outdoors for much of its adult lifetime. Despite this, it was indeed refreshing to see a car that was driven regularly and put to its uses, rather than one that was in immaculate condition but spent its life in a garage.
I'm not usually a morning person, but a few days ago I woke up at the crack of dawn, downed an espresso, grabbed my cameras, and hauled my way towards Ocean Beach. I was meeting with Steve from GTO Engineering to capture the morning with a couple of Alfa Romeos in San Francisco. When I got there, I was introduced to two beautiful examples of Alfa Romeo at its peak, a 1967 Duetto Spider and Giulia coupé, both in varying shades of a classic Italian red color. The Giulia was in pristine condition, an excellent example of the car and a tribute to classic Italian sports cars. The Duet, on the other hand, was a bit of a different story, as it had seen better days. San Francisco is a tough city to own a car in, let alone several cars, and because of this, the Duetto was parked outdoors for much of its adult lifetime. Despite this, it was indeed refreshing to see a car that was driven regularly and put to its uses, rather than one that was in immaculate condition but spent its life in a garage.
Right off the bat, we headed from Ocean Beach to the Cliff House near Land's End to snap a few photos coming down the bend and also in front of the iconic San Francisco restaurant. The weather was perfect, but unusual for this part of the city. Ocean Beach is usually drowning in fog in the mornings, so we were all surprised to see such a clear sky. The vibrant blues of the sky contrasted and complimented the reds on both cars exceptionally well, and result in a very bold rendering of the images taken there.
We then ventured east to capture the Alfas in a part of town that was representative of their original years — Haight-Ashbury, which during the 1960's was the place to be. Seeing as how the two cars were heading down to Monterey for the 50th anniversary of the Monterey International Pop Festival, the timing couldn't have been any better. Posted along the streetlights were banners from the Summer of Love which complimented the cars perfectly.
Last on our agenda was the legendary Grateful Dead House, for obvious reasons. We initially tried taking photos at the wrong house, but eventually, a hippy VW tour bus came by and put us on the right path. This was a solid ending to a fun morning.
As always, if you enjoy these photos, you can see more on my Instagram.
All shot with a Leica M 240 and Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical Lens.
An Early Morning at Canepa Design
I can never understand why car folks insist on getting together at the crack of dawn, but once in a while I'll convince myself to do so and make it out to some events. Nestled in the dens Santa Cruz Mountains, Canepa Design boasts one of the most impressive car collections out there. On any given day, they'll have an handful of Porsche 959s, 917s (in various trim), BMW M1s, and 300 SL's, all just casually laid out throughout the shop's showroom and garages. Here are a few shots from this past Saturday's Cars & Coffee event. Hope you enjoy them.
I can never understand why car folks insist on getting together at the crack of dawn, but once in a while I'll convince myself to do so and make it out to some events. Nestled in the dens Santa Cruz Mountains, Canepa Design boasts one of the most impressive car collections out there. On any given day, they'll have an handful of Porsche 959s, 917s (in various trim), BMW M1s, and 300 SL's, all just casually laid out throughout the shop's showroom and garages. Here are a few shots from this past Saturday's Cars & Coffee event. Hope you enjoy them.
EASY Vintage Porsche Event
Even since stumbling upon The Drive's article on the monthly EASY (European Auto Salvage Yard) event, I've been looking forward to checking out the Bay Area's leading vintage Porsche meet up.
Even since stumbling upon The Drive's article on the monthly EASY (European Auto Salvage Yard) event, I've been looking forward to checking out the Bay Area's leading vintage Porsche meet up.
