Nothing Urgent, Just Time
A California Road trip photography zine by Mike Chudley
Nothing Urgent, Just Time - A California Photography Zine by Mike Chudley
This zine is a collection of my favourite photographs from a week road trip in California. 3 days in San Fransisco and 4 days exploring the desert. What can only be described as one of the most meaningful weeks of my life. This photography trip was everything I wanted it to be. First of all, I proposed to Hannah on the 1st day and she said yes. What followed was 6 more days of photography, exploring abandoned ghost towns, snowy mountains and meeting some of the loveliest people possible.
Nothing Urgent, Just Time - These photos are about being somewhere without needing to be anywhere. Time that belongs to no one, least of all your to do list.
Only 200 available.
Specifications:
Size: 6” by 7.5”
Cover: 250gsm Silk with Matt Lamination
Pages: 55 inside pages onto 130gsm Silk
Images: 33 full-colour images
Available Worldwide.
“Hands down, this is some of the best work that Mike has produced! Brilliant!” - Chris R
The Perfect High Contrast B&W Preset
This preset is my attempt to recreate the Leica HC B&W profile as faithfully as possible inside Lightroom and then push it just a little further with added texture and a touch more contrast.
This is my new favourite B&W look I’ve seen from a preset… obviously I’m biased.
The Perfect High Contrast B&W Preset (in my opinion)
If you shoot Leica, you already know the HC Black & White picture profile. It’s how I always use my M11 - the high contrast black white helps emphasise light, shadow, highlights, shapes, form and ultimately improve my compositions on the move.
Looking at the regular coloured picture profiles doesn’t do much for me whilst shooting. They’re almost boring in a way that makes no difference to how I see.
But there’s something very satisfying and helpful about the crunchy pop of contrast from the b&w profile. But here’s my issue… I am always shooting RAW, probably like you.
That beautiful high contrast preview disappears the moment you open Lightroom and start developing, and you're left staring at a full colour file. Most of the time that's fine I end up with final colour photographs around 70% of the time.
But for the other 30%, when the shoe fits, you know it needs to be black and white and I want that previous Leica b&w look. But it's gone.
So I built this preset.
This preset is my attempt to recreate the Leica HC B&W profile as faithfully as possible inside Lightroom - and then push it just a little further with added texture and a touch more contrast, making it my new favourite B&W look i’ve seen from a preset… obviously i’m biased.
How I Made It:
This wasn't just a case of desaturating a file and tweaking the tone curve. To get this right, I shot against a colour card and painstakingly matched how the Leica HC B&W profile converts each colour into grey. The shade of grey that red becomes. The shade that green becomes. Skin tones. Sky. Foliage. Each one needed to be precise, so that when you drop this preset onto a colour RAW file, the tonal relationships match, as closely as possible what the Leica profile would have produced in-camera.
Combined with the Adobe Monochrome profile in Lightroom, the result is consistent and reliable across a range of camera files - not just Leica. I've tested it across multiple systems and it looks great to me.
This is the B&W preset I've been using personally for months. It's dialled.
What You Get:
XMP file for Lightroom desktop
DNG file for Lightroom mobile
Signature Focal Point Short Straps:
In collaboration with Studio J|A, we created a set of handcrafted camera straps designed for photographers who value simplicity, quality, and purpose.
Each strap was made from soft, premium leather in Germany by my friend’s father — a retired leather craftsman with decades of experience in high-end fashion and leatherwork.
Minimal by design, comfortable in hand, and produced in limited numbers, these straps marked the first-ever Focal Point release.
Thank you to everyone who ordered the straps, I appreciate you being part of this first chapter.
A huge thank you to Studio J|A for working with me on this project!
"Photography isn't just light and shapes" | The Photography of Mike Abrahams