Back home and back here

Here I am, back from another stay in Spain, and ready to post some more images from my 2014 trip. I realized that the longer I wait for "good shots" to post, the less I use this blog, so here we go with the first (see above): a photograph of the "Calle del Arco [de la catedral]" which leads directly to the cathedral and the city hall in Toledo, Spain.

I checked out a few maps and they showed this alley having the suggestive name of "Callejón del Orate" (something like "Madman's Alley").  However, in this last visit I noticed it having a name plate that said "Callejón del Nuncio Viejo"... because it ends in the "Calle del Nuncio Viejo."  Talk about disappointment! I really liked the initial name a whole lot better but facts (and names) are facts.

Street light in the corner of "Plaza Granada" and "Calle de la Sinagoga" in Toledo. Actually, the medium grey of the lower half of the wall is a very vivid red.

Would anyone believe this window is part of the "Callejón del Orate" shown above?  It's part of the wealth of Toledo, in terms of light, and shadow plays that abound in the city, not to mention the contrast between very old structures and relatively new constructions.  

I should spend more time in the Plaza de Zocodover, which is the main hub of commercial, social and human activity in Toledo (at least for those of us non-residents).  Lots of stores prey on tourists and offer overpriced junk, alternating with legitimate businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies. This dress was for sale at a place run by Chinese folks; they offer the noisiest, funkiest, loudest and not necessarily prettiest junk in town... to their own.

This time I will keep posting shots from my Toledo excursion of June-July 2014, done with (as you imagined) Leica M4-2.  I will also alternate them with photographs from other places and other times, while I wait for my newer shots from my most recent trip. Stay put and bookmark this blog if you haven't done it.  

Mixed Bag

This time we'll go for a few photographs from different rolls, different cameras.  Let's begin with an obvious choice...

If you guessed it's the M4-2 with a Hexanon 35mm lens... you have a good eye!  It also helps that this is the view of the Ayuntamiento de Toledo, during a time there was an art installation in town that was supposed to do precisely what I managed to photograph: a reflection.  I have no idea about the exposure, but I feel kinda proud of it.

Now... let's move onto something else.

This is the street where I live, on a very foggy fall day.  The camera... is a challenge now, but suffice it to say it's not any of my Leicas but the Nikon S2 with its 50mm f1.4 lens.  I no longer do much in color since the only reliable lab (oddly enough, in Walgreen's) closed shop.  I probably would have tried to keep it in business, but the corporate forces chose to remove it from our midst.  However, one never knows... I may try to do some photographs in slower film like Ektar, instead of the usual Kodak or Fuji ISO 400 (used here).

For another challenge, let's take a peek at this one:

Experience has taught me how to meter in cases like the one above: for the effect I wanted (strong contrasts), I metered for the highlights.  And the camera... is one Leica M4, fitted with a Summicron 50mm.  Mimi, one of our cats, likes taking in the sunrays right at the entrance door of the house, and that's what she was doing at the moment of taking this photograph.  Kind of domestic poetry... or prosaic bliss...

BTW, the camera used above is now in California, in the hands of another photographer that will take care of it better than I did.  Now, however, I do have yet another M4, as announced in a post below.  It came in late May, and I used it to make the images below (with a Summilux 35mm or a Summicron 50mm)...

Chairs in Fürther Strasse, Nürnberg (Leica M4, Summicron 50mm)

 Entrance to Metro Station, Nürnberg (Leica M4, Summicron 50mm)

 Splitting Logs, Viking style, Roskilde, Denmark (Leica M4, Summilux 35mm)

 Bärenschance Metro Station Stairs, Nürnberg (Leica M4, Summilux 35mm)

The biggest difference in the way the images right above were made, compared to the earlier ones, is that I decided to change film speed, and use Arista ISO 100 instead.  Now, I did something quite risky, which was take all my stock of new film in a trip, without testing anything first.  Hence, I had no idea about how it would react to my sometimes bad metering, or whether it'd be tolerant to over- or under- exposure.  For all practical purposes, the only ISO 400 film I took with was an old roll of HP5 that I promptly burned in the first stage of our trip, Copenhagen.  All in all, when I saw the results, I was very pleased.  Not only that, I intend to stay with ISO 100 film for as long as I can before I choose something else.

One final note: I didn't develop the last four photographs (something I had intended to do).  Instead, I sent them to a place called The Darkroom, all the way in California.  Judging from the results, I can recommend most enthusiastically.  They do a nice and careful job with your photographs.

Soon enough, some gear porn.  I have now my Leica M2, in addition to a new(ish) Leica M4 (which I had to re-cover, as the leatherette was old enough to crack on me during our trip), and a nice Konica 90mm f2.8 lens.  This will be the last glass I ever buy!  In fact, I'm contemplating a couple of sales... but I won't bore anyone with that.  Stay cool if you're hot, and warm if you're cold!

Posting Images

Some images from the recent past. 

Some day in September 2014, Edmund, my son, and I, managed to catch a rehearsal of the Huskies Band in front of the NIU Art Building. 

We were on our way to the NIU lagoon when we saw them arrive to the lawn in front of the Art Building.  There's Edmund watching them go by.

The big drums pay attention to the conductor's instructions.

Big brass is always fun to photograph.  Here, I metered on the tuba, but opened one stop to compensate for the brightness of the sky.

The conductor leading the band.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, and quite agreeable in terms of temperature.  Here ended my roll (this is exposure 35, I think), and I think it was a good end to it. 

Of course, the camera was my M4-2, and the film was Kodak chromogenic BW400CN, recently discontinued. 

Shameless Plug

I'm talking about the stuff I use, that helps me do what I do, at least when it comes to photography.  Hence, I'm going to plug (shamelessly) some products, with the only authority I have, which is that I own them. 

First, my cameras.  But then, if you're reading this post, you're in the choir and there's no need to convert you. 

Second, my film.

I used (and still use what's left of it) Agfa stuff.  I liked it because I found the tonal range quite satisfactory, the grain was extremely fine, and it allowed me to push it even three stops (and I did this a few times).  When Agfa folded, then I bought the Arista II stuff, which was supposed to be leftovers from the big red-and-blue German A.  But all good things had to come to an end, and Agfa-Arista flew off the shelves...  That was bad...

So, I switched back to the manufacturer that got me started: Ilford.  Since I was looking for a fast type, I picked HP5 to try.  It wasn't bad...  Comparable to the Agfa-Arista in my eyes, just a tad less... something (like less contrasty, but then, developing also has to do with that).  I chose to stick to it, given that APX was history.  

That was fun, I'll say.  Shortly after all the lamentations and regrets were old news, I found something out: my idol of silver emulsion has feet of clay because it curves like an art nouveau design.  By that I mean that after developing, while drying, it won't remain flat, it picks a very curvy profile.  I remember having scanned some negs years ago, with an HP scanner I used to have, and got some very nice photographs that were simply unprintable because of all the Newton rings on them.  Now, after being forced to choose the home developing route, I wasn't feeling like dealing with more of those nasty things again...  But what to do then?

Find out...

So, I scanned a small batch of Arista-Agfa that I had developed some time ago.  Not even after being in the negative storage leaves had they learned the lesson... They were just as curved as... as curves.  However, I followed the directions in my Epson V500 (yes, I know, old model) and, voilà!  There we are: nice scans, without Newton rings.

So, here's where I finish plugging my (unavailable) film, to promote my scanner.  Sure, it's old, and according to the ScanDig site, a relatively modest machine.  But this humble scanner worked on my curvy negs and gave me nice images in return, so, praise the Lord and thank him for Epson film scanners, even if they're old!

But in the end, the film story takes an unexpected turn.  Remember how my favorite film had this undesired curve profile?  And how afraid I was about scanning because it would give me artifacts?  Guess what about the replacement stuff, the HP5?

It won't curve...

I checked and double checked some 24 hours ago.  The sleeved negatives in Agfa-Arista look like they were molded that way, while the ones from Ilford stock aren't that bent.  In fact, some are nicely flat.  Well, to me those are good news, and that also means that Ilford films deserve a nice plug here, there and everywhere.  What else can I expect?  They're not terribly grainy, and they have a nice range... and, it seems to me, they can be push-processed also...  Heck, looks to me I'm going to stock fairly nice amounts of HP5. 

Also, since I'd like to use a lens that would allow my fast glass to show some OOF areas under daytime light, I'll see to pick some FP4, ISO 125 film.  I know it won't curve, and it'll be nice to scan it in my V500. 

So, right now, I'm a happy guy, ready to continue developing and scanning film.  There's a huge backlog, but now I know there's an end to it. 

PS.  All the photographs above were made, like the ones in the previous post, with my M4-2, a Zeiss Biogon lens, and finally curved Arista II film.  The meter I used was a Sekonic L-208.  Location?  Sure: Madison, WI, on early October 2014.  

Home developed and scanned

My experiment on independence finally came to fruition.  

In October 2014 I went to a conference in Madison, WI, and took with my M4-2, and a newly acquired Zeiss Biogon 35mm f2, with lots of Arista film.  I developed the film later that month, and had to deal with the ugly curving that results from lack of humidity in the bathroom where it dries.  Then, I had to overcome my reluctance to scan (bad experience with Newton rings with a previous scanner).  However, I had to face my demons and scanned a few frames... and here's the results.

The night I arrived I went for a walk, looking for a place to have dinner.  Found it in this old establishment on State St, called... yes, State Street Brats (1/30, f2.8 on ISO 400 film).

For my last day of the conference, I walked all the way to the Capitol and decided to perambulate the area.  When I looked up, the intense blue sky, architecture and curvy lamp post hit me... and decided to hit back (1/1000, f5.6). 

Part of the charm of Madison is the Saturday Farmer's Market, for which people of all walks, colors and persuasions congregate around food, strolls and street shows.  Here are some musicians setting up shop not too far from the capitol (1/1000, f5.6-8)

I've been scanning some more film, so you'll get to see other photographs, in luminous black-and-white, from my M4-2 with the Zeiss or Konica 35mm, and from my M4-P with the CV 28mm f2 I got earlier in 2014. 
 

Made in Spain

This summer of 2014 I was in Spain, family and all, with a group of undergraduate students from my university.  Needless to say, I took a film body.  Again, needless to say, it was not any other Leica but the one this blog was started for: my M4-2 (and its inseparable companion, the Hexanon 35mm f2 lens). 

Here are some of the results from Madrid.

Plaza Mayor, weekly market

Custom-Made Poem, made by artist at the famous El Rastro, in Madrid.

Antique vendor in El Rastro

I just liked the textures under the intense sun in Madrid.

The lady on the bicycle saw me prefocus from a distance and smiled.

Plaza Isabel II at night (I think this was done with the lens wide open and at 1/50th or 1/30th of a second).

Light in Spain offers never ending opportunities.  Here's what I saw in Toledo during my stay.

Light leaking from a corner...

Light drawing boundaries between wall and ground.

The few times it seems to be uniform or even, one has to move fast...

It also creates beautiful effects... every day.

And I learned that nothing says "light" louder than pleasant shadows.

And nothing says weird better than shadows too!

A farewell to Toledo: night in the Plaza de Zocodover.

So, even though I'm slightly dissappointed (frankly, I expected better from myself), all in all, it could have been worse.  I learned something from this: not to repeat myself.  I don't know how many times I took the same photograph (the canopy over the street), but then... it's such a pleasant experience to do it that I may end up doing it again... and you, my brethren, my reader, will be glad to waive your finger at me and say "I told you so..."

Until then, thanks for your patience and have a very merry Christmas!

Tilted frame

Even if I have a 35mm eternally attached to most of my camera bodies (my two M5s have it, and so do my M4 and M4-2, and one of my M6TTL), not always am I able to "take it all" in the frame.  Some times I have the need to tilt the camera in order to capture what I want within the frame.

All these photographs were made with my Konica Hexanon lens, with the exception of the 4th and 5th, in which I used a Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f2.
I do like the tilting of the frame; to me, it shows a slightly different view, less conventional, a bit quirky.  Hence, I do it often, and sometimes even in vertical.  If I find the ones I have in mind, I'll post them.  In the meanwhile, let me know if you have done this, when and why.

After a long absence...

It's been so long... and I don't want to look it up, because it's slightly embarrassing to have abandoned this blog for so long.  In any event, having these amateurish photographs stolen made me angry and blew the wind off my sails so bad that I simply didn't even want to look at this blog or share them again... ever.

But here I am anyway.  Readers or not, this will be an active blog, just the way I wanted it to be in the past.

In the meanwhile, let's get to the images:

This image is Miller St in DeKalb, IL, in early January, after a very snowy night.  Of course, I used my M4-2 and Hexanon 35 f2 lens, and Ilford XP2.

Possibly that same day, this fountain in Huntley Park, looked attractive enough to deserve a shot.

Tree shadow in my neighborhood.  I gave a two or three-stop compensation exposure (from f11 to f4), for this shot.