Sunny Avila, then Salamanca

From Toledo we made our way to Avila, via Madrid.  By train, Avila is a couple of hours away and on the way to Salamanca. It's a beautiful walled city, relatively untouched, but sophisticate enough to offer to a traveler bits of history, folklore and enjoyment.  We enjoyed a remarkably sunny weather, which helped created these images (again, Leica M4-P with an Elmarit 28mm f2.8).

Legs, sunny Plaza Mayor in Avila (cropped)

Selfie in the Plaza Mayor, Avila

At the Mercado in Avila

Bar hardware, street in Avila

Lady back from shopping and walking across the Plaza Mayor

Bar, near Plaza Mayor

Tourists in front of the Avila cathedral

 

 

Photo above... from a café in Salamanca that was next door to our hotel (this place served excellent food).  Not a whole lot in terms of privacy, but then, during the summer and eating at a restaurant terrace, privacy is rather hard to get. More with the same rig, but this time from the college town of Salamanca, some distance away from Avila and far more populous and active. 

ATM line in Salamanca. Almost only women...

Popular place for a bocadillo or snack: Viandas de Salamanca offers bocadillos de jamón, queso and both. Their answer to American fast food... but faster and better.

I am really happy this image turned out. So much that I may have posted it before. Dancers in Salamanca's Plaza Mayor.  In case you care, the exposure was 1/8 at f2.8 on Kenmere ISO film.

Young lady assessing her shopping choices in Salamanca

On the way to the river Tajo, one finds this corner that tends to create a dramatic contrast at almost any time of the day.  I wonder if this building existed in the Lazarillo's day...

Here we are for now.  If I don't find any more images from Spain, I promise to post something new, be it local (from DeKalb) or from any other trip.  Who knows, I still have a nice inventory of images from the M4-2 and its Hexanon. In the meantime, feel free to comment, share, gossip or guffaw. 

Darkess and Some Light

For those who may believe that night shots can be done only with a fast lens, here's proof of the contrary.  In fact, my Elmarit 28mm (along with my Konica 90mm f2.8) performed admirably under the circumstances.  Here's something to ponder...

Light on Calle de Comercio, Toledo (Konica 90mm)

 Light and Cathedral tower, Toledo

Walls in Avila at night

 End or beginning of Calle de Comercio, Toledo

Bench in the dark, Avila

 Still challenging lighting... Man in Viandas store, Toledo

 People at the Plaza Mayor, Salamanca

 Plaza Mayor, Salamanca

Dancers at the Plaza Mayor, Salamanca

Again, the proof is in the pudding.  The last two photographs were done with the lens wide open at f2.8, and at a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second.  The final product got a little enhancement in Photoshop (just a tweak in exposure).  Do we absolutely need a Noctilux for this kind of images?  Not really... but a steady hand helps quite a bit. 

I'll do my best to post more soon!  

Toledo and Avila, sun and shadows

Here are some street shots from Toledo and Avila... or rather streetscapes.  Again, the tools were my Leica M2, a Zeiss 35mm f2 lens and my reliable Sekonic L-86 meter.  Most of these are from July 2016, while we were in Spain with a remarkably nice group of students.

Girls in a swing in the playground of Plaza Juan de Mariana, in front of my favorite café.

Damasquinado (Toledo's exclusive handcraft) demonstrated in a small store.

I seem to remember that this photograph represents an area near the Plaza Tendillas in Toledo.

Calle Santo Tomé was always intensely lit by a strong light. It's an interesting place littered with small stores and eateries, and leads to the church that houses El Greco's Entierro del Conde de Orgaz.

Smaller but just as proud, Avila boasts a singular Jewish neighborhood. This photograph comes from a spot on the way there.

Man entering Avila's Plaza Mayor.

Nuns crossing the Plaza Mayor in Avila.

I still have a series of photographs in the bag.  These are the ones I'd like to share right now mostly because I'm impatient.  However, I'll post another group (mixed bag) and, if I can, I'll explain my metering criteria. BTW, before I forget, my lens was protected with a nice yellow B&W filter.  Not the darkest, but enough to add one stop for exposure compensation.