Two Days in One Roll

During our last stay in Madrid I was a bit more cautious with film.  From experience, I have seen that the more I return to the same places, the more I take the same photographs, and there's only so many shots of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid one can take, no matter how eerie the light effect.  In past visits, I had burned two, or even two and a half rolls in a single 10-hour day.  This time—summer of 2018—I felt a lot less generous and more selective, as you can see here: here are some selected photographs from one single roll of film (Kenmere ISO 100), spanning two days in Madrid.  As you may have surmised, the camera used was a Leica M4-P, with an Elmarit 28mm f2.8.  

 Not too early, not too late... at the post stamp market in the Madrid Plaza Mayor.

 Buyer, Post Stamp "mercadillo" at the Plaza Mayor, Madrid.

 The market actually offers a vast array of used or antique items, and browsing can be fun.

T-shirts in another institution of Madrid: "El rastro"

Backstore in "El rastro"

 Musicians parading/performing at "El rastro"

Abundance of things strange... "El rastro"

"La casa de las navajas" bar, near where "El rastro" gets assembled on weekends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "Chotis" dancers in Plaza Isabel II, Madrid, on a Sunday afternoon. 

 Young opera singers, Calle Arenal

Magician at the Puerta del Sol

 Feminist demonstration at the Puerta del Sol

 Young women walking down Puerta del Sol at dusk.

 Young patrons at Café de la Opera

Man checking cell phone on Campomanes Street, following day

 Young woman on Gran Vía, following day (hip shot)

Young woman, Calle San Isidro

 

Here's the end of that roll (Sunday and Monday, if I remember correctly).  These are, to me, the ones that deserve some attention.  As for the rest... they'll do fine as long as they stay buried in my computer.  So long!

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!  

Spain through the wide angle

I am back from Spain, from surgery, from a long hiatus... and ready to post some photographs taken with my Leica M4-P, and an Elmarit 28mm f2.8, in Spain, during the summer of 2018 (quite a while ago!).

First of all, I must say I'm not much of a 28mm shooter.  It's too wide for my taste, and I find that I'm wasting a lot of the frame in every photograph.  Granted, I want some atmosphere in my photos, but I'm not entirely able to do what I want, and enjoy it, with this lens. 

See for yourselves...

 

Calle de la Trinidad

Locals in the Ayuntamiento Plaza

 

People in the Ayuntamiento Plaza

 

Texting while walking down Sto Tomé (with Konica 90mm f2.8 lens)

 

Shopping for souvenirs on Calle Sto Tomé

Girl and her family on street

 

Chispita, the dog, and her owner

 

Steps of the Iglesia de San Ildefonso

  

Performer in front of Alex Restaurant

Toledo cat (with a Konica 90mm f2.8 lens)

Of course, I will add more shots later, from other places I visited in this trip.  For now, these come from Toledo, during my first week.  Again, thanks to the light, a lot of these images were shot with very small aperture on relatively slow film (Kenmere ISO 100).  

Until the next upload!

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. 

Madrid at Night

In early August 2016, we were saying good-bye to Spain, we were giving our farewells to Madrid, spending time around the Plaza Mayor, having something to eat in Plaza Santa Ana and then walking back to our hotel. 

That's when I made these photographs. Most of them shot at 1/60 or 1/30, lens wide open.

 

 Plaza Mayor side street.

  

 Light effect in Plaza Mayor

 Serenade in Plaza Santa Ana

 Waiter and customers at a restaurant near Plaza Mayor.

The lights of Café de Oriente, right in front of Palacio de Oriente, at dusk.

All these shots were done in relatively slow film (ISO 100, Kentmere stuff).  I was expecting somewhat fuzzy stuff but instead I got these very nice, sharp images. Even with the lens wide open, the sharpness is quite surprising. Look at the very first photograph and the waiter's image to see. 

Coming up soon, more Madrid images (night and day), along with photographs from Toledo and Avila, another medieval city.  These are all images that came from my most recent stay, this summer of 2016. Some of them needed just minimal level adjustment to hike the contrast up.  This means, to me at least, that my meter and my own eye-meter have been working fairly well... which is a reason to be happy.  I will return soon!