Salamanca in Black and White

The beauty Spain offers is its light... Some may call it strong or harsh, but it's also a challenge, and it offers a lot of situations like the one above, in which one wonders where to meter and what to do. Since I wanted to show the contrast and still reveal some detail in the shadow areas, I metered on the sunny spot, then on the dark, and negotiated a comfortable middle ground... only to give it a little more aperture.  The result is this (which still needed a little tweaking with Photoshop): a nice corner in Salamanca, with an unsuspecting pedestrian to offer the human dimension.  

This is a contrast of old and new, very often done and overdone... but I liked it and here it is. I was after the great display of clouds in the sky. 

The odd effect of the sun on old stone appears here on this detail of the cathedral of Salamanca.  Again, a metering challenge (which zone is brighter?).  I ended up taking a reading off the wall in the center of the frame, as I figured it'd be the most prominent in the final image.   

The inside courtyard of the Salamanca cathedral.  There's a number of small chapels and rooms around it, but the light creates a particularly inspiring effect in the corridors. 

Salamanca Plaza Mayor.  We were there a bit too early for the local "marcha", which explains the chairs unused and still piled up.  I like this image simply because it offers a certain geometry in the interplay of straight and curve lines, light and shadow, and an inevitable touristy or post-cardy look to it.  Who cares!  I saw it, liked it, photographed it and now I'm considering printing it and framing it and hanging it. 

I began with the interplay of light and shadow, and so I end.  This is Salamanca, a street on the way to the famous bridge over the Tormes river.  I was walking lost in thought, lifted my head and saw the shape of a house cut on a corner.  "Why not photograph it?" I thought.  So, here it is.

For the next post I may dig some images from previous trips or experiences, whether local or abroad, done with my M4-2 or any other Leica.  There's going to be a theme: metering.  

BTW, even though I don't find it absolutely necessary, these images were all done with my faithful friend, my Leica M4-2 and my Konica Hexanon 35mm f2, on Kodak BW400CN film.  No longer made, alas, but then, I'm switching to other choices and exploring other possibilities. 

A wider perspective

Sometimes it's easy to forget things... like other lenses.  So, this post is meant to remember them.  In this case, a nice, wide and fast lens I happen to have: a Voigtländer Ultron 28mm f2.  I had it with me on February 2014, when I went to Chicago and made these images with my Leica M4-2 and this lens. 

The first image is "The Zebra Zone."  A man crossing the street on Wabash Avenue, followed by "Under the L" (also in Wabash).  Then comes "The Downward Spiral," a photograph inside the Chicago Cultural Center, of the staircase near their main exhibition hall.  At the end, "Benches Horizon," a man sitting in the row of benches close to the walkway that goes from Millennium Park to the Art Institute of Chicago. 

Is there a substantial difference between a 28 and a 35?  I tend to shoot with the latter, it simply comes natural to me.  About 10 years ago I acquired a 28mm Elmarit, and used it occasionally when I went on trips, but never quite bonded with it.  When I got this one (which I really didn't need, but wanted a companion for an M4-P I purchased some time ago), I decided to challenge myself and "learn" to see the world through a wider perspective.  I think I managed to succeed... but only because I learned to get closer.  That's the odd quality of this focal length: at the same time you can get closer to your subjects, it still gives a lot of foreground and perspective.  In short, a "wider" closeness...  Strange?  Sure, it is, but you'll have to allow it this time. 

To think I was wearing a heavy coat when I took these photographs...

Coming soon, photos made with my M4-P.  And also coming soon: the arrival of a new Leica M4, and the return of the prodigal Leica M2, this time in black paint.  Of course, what really matters is the photographs one can make with tools like this one (taken by the seller of the camera):

See you soon!