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!

Digital and Film: Lima, Perú

I am aware that I'm interrupting my intended project of the Leica typology, but these images came to me as a result of a trip to Lima, Perú (professional conference).  I took with me a Fuji X-Pro 1 with a 23mm/f1.4 lens, and my trustworthy Leica M4-P with an Elmarit 28mm f2.8 (third version).  As the TV show says, "these are their stories..."  Let's begin with the digital material.

 A classic, casually parked across the street from my hotel.

 The cathedral steps.

A street off the Plaza de Armas.

Family at Parque Kennedy in Miraflores. 

 Ketchup texting in Parque Kennedy.

Guard change at the Palacio Nacional (in front of the Plaza de Armas).

Facade in Jirón de la Unión (street between Plaza de Armas and Plaza de San Martín); mostly commercial, but still may have a few interesting scenes (you will see below).

 Sandwich restaurant near Parque Kennedy.  They have a cute ode to the potato on the board right above the counter, and it's no small matter: Perú has a lot of different potato varieties.

 San Francisco church.  Famous for its catacombs (in which photography is not allowed), the church still has a rich interior and an interesting altar.  Not to mention a painting of the Last Supper that features lots of American foods...  Very odd. 

 Miraflores Church, late at night.  It's in a nice park, always busy with people.  Peruvians live in the streets... a lot!

A very fine, gourmet restaurant called "Haiti," near Parque Kennedy. 

Chess players behind a traditional Peruvian fast food joint ("Salchipapas"), on a cool night in Lima. 

My Leica M4-P was loaded with Ilford FP4, which is contrasty and sharp.  I took a walk down the Jirón de la Unión (again) and took a few snaps along the way to the Plaza de San Martín.  For some reason, I felt more comfortable approaching people with the Leica than with the Fuji.  Here, take a peek at the scenes in this area.

 Ice cream vendor (Jirón de la Unión).

Workers on break (Plaza de San Martín)

 Street seller (candy, snacks, cigarettes) in Jirón de la Unión.

 Money changer.  They are perfectly legal and operate in the streets of Lima.  They're dressed in such a way that they advertise the currencies they handle. 

Young indigenous woman selling traditional candy near San Francisco.  She agreed to pose for me after I purchased three packs of her stuff.  It wasn't bad...  BTW, this is the only shot I made with the Konica 90mm f2.8 I had with.

There we go.  Soon enough, before returning to the Leica typology project, I'll share with you some of the images I managed to make in Europe this last May-June 2017.  In the meanwhile, feel free to comment below!