Back to Toledo, Spain

Just for the sake of posting... and because I like looking at my photos in this blog (hopefully, some of you too).  Later edit: all these photos were taken with my Leica M4-P and an Elmarit 28mm f2.8 lens, unless otherwise noted.

Pedestrian on Calle Sto Tomé

Street light (with Konica 90mm) on Sto. Tomé

Dook knocker, Calle Sto. Tomé

Ugly spot in town... still prettier than many places elsewhere (Judería)

Alley near Sto. Tomé (my favorite street in Toledo, it seems)

Map reading woman

Musician on Calle del Arco

Vinos y cervezas

Friends on Calle Nuncio Viejo

By the way, the last image shows two friends who remember us every time we return to Toledo. On the left, the owner of the store "Aladin" (across the street), and next to him, in white, the owner of a small souvenir bazaar who sells great t-shirts and small crafts (cannot recall the name of his store).  They're both nice people, who make our lives in Spain pleasant and enjoyable.  And on that note... I leave for now.  Soon, new photos from Avila and Salamanca!

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!

Trip down memory lane: Occupy Wall Street in Chicago, 2011

A few weeks ago I sent some undeveloped rolls of film to the lab (in case you care, it's The Darkroom, in CA), and when I looked at the scans I found a little surprise.

It turns out that in October or November 2011 we spent a weekend in Chicago.  Of course, I took with one of my Leicas, the one that got out the least, a nice M3.  However, I also included (just for the heck of it) my then newly acquired Canon 50mm f1.2.  After a Saturday of sights and meals and visiting Central Camera in Wabash St., my wife and son wanted to take a rest, but I went out for a walk.

This is what I came back with, stored in a roll of Arista II ISO 400.  Of course, the first image is the interior of Central Camera back then (it hasn't changed much, but then, I haven't been there for some time).

Central Camera in Chicago.

Occupy Wall Street protesters in Chicago's LaSalle St.

 

 

Protesters holding signs.

 

Holding out for Free Speech!

Protesters on the ground.

Couple with sign.

Protester with flag

All these folks were congregated around the LaSalle street area, which is still the financial center in the Loop. But their activities were largely pacific; they weren't vociferous or even loud.  Besides, it was late in the evening.  The lens helped, though, and it was interesting to shoot with shutterspeeds as fast as 1/125 wide open. 

Are we back where we started?  Will it get worse?  At this point there have been far more demonstrations (and for different reasons) than after Obama's inauguration in 2008.  The passage of time is very evident now... even in this blog!  But we'll hang in there, because life is too beautiful to ignore it, and photography still offers an outlet when everything else fails.

Montmartre, Rive Gauche... neighborhoods or theme parks?

During the time I spent in Paris in 2017, I went to Montmartre, the quintessential Parisian neighborhood, home to renegades, artists, and renegade artists.  While I walked there (as much as I could, considering my impaired ankles) I wondered to what extent is the survival and identity of this area turned it into a kind of theme part about Paris in the 19th century.  Any ideas?  Take a look...

The carrousel that one meets upon exiting Abbesses, the metro station at the foot of the Montmartre hill.  It is, indeed, the Montmatre carrousel.

 

Poster store at the butte de Montmartre. 

Artist at work near the Place du Tertre.  He's not the only one in Montmatre.

Just as idealized as Montmartre is the Left Bank or Rive Gauche, with a number of spots that evoke (or rather scream) "Hey, this is an old place!"  From façades to cafés and park benches, there's an air of old things... But it is by no means something to dismiss. 

Gates of the Hotel de Ville. 

Street performer on the Ponte d'Arcole, a block away fron Nôtre Dame.  He's an unwilling prop in this strange museum... or just making a living?

Window corner of a building near the Ponte d'Arcole.  

Selfie takers at the Ponte d'Arcole, whose presence and attitudes only contribute to turn the place into a weird theme park... of sorts.

Now, both places have their very distinct areas and features.  Here's something from Montmartre.

People on the steps at the feet of Sacre Coeur.

One of the many stores and eateries in the windy streets around the basilique.  The "frogs"... 

Tables and a lone city hiker.

This air pervades the whole town... Is that the reason for its appeal?

Place de la République Dominicaine near Parc Monceau.  Those beautiful, impressive buildings exude old fashioned class...

This is the Café Courcelles, in the boulevard of the same name, at a place where two more streets meet.

The reason for the flags is that here, at the Passage des Ateliers, there's a flag making store (in addition to a wine bar and restaurant, and a few artists ateliers).

Whatever the answer, the city's charms remain unquestioned.  Perhaps it is always appealing because of its size, which seems adequate to human proportions and never overwhelms its visitors (no matter how large its museums and other places may be).  

In any case, as if it were necessary to say but I still want to add it, all the images above were made with a Leica M4, a Zeiss Biogon 35mm f2 lens, and a Sekonic L-208 meter in hand on Kenmere ISO 100 film (and, if not, Ilford FP4).

Paris and the 35mm Zeiss lens

During the summer of 2017 I had foot surgery, but before going in the hospital I spent some two weeks in Paris, and a few days in Germany afterwards. All that time I had with me two cameras: my Nikon D700 (with my AF 24-120 f4 zoom), and my Leica M4, with a Zeiss 35mm f2 and a 90mm f2.8 lens made by Konica.  For metering, I took a recently (back then) acquired Sekonic L-208 that can be small, discrete and accurate.  Film?  A mixed bag, but mostly Kenmore ISO 100 and Ilford FP4 (exposed at ISO 125).

Here, the photographs...

 Place St Julien Le Pauvre.  Artist setting up his work for sale.

 Place des Vosges.  Girl reading.  For this one, I used a Konica Hexanon 90mm f2.8 lens.

Place des Vosges.  Corridor and man.

The light was at all times intense and bright, but there were exceptions and places in which I was able to get (interesting) exposures with a bit more contrast, and an air definitely French, or at least continental.  Like these ones...

Men conversing in café by Place des Vosges.

Waiter, Ile de St. Louis.

 Photo shoot and model.  Palais Royal. 

Ladies and the cost of living these days.  Passage Jouffroy.

Girls at Café Dome, Rue Lévi. 

 

Not all the photographs I have show this "slice of life" quality.  Some are deliberately more architectural (or perhaps environmental), because... Paris offers everything everyone may want.  I wanted to do this trip and take a Leica I used to own (an M3), with a collapsible Summicron 50mm, but I sold it before anything happened.  I am now glad that I was able to take this M4 instead, as I have always found the 50mm focal length a bit too narrow for my taste.  Needless to say, I want to return, and I want to do some night photography like I did in Madrid.  But enough of that.  I'll return with some street shots (literally, photos of streets) that I liked because... I think they're a good representation of the charms of Paris.

A bientôt!

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.