Filmwasters
Which Board? => Photo Essays => Topic started by: Late Developer on February 26, 2017, 08:11:04 AM
-
Neither Lara nor I had ever visited Italy and neither had plans to do so until we saw one of the episodes in Rick Stein's "Long Weekend" series a month or two ago. Bologna was described as Italy's food capital - being in the region where Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano), Balsamic vinegar and various other wines and delicacies originated. More importantly, he described it as not very touristy and having a wide selection of fantastic museums and medieval / renaissance art and architecture. We both enjoy seeking out history and neither of us enjoys being in the middle of a tourist frenzy.
As Lara had to use up some holiday entitlement carried forward into this year and I also really needed a break, we booked a cheap 4 day / 3 night trip. Then the ever-present question of what camera(s) should I take raised its head. I have "previous" for taking too much kit with me on the pretext that if I don't have all the bases covered, I'll guarantee that I'll miss out on something important. As we knew Bologna's topography is quite flat, the temptation was to pack a bit of everything. However, I managed to resist the temptation - primarily to save wear and tear on my back and knees - So I packed my Leica MP, 28mm f2.8 Elmarit-M, 35mm f2 Summicron-M and 50mm f2 Summicron-M. Ten rolls of Ilford XP2 Super and a bag completed the roll-call. I don't think I've ever carried less on a foreign holiday. Barring 10 frames, I shot six rolls in 4 days. I guesstimate that at least 75% of the photos I took were using the 35mm Summicron.
The weather forecast hadn't been too encouraging with Sat/Sun predicted to be wet and improving Mon/Tues. How wrong could they have been? Totally. We had 4 days of sunshine (occasionally a little hazy) but mild temperatures and a gentle breeze. Perfect. In some ways not so perfect, though, as the contrast between light and shade on the boulevards and narrow streets made me check and double-check exposures to avoid a totally "soot and whitewash" look, with burned out highlights and black, impenetrable shadows. The film was exposed at 320 and I erred, continuously, on the side of over-exposure. I overexposed by 2-3 stops on some of the strongly back-lit scenes but let others go almost silhouette. My ultimate objective is to produce a photo-book.
My friend processed and scanned the film for me (he runs a small camera shop and lab near to where we live). I'll post a selection of those I processed (via Lightroom CC and Silver Efex Pro2) and see what you think works and doesn't work.
-
....a few more:
-
A really nice set Paul.
It looks like you explored some intriguing nooks and crannies.
That dark gate one marked 57 is my favorite of the lot.
I think a photo book is in order.
well done!!!
-
Lovely set Paul, there are a couple of excellent shots here. Loads of atmosphere.
-
Bologna 57 is a keeper.
-
Bologna 57 is a keeper.
Thank you. It was a bugger to expose but I'm really pleased with how it came out.
-
I love all of these! Very well done handling the highlight/shadow contrast. And clearly, like the others said, 57 is a stunner :)
-
I very much enjoy the reading and the pictures. Everything fits together perfectly. Great lesson in b/w..
-
Wow you hit it out of the park there Paul. I got to agree with the guys No57 is a beaut well seen and executed and I also liked the chess pieces(?) a lot.
-
Thanks guys. Glad you like them. I'm so pleased that taking a bit of time to compose and calculate exposure, one body, one film and just a few small lenses worked well. Begin with an end in mind may be my password from now on.
People seem to like 57, so I'm going to get a print done and see what it's like "in the flesh". Also like the chess pieces. They're huge - some about a metre high. I have some more that I'll be posting tomorrow or at the weekend.
-
...a few more:
-
I love Bologna-81. The exposure is just perfect despite the difficult lighting conditions. You used the XP2s capabilities really well by choosing the right amount of overexposure to preserve the details of the shadows. Very well executed, wonderful composition. The whole set of photos gives a very interesting impression of the mood and and the character of the city. Thanks for sharing the photos.