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5 (random) frames of Bruxelles with a MIR-1B, a Pentax ME Super and a Kodak TMax400
The late hours of a day are dangerous times, because this is when the mind, lacking tasks, begins to look for a way to keep itself busy. To make a long story short, this is why, against what the common sense would have suggested, I decided to take a stroll in a (very) cold winter evening along and around Avenue Louise in Bruxelles to test a MIR-1B 37/2.8 mounted on a TMAX 400 loaded Pentax ME Super with an M42 adapter. Initially published on 35mmc.com. As much as this is not a ‘field test’, I was unfair to the lens because I used it in challenging conditions, starting with the…
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One Shot Story: Behind the Fence
There is nothing special about this photo in itself, but when placed in context, it changes the way we may look at it – Initially published on 35mmc.com The photo was taken in the fishing neighbourhood of my home town. Behind the fence erected by the developers were the fishermen’s small one-storey houses. Once a testament to the hard life they endured, over time the neighbourhood was abandoned and the houses gradually fell into disrepair. Now, for security reasons, it is not possible to look through the fence and see what the developers are planning to build in place of this small part of the neighbourhood. I could ask the…
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Colour, Daily photo, Downtown, Nagasaki, Osaka, Photography, Streets&Squares, Thoughts, Tokyo, Travels, Yokohama
Why You Should Only Shoot in Your Backyard (or ‘The Art of Belonging’)
What do these pictures have in common (apart from having been taken in various places in Japan)? No, they don’t have the same look and feel, composition or use of light, nor they convey a particular meaning. What they have in common is that they’re just dull and boring —meaningless, indeed. This picture of the Yokohama’s Chinatown Dragon is hardly different than the others available on the Internet. Initially published on 35mmc.com It shares a similar fate with this one, taken last Mid November in Osaka, and, as Google Lens mercylessly shows, with this one, shot in Omura, near Nagasaki. One can hardly say that this is a never-seen-before view of Tokyo’s Kyu-Shiba-rikyū Gardens, or of…
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5 frames with the (much awaited) Ferrania P33, a Nikon F3 and a Nikkor 50 F2
I managed to grab a few rolls of the very first batch of Ferrania’s brand new P33 film, so I wasted no time in putting it to work with a Nikon F3 and the glorious Nikkor 50 f2. I won’t go into the technical details of this film, firstly because I can’t claim to be an authority on the subject, and secondly because Ferrania’s website has plenty of information. There is only one thing to know: the canister is not DX-coded, so shooting is only possible in full manual mode. This may change in the future, but for now this is the state of the art. Finally, a transparency note:…
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5 (improbable) Frames with a roll of Ferrania Orto and a Nikon 35TI
The photographer is a peculiar type of social being, characterised by a ‘rules are meant to be broken’ attitude in the search for the perfect exposure. So, sooner or later, all the dogmas about composition, hyperfocal, zone system, rule of thirds, etc. will be put aside to try something ‘different’. This is what happened with these five images, taken at night in Piazza Venezia and Via Salaria in Rome with a Ferrania Orto on a Nikon 35TI; a rather strange choice given the inherent limitations of an orthocromatic film and a 2,8 35mm lens of a compact camera in this scenario. Against all odds the 35TI performed well (especially in…
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A jam in via Alessandria
Taking pictures with a fully manual camera is a way to keep practising the basics. Honestly, I would not use a film camera for a professional assignment —at least, not as the main one— but it’s worth doing it in a less challenging condition.As per the technicalities, waiting for the next batch of Ferrania Orto to arrive, I resorted to a Kodak Tri-X 400 roll, which is my favourite film at these ISOs.
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From Waltham to Boston
‘From Waltham to Boston’, an offshoot of a bigger project on documenting Boston’s pulse, is now available on Amazon as a Kindle e-book.
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UnortORTOdox (Ferrania)
This is an unorthodox use of an orthochromatic film (namely, Ferrania Orto.) It is not supposed to be the first choice for reportage or travel photography, but rules are made to be broken, aren’t they? As per the photo, it was taken in North End, Boston’s Little Italy.
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A Maserati GranTurismo
Another piece of Italy in Boston…
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Late Night@Piazza San Babila
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Dark Cloud Over San Pietro
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Technological Memento
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Taking-Off
This is a test for the Viltrox AF 56/1,4 XF’s autofocus. The pidgeon took-off suddenly and I just had to point and shoot. The lens behave fairly.
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The Last Journey
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A Skater
Framing the whole statue would have made this photo better. The mistake was caused by the necessity to shoot fast, the lens’ field of view and the distance between the subject and the focal plane.
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Busker and Covid-19
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Garbage as usual@Pantheon’s nearby
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Weight Training @ Rome’s Stadio Olimpico
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Moistmaker@Piazza della Rotonda
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The Bystander
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Seats
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Outdoor Aperitif
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Very British
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Just Another Piccadilly Circus’ View
