peter_n
Veteran
Have you ever had the feeling when you come back from a week or so in some faraway place - was I really there?
If you visit Madrid, you'll never have that feeling. This vivid city imprints itself on your consciousness in an unforgettable fashion; beautiful architecture, spacious parks, wide boulevards, magnificent museums, and a surprising heterogeneity in the population. Add to all this an almost unbelievably spirited night-life and you have an experience that you cannot forget and probably never will forget.
The things I liked most were seeing my kid (who is spending her junior year of college there) and my family from Dublin, the museums, and the Santiago Bernabéu. The thing I liked least was that everybody seems to smoke. Ugh! 😡
Photographically, Madrid is amazing - a street photographer's paradise. I took two cameras, my new Coronet QL17 and my M6TTL with 21, 35, 50, 90 and 135mm lenses. I used everything! 😀 I also took my Minolta Auto-Flash III light meter because it reads down to -2EV and a Manfrotto tabletop tripod. All of this stuff comfortably fitted into my Domke F-2 bag along with the film and other extras. I took three types of film; Fuji Neopan 100 Acros, Neopan 400, and Neopan 1600. No problem with hand examination of the film both exiting and entering the U.S., but security at Madrid's Berajas airport insisted on scanning the film and were unnecessarily nasty about it. 😡 I had problems with the Neopan 1600 and I wondered if it was because of the x-ray scanning or is the film quite sensitive to being exposed correctly? Some of the shots that were overexposed are unbelievably grainy whereas others on the same roll (correctly exposed) are OK. Very unfortunate. No problems with the 100 Acros or Neopan 400.
My best shot was a reflection in the mirror of a small wardrobe for sale in the Rastro flea market in La Latina (which is where our apartment was). 🙂 My worst shot (actually there were two of them) were completely missed - one of a guy who walked past me on the street in the early morning with a cold compress clutched to his head and a miserable expression on his face, the other was missed several times - tiny little kids attentively listening to instructors in groups in the Reina Sofia National Museum… so cute - but no photography allowed. 🙁
Madrid really is a photographer's dream. If you are even considering going there we rented an apartment in La Latina near the Plaza Mayor. PM me if you are interested and I can send you details. I promise to upload about 20-30 pics to my gallery this week but in the meantime I have attached a few to give you a taste…
1: A tapas bar in La Latina. Canonet QL17, Neopan 1600
2: Blind and other disabled people sell Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE) lottery tickets on the streets of Madrid and make a stable income from it. Leica M6 with Leitz Tele-Elmarit, Neopan 400.
3: The night-time view out of one of our apartment windows: Catedral de la Almudena. Leica M6 with Jupiter-11, Neopan 100.
4: In the Rastro flea market in La Latina. Canonet QL17 with Zeiss 436/8 waist-level finder, Neopan 400
5: Aaargh - Oscar and David!! How can you afford these prices? 2200€ for an M6? And there was a silver CV Bessa L in the window for 315€ !!! 😱 Leica M6 with Elmar-M, Neopan 400.
If you visit Madrid, you'll never have that feeling. This vivid city imprints itself on your consciousness in an unforgettable fashion; beautiful architecture, spacious parks, wide boulevards, magnificent museums, and a surprising heterogeneity in the population. Add to all this an almost unbelievably spirited night-life and you have an experience that you cannot forget and probably never will forget.
The things I liked most were seeing my kid (who is spending her junior year of college there) and my family from Dublin, the museums, and the Santiago Bernabéu. The thing I liked least was that everybody seems to smoke. Ugh! 😡
Photographically, Madrid is amazing - a street photographer's paradise. I took two cameras, my new Coronet QL17 and my M6TTL with 21, 35, 50, 90 and 135mm lenses. I used everything! 😀 I also took my Minolta Auto-Flash III light meter because it reads down to -2EV and a Manfrotto tabletop tripod. All of this stuff comfortably fitted into my Domke F-2 bag along with the film and other extras. I took three types of film; Fuji Neopan 100 Acros, Neopan 400, and Neopan 1600. No problem with hand examination of the film both exiting and entering the U.S., but security at Madrid's Berajas airport insisted on scanning the film and were unnecessarily nasty about it. 😡 I had problems with the Neopan 1600 and I wondered if it was because of the x-ray scanning or is the film quite sensitive to being exposed correctly? Some of the shots that were overexposed are unbelievably grainy whereas others on the same roll (correctly exposed) are OK. Very unfortunate. No problems with the 100 Acros or Neopan 400.
My best shot was a reflection in the mirror of a small wardrobe for sale in the Rastro flea market in La Latina (which is where our apartment was). 🙂 My worst shot (actually there were two of them) were completely missed - one of a guy who walked past me on the street in the early morning with a cold compress clutched to his head and a miserable expression on his face, the other was missed several times - tiny little kids attentively listening to instructors in groups in the Reina Sofia National Museum… so cute - but no photography allowed. 🙁
Madrid really is a photographer's dream. If you are even considering going there we rented an apartment in La Latina near the Plaza Mayor. PM me if you are interested and I can send you details. I promise to upload about 20-30 pics to my gallery this week but in the meantime I have attached a few to give you a taste…
1: A tapas bar in La Latina. Canonet QL17, Neopan 1600
2: Blind and other disabled people sell Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE) lottery tickets on the streets of Madrid and make a stable income from it. Leica M6 with Leitz Tele-Elmarit, Neopan 400.
3: The night-time view out of one of our apartment windows: Catedral de la Almudena. Leica M6 with Jupiter-11, Neopan 100.
4: In the Rastro flea market in La Latina. Canonet QL17 with Zeiss 436/8 waist-level finder, Neopan 400
5: Aaargh - Oscar and David!! How can you afford these prices? 2200€ for an M6? And there was a silver CV Bessa L in the window for 315€ !!! 😱 Leica M6 with Elmar-M, Neopan 400.
