STREET W/ THE RB67

El Congreso, Av. Corrientes

Kodak TMax 100

I recently bought a Mamiya RB67 Pro S, an absolute unit of a camera. I took it on my holidays to Argentina where I was able to have some fun with it.

Amor & Paz
Kodak TMax 100

 I spent a day wandering through Buenos Aires, trying to find some interesting subjects. Near the obelisk on Av. 9 de Julio, a protest was taking place, and I had to capture it. These two gentlemen had jokingly asked for a photo expecting me not to understand Spanish, but when I agreed they reluctantly posed for me. The 'peace' sign really sells it for me.

A few minutes from the protest was another demonstration taking place. The elderly were protesting President Macri's policies on retirement. To show their displeasure, they would encourage cars at stoplights to honk their horns and block their paths for a few seconds before the traffic police moved them.

While I will make a review post soon, I can already say I love using this camera, and the size and quality of the negatives is unbeatable. In my opinion, lugging two kilos around the whole day paid off.

Simón

The Yashica Electro 35 GSN

The Yashica

This camera is often the one that gets most attention when I'm out shooting.

A day at the polo

- Yashica Electro 35GSN, Fuji C200

I think it has to do with its sixties aesthetics; leatherette with its metal-and-leatherette combination alongside the smooth edges. It really does please the eye. As well as that, its the camera used by Andrew Garfield in the first Amazing Spider-Man. Nonetheless, the real magic happens with the lens.

Frame within a frame

- Yashica Electro 35GSN, Fuji C200

The 45mm f1.7 Yashinon is surprisingly good for the camera's price range. I can't say its clinically sharp at closer looks, but the results are more than usable. Plus, the bokeh looks amazing.

Focus

- Yashica Electro 35GSN, Fuji C200

A camera that is this old is bound to have some issues. In my case, it comes in three forms: the focus, the viewfinder, and the leaks. The first two are likely related; the viewfinder is dim, so I miss my focus (as seen above). However, I still feel that the focussing mechanism might have need fixing anyways. 

A day at the polo II

- Yashica Electro 35GSN, Fuji C200

The last issue is the light leaks, present in the first two images. The streaks on the left side do look cool, but at the same time they can easily ruin a photograph. In these cases I like them, but I can see how they might annoy me in the future.

Simón.

SUNSET AT BASTAKIYA

The Birds
- Leica IIIf, HP5+

Finally, I have a proper scanner. This means I can get all of my negatives digitised for free, at will. This means that I can now post more often, and it makes for some rambling posts (such as this one).

Lonely stool
- Leica IIIf, HP5+

The creek has been one of my favourite locations for the past few months. It's saturated with a sense of what Dubai used to be, and it makes for some fun, interesting (to me, at least) photographs.

Bird and minaret

All these images are from the same photo walk, shot at around 4 or 5 pm when the light is nice and mellow. Once again, they were made using a Leica IIIf on HP5+ 400 film.

The guy that wanted to marry Kim K

There's a funny story behind this specific picture. In the souq area, everyone is clamouring for the attention of tourists to try to sell them their goods. This man, after seeing I didn't want to buy a ghutra from him, began telling me the story of how he plotted to escape his wife and get rid of Kanye in order to marry Kim Kardashian. Needless to say, I was entertained.

Leading lines

Honestly, I feel like the remaining photographs speak for themselves. Also, I cannot think of anything else to write. So I hope you enjoy them.

Negative space

Frame within a frame within a frame...

Texture of the creek

Flight of the seagulls

Rays of the sun

Simón.

FINALLY DEVELOPED FILM

Three days ago, I developed my first roll of film.

And it was amazing.

I have wanted to develop my own film for some time. The issues that stopped me from doing so:

• the fact that I'm broke

Thankfully, I got the supplies as a gift, and I quickly set up a not-so-dark darkroom. The next thing on the list was to take some pictures for me to develop.

I had also received five rolls of HP5+, alongside some ID-11 developer, Rapid Fixer, and a wetting agent. I loaded a roll in the Leica IIIf, and I made my way to Old Dubai

That day, I was acting as a tour guide for some family friends visiting Dubai, which meant I got to see some sights to photograph. We went to the textile, spice, and gold souqs in the Al Bastakiya area, providing me with interesting subjects.

When I returned home, I spent the next three hours preparing the chemicals, the darkroom, and finally developing the roll.

It was messy. Timing, as well as temperature, is supposedly essential to proper development. I now think that this is not necessarily the case. During the process, I was not accurate with either, (not by choice), and the results are amazing.

I still want to work on my process, since I was not as well-organised  as I thought I was. I now have a funnel, which I was missing the first time and I feel like it will make transferring chemicals easier and safer. In addition, I will have to play with the timings in order to see what results I prefer.

Scanning is the only way for you to see your images after developing (printing aside). To get it scanned from a store at a good quality tends to be pretty expensive. Thankfully, I have a personal scanner. Sadly, it's pretty bad. The images on this blog are from that scanner, so excuse the poor quality.

All in all, it was a fun experience that I am sure to repeat (and perfect) in the near future.

Simón.