Hercules and Cacus – Piazza della Signoria, Florence

November 4, 2017November 4, 2017Chris and Carol 4 Comments

Maybe not my most favorite statue in Florence (so many to choose from) but I like the effect that my 24mm lens gives the viewer – add in contrasty late day lighting and it was a tough shot to get. Wide angle lenses like the 24mm slightly pointed upward will give the most (pleasing) distortion.

Canon F-1 with Canon FD 24mm f/ 2.8 wide angle lens on Kodak Kodachrome 25 color slide film. The light meter in the F-1 handled the tricky lighting rather well. If I remember correctly, I took a spot reading of the building in bright sunlight and then the deep shadows behind the statue – I then adjusted the exposure settings to reflect an average of the two.

Bandinelli’s Hercules and Cacus, 16th Century – Florence

Thanks for your visit to the most beautiful place in all of Tuscany.

Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

With a little help from my friends…

November 2, 2017November 2, 2017Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Cherubs attempting to hold the tower upright.

Pisa, Tuscany, Italy – 1986

Canon F-1 with Canon FD 80-200mm f/ 4 zoom lens on Kodak Kodachrome 25 color slide film.

Thanks for stopping by! Chris ^.^

Please respect that all content, including photos and text are property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Pisa… 1986

December 19, 2016December 22, 2016Chris and Carol 6 Comments

Pisa… a gorgeous city filled with unbelievable wonders. Photographic eye candy to be sure. In 1986, shooting with a Canon F-1 and Canon lenses on Kodachrome 25 was as close to “perfect” in 35mm photography as one could hope to achieve (sorry Nikon guys and gals). In appreciation of the all the imperfections and limits of film photography (just like vinyl records), analog photography still moves me. Sure I love digital – some images with digital were impossible with film (or nearly so), but film has a softness of color and detail that I love.

These images were taken in mid October 1986. They’ve received only minor post production after scanning – mostly small crops to remove the edges of the 35mm slide mounts and some occasional color balancing and brightness tweaks. Film used was Kodak’s Kodachrome 25 (perfect for bright lighting and known for its fine grain).

My Canon F-1 (1978 version) and three FD lenses were all that I had in my bag: 24mm f/2.8 wide angle, 80-200mm f/4 zoom and the 55mm f/1.4. The weather was perfect – bright sunshine, low humidity with mild temperatures. Visibility was amazing as a recent cold front had passed through the area and cleared the air of haze and pollutants.