Sunday, February 6, 2011

Piazza













The photo is from a photographer's website. He's got some really nice stuff available for a reasonable price. Do yourself a favor and buy some art.

I'm brushing up on my photography skills and deciding what equipment to take with me to Italy. I developed 5 rolls of film yesterday that I had laying around or were in cameras. I haven't been in the darkroom for quite some time but it's long past due. I'm taking my digital but I also want to take a film camera. I normally take an old folding camera on my bicycle trips. They're lightweight, don't require any batteries and they take surprising good pictures. I have a little Canonete 35mm rangefinder that is my normal point and shoot camera. It was the "go to" setup prior to the digital. It takes nice pictures, it's compact, it's quiet, and because I've used it so much it's easy for me to shoot quickly with it. The lens is a 40mm which is towards the wide angle side of a normal 50-55mm that is considered standard for 35mm.

I have a couple of SLR options in 35mm, as well. I'd like to have a wide angle lens like a 28mm for street scenes and inside buildings. I have the Konica that I repaired. I've got several lenses for it, including a 28mm. It's not near as compact as the Canon but I would have more options that way. I also have a Nikon with a small zoom lens. It's the cheapy plastic model but that makes it a lot lighter than the Konica. Maybe I should spend an afternoon shooting pictures using both cameras and then come home and develop the film right away - compare the negatives while the camera comparison is still fresh in my mind.

Maybe I should start doing some packing and see how much room I'm going to have. They told us one medium sized suitcase and a carry on bag. When it comes to taking up the least amount of space the Canonete is the hands down winner. I've got a little table top tripod that I take along and the lighter the better for that too. I don't want to wait until the last minute for any of this. I'm working Jimmy's corner the week before the Italy trip and I need to make sure everything on the homefront is ship shape prior to my leaving as well. These are the kinds of problems it's nice to have.

3 comments:

Traveling Pirate said...

Do you know where the duomo is in the photograph? It reminds me of one I saw in Milan but I don't remember there being a piazza there . . . but maybe there was . . . oh wait I remember a baptistry behind it. Who knows. Unfortunately, by the end of a big trip like that with so many cathedrals, they all sort of run together. I saw one that was black and white marble stripes . . . somewhere. Assisi? I don't know.

Shop Teacher Bob said...

According to the photographer, it's in Milan. It's hard to imagine seeing so many cathedrals that they would all sort of run together. Of course around here all the little white country churches all sort of run together.

Traveling Pirate said...

I thought it was Milan! Yeah 2-3 churches per day x 9 days = they all run together.