nicaragua, final installment

I’m going to put the rest of the photos in this entry, because I don’t feel like making any more installments!

Canon EOS 3, Velvia, Leon

View of Leon from the old Samosa fort

Alex and Hunter

We had to take a cab to the fort from Leon on the rockiest, dirtiest dirt road I think I’ve ever seen. At some points, I didn’t think the cab (an old, rickety… I want to say Peugeot?) would make it. It was worth the journey, though, and our cab driver explained some of the history to Alex, who in turn translated it to us. It was like a tour and cab ride all in one!

Evidently, the fort isn’t entirely abandoned.

We’re fairly certain that the shoes in the previous photo belong to that guy.

Portra 160 NC, Bus depot on the way to Nagarote, where Alex and Kaitlyn live.

One of my favorite shots from the trip

En route to Nagarote…

The bus was delayed for a few minutes because it had to wait for this herd of cattle to cross the road. Quite an hilarious scene.

In Nagarote (EOS 3, Portra 160 NC)

Alex in his backyard

Lunch at Dona Elena’s, where Alex and Kaitlyn stayed until they moved into their own house around the corner. She was a very sweet woman and a great cook!

Alex (Hunter and I were in a bike taxi) on the way to the poorer part of town

Another one of my favorites

Velvia, last roll of the trip…

Our motortaxi driver, who said he lived in Raleigh for three years

Well, I hope you got at least a sense of how amazing a country Nicaragua is… hopefully I even intrigued you to want to visit someday!

nicaragua, part three

And it continues…

Canon EOS 3, Kodak Portra 160 VC, Granada

At the bus depot on the way to Masaya Market, where you can get everything from food and household items to jewelry and handmade Nicaraguan crafts.

At Masaya

Alex and Kaitlyn

Scary…

Velvia, EOS 3, Bus depot en route to León:

Taken from inside the bus

In León:

The door to our hostel, Lazybones. Like I said, Nicaraguans love their Jesus.

A little relief never hurt anyone… :)

Fuji Superia, EOS 3, León:

Alex, Kaitlyn, Hunter, and Alex and Kaitlyn’s friend from Peace Corps, Shunpei, at a cute little breakfast/lunch place across the street from our hostel

Inside the cathedral, people were working to restore some of the paintings.

View of the city from the bell tower of the cathedral

From the top of the cathedral

Ilford Pan F 50, Canon EOS 3, León (the only black-and-white roll I shot on this trip!)

Bush genocide… enemy of humanity

As you’ve probably noticed, the number of stray dogs here is astronomical.

Stay tuned for part four!

nicaragua, part two

Part two of my amazing trip to Nicaragua.

Canon EOS 3, Kodak Portra VC 400 (Granada)

This is the ancient diesel truck that we rode to get to the top of Mombacho, a volcano and cloud forest just outside of Granada. We were driven there by a man who claimed that his birth name was Marlon Brando. :) This tank stalled out a few times on steep inclines… it was quite terrifying!

Our fearless driver…

I took this photo about halfway up the mountain, where we stopped at a coffee farm. The coffee was delicious.

There were a couple of houses along the way up the mountain. It didn’t appear as though they had any cars; I can’t imagine how they trudge up and down that mountain all the time, especially in the brutal heat.

Alex and Kaitlyn, our gracious hosts, who are serving in Peace Corps in Nagarote (of which you’ll see photos in the following entries). They traveled around with us the whole time we were there. Neither Hunter nor I speak Spanish, so we would have been lost without them!

Velvia, EOS 3

Our tour guide, Carlos, when we arrived near the top of the mountain. We decided to do the long hike, which was about three-and-a-half hours long and probably the most strenuous hike I’ve ever done. My legs hurt for three days after that!

The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking.

I can’t remember the name of this flower, but it was related to the pineapple.

Carlos in the back of the truck that took us back down the mountain. Thankfully, we didn’t have to ride in the tank again!

Two more rolls down, eight more to go. Stay tuned… :)

nicaragua, part one

Finally, after two months, I’ve finished scanning my photos from my wonderful trip to Nicaragua in the beginning of March. Twelve rolls later, I’m left to decide which ones to show. There are too many for just one entry, so I’ll be posting a few more in the next couple of days. Here are the first two rolls.

Granada: Canon EOS 3, Fuji Velvia

This kid really, really wanted me to take his photo. His pose is pretty hilarious… he definitely thought he was a tough guy.

The light was so strong in Nicaragua that some of the shadows came out too dark. I definitely should have paid more attention to exposing for the shadows.

Portra 160VC (still Granada)

Nicaraguans love their Jesus.

There were kids selling little trinkets and other miscellaneous items everywhere.

the market, et cetera

It’s slowly been getting warmer, which is a welcome change. My cameras weren’t really huge fans of the cold. I’m happy to report, however, that my Pentacon Six is in working order, as far as I can tell. The frames were overlapping because of the cold, I guess. The last roll I got back, which was shot on a rare warm day, came back with no overlaps. I’m still going to have to shoot one more roll to test the shutter speeds, though, because they seem a bit slower than they should be. Alas, after all of this frustration, I discovered that my scanner doesn’t scan 120 film. I’ll try to sell it when I return from Nicaragua so that I can buy one that scans medium format.

I’ve been spending a lot more time in South Philly lately. I live just north of Center City, so the walk down to the Italian Market area is a pretty long one (with many things to be photographed on the way!). Here are some shots from the Italian Market and the surrounding area, and then some random ones (as usual).

Pentax k1000, 50mm, tmax400

Immediately after I took this shot, the man pushing the shopping cart started screaming at me, using various words I’d care not to mention. I just ignored him, but I’m not going to say he didn’t intimidate me a bit!

Don’t ask, because I have no idea.

Friends!

Another shooter…

Accidental double-exposure… this has never happened to me before, so I was actually pretty excited. I like how it looks like he’s riding along the row of support beams.

This is what you get to look at while sitting on (hovering above, actually) the toilet of the POPE bar (near my now-favorite record store).

Now leaving South Philly… (still tmax)

Cliche, I know, but I can’t seem to get away from reflections.

A fitting image for these times… a wisp of my hair seems to have gotten in front of the lens.

Same guy, different angle. The light was awesome right there.

Now for some HP5+ (at 400). I don’t think I’ll ever shoot this film at 400 again. I still have a ton in my freezer from buying a batch of it on eBay. Not that it’s so bad, but for the price… Tri-X and Neopan are much prettier.

I think these cops were here for another cop’s memorial. There were at least two hundred of them in total. I have some closeups of the cops lining up, but I hated the way they turned out.

I hate a lot of things about this shot, but somehow sort of like it. I really wish I hadn’t cut off the lefthand woman’s face.

I know… another reflection.

I’ll end with another photo of the adorable girl I babysit. I’m lucky that the table gets such nice light, because she’s always doing her own arts and crafts there!

Cheers!

snowy days and not-so-snowy days

As the title indicates, Philadelphia was greeted by eight inches of snow last Wednesday, which was a welcome surprise. I took two walks while it was falling so that I could see the city with fresh snow, as opposed to muddy slush. I got pretty soaked, but my camera, as always, made it through unscathed. Following are some shots from that day and night, as well as some street shots from other not-so-snowy days. Hope you’re all doing well.

Pentax k1000, 50mm, HP5+ pushed to 1600 (as a side note, I’m not usually a huge fan of HP5+ at 400 [I much prefer Tri-X], but wow, was I impressed with the quality of it when pushed two stops!)

Taken from inside of my car

It’s rare that Hunter allows me to photograph him, so I was very pleased when I saw this one, as well as the next shot (though I prefer this one).

Days with less precipitation…

Pretty terrible composition, but had to act quickly.

My friend (her hat, actually) didn’t quite make it out of the frame…

Now some Tri-X and some not-so-snowy days.

Hunter, our friend, Denny, and I were walking to a flea market last Sunday, and I turned the corner by the carriage-horse stables to see this scene waiting for me. Needless to say, I was quite pleased. I think it will make a nice print. (I think it’s a little tilted, though… will have to fix that first.)

Watch your step…

Yes, you’re reading it correctly… his tent actually says “Block Captain”.

Well, that’s all for now. Should have more in about a week. Cheers!

another (mostly) street post

Time for a new blog. I’ve been shooting a decent amount lately. The Pentax doesn’t even fail me in the freezing cold. I love that cheap little camera.

Hunter and I purchased two round-trip tickets to Nicaragua. We’re spending the second week in March there. A friend of ours is in Peace Corps in Nagarote. There should be a ton of great photo opportunities there. I’m really excited.

I got back my first two rolls of 120 from the lab and both had overlapped frames. It’s strange, because the first few frames are okay, but then as the roll advances the frames get closer and closer together. I’m not quite sure how to approach this problem. I loaded it as tightly as I could, while rocking the lever back and forth instead of advancing it fully, and I still have overlap. Makes me think it’s an issue with the camera instead of my loading it. Anyway, it’s really frustrating. I’ll have to do some research.

Some 35mm scans, until then. :) I set all the images to large size this time, since they weren’t big enough last time. Let me know if they’re too big now.

First, some Tri-X:
(Pentax k1000, 50mm)

Random Santa hanging from a rusty twisted wire in the middle of a deserted valley. Definitely making prints for next holiday season, dust and all.

Reading Terminal Market.

Some fine, open-minded folks from the Westboro Baptist Church. I’ve never seen them around Philly before. It was nicer that way.

The Perelman Museum of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Philly’s finest.

Shoe-shining service in the train station…

I love this girl!

Now some Pan F 50…

These girls were pissed at first when they saw me taking their photo, but after I told them I just liked the scene, they posed for another shot (which I never took).

I took this at Robin’s Books, Philly’s oldest bookstore, which is closing its doors. A pity.

I was really into shadows that day, since the light was awesome.

Without fail, every roll that I get back from the lab has at least one frame with one of my fingers in front of the lens.

Rittenhouse Square.

Lastly, a few frames of Delta 3200.

Emo kid on cell phone.

first post of the new year

Happy New Year! About time for another post. It’s been so cold out lately that I haven’t been going out to shoot as much as I usually do. I just came back from a walk downtown to pick up a roll of film; walking there was okay, but walking back—against the wind—was pretty rough.

Got a package in the mail yesterday… a nice-looking Pentacon Six. It seems to be working all right so far, but I caught the flu and was in bed all of yesterday, so I haven’t had time to figure it out yet. I’m afraid that I’ll mess up winding the first roll of film! Results to come… :) Until then, some 35mm scans.

The first batch is from a roll of Ilford Pan F 50 that I shot with a Canon AE-1 (28mm f/2.8 lens) with a severe light leak. I’m going to order a kit to fix it, since it’s in excellent working order besides that. It’s a shame that most of the photos on the roll are ruined, because I quite like some of them.

Philadelphia

They were looking at the “Friendship Arch” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PhilaChinaArch.jpg) in the center of Chinatown, which was having some construction done to it. The light leak isn’t too bad in this one.

Not really sure what was going on here. There were no signs of a fire, but many firemen about.

I’m pretty sure there was a drug deal going on here. Good thing it was broad daylight and there were lots of people around, or else I probably would have been in trouble.

The next batch was taken with a Pentax k1000, 50mm f/2.0 lens, apx400.

Philadelphia

Cool guy.

Now a few from Boston:

In case you can’t see, his sandals and the newspaper both say “sports”.

Same character as the previous frame, taking a little snooze.

Mid-slip?

Hunter in a pretty scene.

Back to Philadelphia…

This frame and the next were taken in the Italian Market, where you can get some of the best pizza ever.

The last four were taken at the Perelman Museum, which is part of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

been too long.

I have been absolutely terrible at keeping up with this blog. All of my previous posts also need to be updated with photos, since when uber went down for good, my photos went down with it. I’ll keep the talk short, because there are quite a few images to share. All of these are mixed up, in terms of what films were used… a mix of apx400, neopan400, and tri-x. All were shot with a Pentax k1000, 50mm f/2.0, unless otherwise noted. Hope you enjoy, and all you Americans have a good Thanksgiving. :)

I’m sort of obsessed with photographing people reading on the streets. And old men in hats.

Thankfully, we pulled that one off. OBAMA, BABY!

Different place, different day… same nun?

Just really liked the light here.

So many interesting characters in Philly.

Love this guy. He reminds me of a turtle poking its head out of its shell.

teehee

Who texts while the waitress is taking their food order? Rude.

Saw these folks outside of the bus I was on… needless to say, I was quite happy that the bus stopped where it did!

Hip shot… I planned to get the guy in frame-right, but instead I got the lovely lamppost. Great!

I wonder where the owner was.

I’m thinking about starting a project on Philadelphia’s graffiti and random signs, because there are a lot of really funny and interesting ones.

Like this, for example.

Not depressing at all.

Canon F-1, Delta 3200

shock and awe

(written September 11, 2008)

I was walking down Broad Street (one of the most heavily trafficked streets in Philadelphia) a few nights ago and came across this sign, different versions of which were stuck to every telephone pole for three or four blocks.

Every one of these flyers was hand-written. It amazes me that someone actually had the free time to produce these. I guess with the anniversary of 9/11 being so close, someone decided to remind everyone that we’re not safe… that we should constantly be looking over our shoulder… but who has time to be eternally worried? And what’s the point, anyway? I think what we really need to worry about is our government… especially if McCain/Palin are elected. But let’s not get into that right now…

I continued walking down the same street and then came upon this flier, which may or may not be designed by the same person.

Yeah, this world is a pretty scary place. But why waste your time dwelling on what could happen to you? These fliers made me think of this Internet movie I watched a while ago, Zeitgeist. If you have some time to spare, it’s worth watching, though I’m sure some of you have seen it already. Some things are a bit far-fetched, as in most conspiracy theories, but it provides a different perspective to what we hear on the news and such. Of course, many of the movie’s ideas aren’t fresh… I’ve heard them elsewhere… but the part I found most interesting was the last. Check it out if you have time.

Here are a few more new scans… Pentax k1000, 50mm, Delta 3200.

I like this lady…

I was mostly interested in the newspapers here.

I love the emptiness in this frame.

Typical Love Park teenybopper scene.

Really like the light here.

Bird’s-eye view of the Schuylkill River.

On a hill… so it wasn’t me who made this slanted. ;)

Pretty bokeh…

A bit blurry. Wish I had a 1.4 for the Pentax.

Love the light here…

:)

Waiting for the train after the Soapbox Derby.

We did end up going to the Soapbox Derby after all… and man, did we get soaked. It was pretty funny anyhow, and we even got to see the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, go down the hill in a soapbox, which made it all worthwhile. Hope you all have great weeks!