Overtown

28:22

Yesterday I run in Downtown Miami in a company of 25000+ people. My time is 28:22, which is about the same as the last year (27:40) when the photograph was taken and at least 5 minutes better compared to 2004, first time I run the race. .

In Wynwood

Wynwood at night

It was...windy, dark, surreal. Miraculous.
I had just few frames left in my M2...have to return there soon.
Leica M2/28mm/Tri-X at E.I.1600 in Diafine.

Winter

Leica M2/28mm/Kentmere 400 @ E.I.800 in Diafine

Kentmere 400 film vs Tri-X in Diafine

I have not recently reviewed any film/developer combinations in this blog. There is a reason for this: film is well known thing, why bother with the reviews anyway? Well, if it is Tri-X of HP5+ then it's true, they have been around for a while, along with Diafine 2-bath developer I'm using here, but Kentmere 400 is all new animal, at least for me. So I bought 100ft roll for $29.95 from Adorama and tried it, along with Tri-X, in the same Leica M2 with 50mm f/2 Planar lens from Zeiss. It is not very scientific comparison per se; I just needed some feeling of it. I exposed Tri-X at E.I.1200-1600 and Kentmere at E.I.640-800, as recommended for Diafine. I looked at the resulting film strips on the light table and scanned them.
Looking at the negatives: Kentmere is drying flat, which is good. My version of Tri-X (Arista Premium 400 from Freestyle Photo) is not. The Kentmere is a bit "flatter" in terms of tonal gradations, compared to Tri-X. The Tri-X grain is bigger but I also like it more, the dense grain of Kentmere has not impressed me much (see the fragments below). On the night shots, Kentmere has denser blacks with less details in them. Ok, here are the shots, face to face --

November Witch In Downtown Miami

November 31st, Olympus Stylus Epic/Tri-X at E.I.1600 in Diafine

Ii's coming

Three Graces

Taken downtown last week with Olympus Stylus Epic camera on Tri-X film

Wednesday in Little Havana

This had been taken with Kiev 4AM + 35mm Jupiter f/2.8 lens -- one of the few the soviet era setups I have. Came to like this cruel piece of machinery after some trial and error.

Every Day Is A Sun Day!

I remember my very first day in Miami 10 years ago. We flown from Moscow to NY and then to MIA where a relative pick us up. It was August 2002, same time of the year. There were waves of heat coming in every day, night rains, resulting in the humid sauna outside of the house we stayed. Everything was so new, so unusual to norther the people like us...not anymore. I am much better managing the weather now. I move slowly in the shadows and survive easily in the streets for a long time, taking pictures. Here are few from the last week:

Bayfront Park

This Monday at Bayfront park during lunch break with Olympus Stylus Epic/Ilford HP5+

Miami Sun

At Miami Beach this weekend with Bessa R3M and Olympus P&S.

Walking Downtown

It is a rare occasion when I develop a film the same day it had been exposed, like today. I saw this "mummy" holding the door on SE 3rd Avenue, close to Biscayne; shot few frames with Olympus P&S I always have with me; this is the better one out of 3 or 4. It hold no meaning or morale; has no story to tell; everything it has is purely visual -- just what I'm looking for:)

Smoke

Taken recently with Olympus Stylus Epic in Downtown Miami

Summer is here!

This blog had been static for some time; I was too preoccupied with my office job. But, I never stop shooting. So I have some pictures to post. This one (above) is of particular value to me because it had been pre-meditated. I envisioned it first and then waited for the missing human element. It finally came out of nowhere and cornered the building; I pushed the button and my Nikon F5/Ilford HP5+/some Diafine did the rest:) Now let's add few more from the same period in May, taken in downtown Miami. Enjoy:

The Heat Wave

The heat is coming in waves, interrupted by short evening rains and warm humid nights. It is hard to stay in the streets more than an hour. To lure myself out, I bought a new old camera -- beautiful and heavy Nikon F5 -- and now trying it for street photography:) Most of the pictures in this post were still taken with Olympus Stylus Epic P&S; the last two are Nikon F5 with 50mm lens; Ilford HP5+ film exposed at E.I.800 and developed in Diafine.

Memento Mori

Caught this strange image near Government Center, at the bus stop. Ilford HP5 film in Olympus P&S camera; exposed at E.I.800 and developed in Diafine.

April's rain, April's shine

Here are images from the few rolls I shot last week. Most of them shot on Tri-X 400 with Bessa L/25mm, some on Ilford HP5+ with Olympus P&S, including the one on top. Enjoy:

April in Miami

first batch of April's catch...these are taken on Bessa L/25mm and Olympus Stylus Epic. The film is Tri-X as usual, but I started getting tired of Tri-X's grain and now shooting Ilford HP5+, the film I love dearly for its lower contrast and beautiful grain.