Experiments with the “analog” SLR

Remember I bought an “analog” SLR? You don’t?? Where’ve you been? Read that post here. So like I mentioned there, I fed a black and white film roll to go all pristine with the shooting. And for the first one, I went through it really quickly and at the same time, experimented a whole whole lot. And so, turns out, out of 36 photos, I got only about 20 not to shake and remotely in focus. Since while shooting, you can’t see any previews, I was still trying to get a hang of the controls and so I figure this percentage while not too great isn’t too bad either. Here are a couple of shots from that bunch. Not bad at all, huh?

The Eiffel Tower. This shot was multiple-exposed 5 times in one click. Pretty neat, huh? 

And then one more -

View across the Seine. Metro 6 is making it’s away across too. 

The above photo however has a white-washed sky (which couldn’t be saved digitally after scanning either). And that proves that the ISO is too high for the light that was available. Nonetheless, considering that this was the first experiment, I am going to consider it a moderate success.

Interesting fact: Did you know that B&W films need special technology to be developed? And that it can’t be done in India? And that it costs maybe 5 times as much to do it wherever it can be? Who knew, huh?

Ah Paris!

Some of the best things in life can be free. And the city of lights is an everyday example. Some of the best sights it has to offer are absolutely free. Like this one.

 La Tour Eiffel: The single most-visited paid monument in the world.

Ah Paris! How I love this city and how I love showing its jewels off. With the sudden onset of intensive heat, all the monuments are shining in their well-maintained splendour in the bright sunshine. And with my new-found black and white film SLR mania, this is the best place to be to try and capture some surreally brilliant shots while I’m at it. And yes, I am yet to develop the 2 rolls of B&W film that I’ve already exhausted. Needless to say, exceptional results will wind up here. Until then, vivre la Paris!

Eiffel again

Some things, you just can't help taking pictures of.... This is one of those occasions. The day was brilliant and the angle of the light playing on the tower was perfect. The result - a postcard from Paris.

The comparison of the Eiffels...

France is the head of the EU council for the ongoing 6 months. To commemorate the occasion, the Eiffel Tower glows blue instead of it's usual gold. That apart, there's a circular arrangement of stars around the centre. Here's what they look like -


I was blown away when I saw the blue one recently. Its soo pleasant on the eye and stands totally apart from the other lights of the street, the other buildings etc., almost all of which are yellow/gold. And the stars on the centre that look drab by day look spectacular at night. Even better is the show of blinking lights every hour at the hour. It goes great with the blue. More of a contrast, than with the gold. Maybe its just that it's different and I am sure other people have other opinions. But personally, I hope they vouch for keeping the blue throughout. After all, it doesn't hurt to add one more reason to the Le Bleu tag on France's collar.