wohou

This post is going to be a long one, because I’m posting pictures from several days. These are the most recent pictures taken in San Sebastian.

All pictures apart from the last four taken with: Olympus Pen E-Pl3 and Panasonic Lumix 14mm f/2.5 ASPH.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

That’s how the Basques spell ‘woohoo’.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Yep, definitely have a visual problem with that one.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Here a little wide-angle beauty shot of one of the architectural marvels of San Sebastian.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

They were waiting for something. Not for me though although they both kept staring at me.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

There was only one bike, but the reflection multiplied it.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Underpass beneath the train station. This used to be on my route walking to the language school every day.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

See that rip above the builder on the right? There is a head right there. Total coincidence. I love when such things happen.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

When your hair hangs in front of the camera while you’re shooting from the hip it’s time for a haircut.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Triplets.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

It was so bright that people kept walking around with closed eyes. Or at least that’s what it looks like on the pictures.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Beret with a star. Very odd.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Doggy caught a leaf.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Obviously thinking of sweets.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Fuji hair moment.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Velocity.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

I keep going back here in the hopes to one day find some kids playing, but I guess it’s just too run down. Or maybe I just pick the wrong time.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

I followed the sound of a marching band and ended up at this school. It was the Friday before the day of San Sebastian and so they probably had a final rehearsal.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

The ball went over the fence and the gate was locked. I attempted to pass the ball back, but the fence was very high and I throw like a girl. After the third attempt the boys were laughing at me. In the end I succeeded, but decided that trying to be nice is overrated.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Wonder what a record breaking hotel looks like.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Too damn bright.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Prepared to look very silly at the rehearsal …!

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

They already looked silly and were obviously late. Another hair moment.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Now, forcing your kids to wear stupid outfits is universal. The boy on the right had a keen sense of fashion. Whenever that woman attempted to put the silly hat on his head he began to scream. I can totally relate.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

That one is for Ezequiel.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

More silly outfits and apparently a lost shoe. The father probably got all sorts of shit for that when the mother found out.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

A whole bunch of little chefs and one adult looking equally silly.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Individualism is overrated.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Window cleaning is obviously important in a city with this much sunshine.

Last four taken with Olympus Pen E-PL3 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 ASPH.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Next day we were off to Bilbao. This was somewhere near the bus terminal.

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

General attempt at clothes adjustment after a bus journey …!

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

© Lilly Schwartz 2014

Another one of those hair moments. They were waving to someone on our bus and the kid was going a bit crazy. Next post: Pictures from Bilbao.

 

I’m still attempting to speed up the process of editing, but I’m not really succeeding so far. I think I have sufficiently proven that one shouldn’t leave the editing for later, since later there will be more pictures that want to be edited as well. Remember: if you shoot every day, then edit every day! Maybe it’s a good thing after all that the weather forecast promises a week of rain. We’ll see how long that will last. I think I remember a period of 3 weeks non-stop rain a few years ago. At the Atlantic, when it rains, it rains. A good opportunity to edit pictures and develop some film, since I only go out to shoot in the rain when it can’t really be avoided.

The film that I have lined up are two rolls at box speed and a test roll for pushing film in Tetenal Ultrafin, since I’ve never done it before. I usually push in Rodinal. Should be rather interesting. I considered shooting another roll to fill the tank when pushing, but I don’t want to ruin too many rolls in case of failure. Of course I won’t be able to evaluate this attempt properly (as in grain, contrast etc) until I get an opportunity to scan, but I want to try nonetheless. I will definitely know if I’m too far off the mark already from looking at the negatives with a magnifying glass.

Comments

  • Thank you for these interesting pictures. I really enjoyed them, but some of your captions were unintelligible to me 🙁 I have a 14mm f 2.5 Panny but have yet to give it a solid workout on my EPL5. After reading all the forum-based rhapsodising about the virtues of the 20mm, however, I’m relieved to see (from your photographs) that there is little — if any — discernible difference between the IQ of the two lenses, despite what 20mm-owners usually maintain.

    • Lilly Schwartz

      Thanks! I guess to understand some of the captions you have to look at the pictures in more detail or maybe also have read a few more of my blog posts. I didn’t used to have any captions by the way, so partly unintelligible ones are better than nothing 😉

      Well, the 14mm and the 20mm are two quite different lenses, to be honest. I don’t see why people want to compare image quality on those two. It’s obvious already from the focal length that there will be marked differences! The IQ of the 20mm is really excellent and it doesn’t have too much distortion either, the framing is pretty standard and there is nothing much to add apart from the horrifically slow autofocus. The 14mm on the other hand has lots of distortion and softness in the corners, which you only notice at higher resolution and with faces at the edges. Due to it being so wide it’s also sometimes hard to find a line that isn’t falling. Hard to get a straight picture sometimes and so it’s definitely harder to frame. I also think it’s more prone to lens flare. With the 20mm walking against the sun is not such a big deal, but the 14mm makes problems. Also, for street photography you have to get extremely close and for some this might be very uncomfortable. Since I was going for exactly that closeness and the wide-angle look I don’t mind some of those qualities though. I love it despite those flaws and I already got some pretty cool stuff with it. I have to say though, the 20mm is really the better choice for most purposes. The 14mm is very specialised and has its downsides, while the 20mm only has its slow AF speaking against it. For me the 20mm is the one always on my camera and I use the 14mm only when I feel like getting very close.

      • Thanks for your reply. I do want a 20mm badly but it’s kinda hard getting hold of one here in New Delhi. Only thing that bothers me is the above-mentioned slow AF…I’m used to the Sony RX100 for street shooting – it’s AF / exposure is like lightning, IQ is outstanding,. the Zeiss lens is f 1.8 at 28mm, and ISO 6400 is nothing for it ! In case you haven’t tried one, I recommend you go see the new model, the RX100 Mark II, the one with the tilting screen. It should suit your shooting style very well.
        Good luck and wish you more great street shooting !!
        Subroto

        • Lilly Schwartz

          Well, the slow AF is actually extremely infuriating at times. For ages I’ve been trying to figure out the right settings to remedy it and so sometimes I shoot with release priority, but you end up with a lot of out of focus pictures. Very annoying. The IQ makes up for it though. And sometimes you just have to live with the fact that you lose a shot. Still, I think the Pana 20mm is the best standard MFT lens out there and I hope one day you’ll find one. As far as I know the AF is a tiny bit faster on a Pana body, but that doesn’t help us E-PL users much, does it? Maybe they bring out an updated version with a faster AF eventually.

          Interesting recommendation, but to be honest I just prefer prime lenses, so a non-interchangeable zoom lens wouldn’t be the right thing for me. The sensor would be great, but even the E-PL5 would already do to improve the IQ at night, which is the only complaint I have with the E-PL3. Besides, although I really like my E-PL3, most of my investment goes into analog gear nowadays. There ISO is dependent on the film (Kentmere 400 pushed to 3200 has less grainy than what my Canon EOS 450D produces in noise at ISO 1600) and the IQ is even better if you have the right gear.

          Good hunting to you too 😉
          L

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