I met up with my Italian friend Nik who is also a Leica enthusiast at an event at the Leica Store Milano about two weeks ago. We were early so borrowed some gear from the store (a great service Leica Stores provide free) and went for about an hours photo walk. The store is located in the fantastic historic district near the Duomo di Milano, so lots of great photography to test the gear with. I captured this woman fixing her ponytail at the ancient market there.
From some recent museum visits in Munich. M-P 240, CV 35/1.5
Unfortunately my rangefinder or lens is a bit off, esp. at closer distances. Guess I'll have to spend some time or money on calibration.. the joys of using optical rangefinders
This evening the 1000 Miglia 2025 historic car race/tour is stopping in Parma, Italy for the evening. The cars will be parked for display, and the celebrations will take place just a few blocks from my home there. Unfortunately, I am currently at our La Jolla, CA home so I will miss it. But my Wife and some friends will be attending. Some great event in art, music, history, or sport seems to go on there every week in Spring and Summer. Since the city is not overrun with tourists as is so often the case with such places in Italy, it is mostly locals participating which is nice.
The short walk to where the 1000 Miglia cars will be parked for the night can be made through this small street dedicated to musical arts shown below. Afternoons and evening on the street are full of live music, and wonderful food. Below are two images I shot walking to the theater with my Wife one evening a couple of weeks ago. AS you can see, parma offers a peaceful and gentile life. Between La Jolla and Parma our lives are blessed...
A local having Apertivo and catching up on local news to the sounds of practicing musicians in the many studios on music street.
The streets are not crowded with tourists. You can see the amazing historic theater complex at the end of the street. This is just a small section of the much longer street.
Last Saturday I went for a walk with our local street shooting group. We offer free instruction to newbies. This young lady was out for her first shoot. She even had to borrow a camera. In order to demonstrate to her the relationship between DOF, Aperture, and Subject Distance, and the importance of choosing a position that provided good light, and decent background, I took her portrait while varying these things. This shot was done close, at f/1.4 to demonstrate shallow DOF, the effect on her, and the background. M11, Leica 50mm Summilux 11 blade CF.
