Weekend Getaway

 

Me:   I'd like to go see this Annie Leibovitz exhibition in Mexico City. You interested?

My Friends: You bet. Let's go!

 

And so 12 days later we were in Casa Gonzalez which is just a couple of blocks from the US Embassy and the Paseo de la Reforma in the heart of Mexico City. It had been about 25 years since I had stayed in the Casa Gonzalez guest house so it was such a treat to go back and see how it had changed. There are more rooms, wifi, better, much better mattresses, more gardens and outdoor tables and chairs but still the same charm and intimacy. The breakfast is fabulous although now you pay for it separately, the cost is quite reasonable. In fact the cost per night is more than 25 years ago but still unbelievable reasonable.

 

We dumped our luggage and went off to find something to eat but finding something to eat in the area around Casa Gonzalez is not difficult. There must be at least three restaurants in every block. Everything from a taco stand to an elegant restaurant.

 

In addition to the Annie Leibovitz exhibition we had made reservations for the Jessica Lang Dance Performance at Palacio de Bellas Artes on Friday night. We had great seats in about the third row center. The production was beautiful and the performance was amazing. Lithe, beautiful bodies that seemed to hang in the air or carry another person across the stage as if they were light as a feather.

 

Saturday morning we walked across the Reforma and into the Colonia Juarez to the building housing Leibovitz's exhibition, Women: New Portraits. The exhibition wasn't hung on the wall but was more of an installation on big banks of LCD screens showing one portrait at a time. This reminded me of a recent talk with a Gallery Owner who told me that she expected to see more and more photographs shown as an installation. Hard for me to believe because I still want to see a print but maybe that is just my age showing.

 

A nice comida and then back to Casa Gonzalez just before the afternoon rain.

 

I always want to try new restaurants and this time we headed out in the rain and back across Reforma to Havre 77 that has been open for about six months. The food was delicious and we got to talk to the chef-in-charge Gerado Ramos who previously worked here in San Miguel.

 

The next morning after another wonderful breakfast we were in the van and headed back to San Miguel. It seems like I always leave Mexico City before I'm ready to leave. So I'll go back again soon, even if only for a quick weekend getaway.  

Street Portraits

Jack Montgomery has an entry, The Chemistry of Portraiture, on his blog that says what I'd like to say. I'm not really a street photographer who can grab shots of people. Oh, it is okay if I have people in what I photograph on the street but I never feel a connection and quite honestly sometimes I feel that I have invaded their privacy. Usually the pictures that I like that I make of people on the street are made when I have asked for permission. Maybe all I do is smile, hold up the camera and ask, "Okay." Yes, sometimes people say no. Yes, sometimes I have missed some moment. But more often I have made a connection with the person and I think we can both walk away feeling good about that exchange.

I walked in this fruit and vegetable stall and kind of looked around. This man was leaning on his counter. I stopped, smiled at him and told him with a few Spanish words and a few gestures that I liked his hair. He laughed. I laughed too. "Foto, okay?" He nodded, yes. I don't think he moved at all during this exchange.

Montgomery says, "That moment when the subject connects and addresses the camera is often electric.  There is a non-verbal communication between us and for that short time we are alone in the world, entirely focused on the task between us. At that moment I feel an energy – an actual rush – that is unique in my experience."

YES! That's what I'm talking about.

Testing and Training

I have a new lens which is the equivalent of a 90mm 1.8 lens on my camera. Of course when you have a new lens you have to test it out to see what it can do. This was shot at f/2.0, 1/125 sec, ISO 200. As you can see the lens can do very well.

I shot a bunch of kids on this day but about 50% of them didn't turn out as well. When you are shooting with a big aperture (f/1.8 to 2.8) you have very little depth of field or very little that will be in focus and sharp. The critical focus area may not be more than a couple of inches. This was a big aperture so there is a wonderful creamy blur in the background and I love the technique because it makes the subject pop. You want the eyes or at least the eye nearest the camera to be in sharp focus. There could be the exception to this but this rule works best most of the time.

Since I shoot more scenes than people and usually use a smaller aperture that increases the depth of field, I have a tendency to push the shutter button down a bit to get a focus hold and then check the image for framing before pushing the button down all the way. When you want to use the big aperture with any subject that could move, even an inch or two, the focus hold doesn't work because the object you want critically sharp will go out of the critically sharp focus area.

The lens is fine. The camera is smart and can be directed to focus on the face, the face and eyes, the face and right eye, or the face and left eye. It seems it is the photographer that needs training and testing.