Machu Picchu and Peru with a Leica

[bob_jarman]

Went to Machu Picchu the first of the month and took nothing with me

but a M6, 50mm and 24mm ASPH.

 

What a blast....not having to haul around a ton of digi stuff. In

fact, I bet I left the 24mm on the camera 95% of the time.

 

Shot Portra VC 160 with a polarizer on pretty much all the time

 

Gallery is at the floowing site if you are interested:

 

http://www.rkjarman.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Peru

[jose_merino]

very nice!!

 

i like 45 and 51 I assume with the 24 asph, from the Macchu P album, 24 from the Cuzco album, is that w/ the 50 mm ? and 27

 

that 24 lens looks very sharp

[paul_sharratt]

Bob - Great shots! My wife and I went to Peru in September 2002 and also hiked the Inca Trail. I'm impressed that you have so few tourists in your MP photos. My kit for the trail was Nikon N90S, 28-105, 20mm and 24mm, and my Olga (Holga with H painted out). Now I imagine returning with a Leica to spend days in Chincero. Here's a few of my photos from a Travel Forum post:

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=007e52

[patricks]

nice trip and nice picks.

[new hampshire john]

...and nice presentation. It's pretty rare that I hit someone's gallery and just keep clicking "next picture," but I thumbed through all of yours. You optimized them well for on-screen presentation, too -- very nicely done.

[bob_jarman]

Thanks everyone!

 

Jose, if you are talking about the shot inside the Hotel Monestario, that was taken with the 24mm. I just held the camera on my head and flat against an archway wall, pressed the shutter and hoped. :)

 

Paul - Great shots! I can see the clouds cooperated with your trip a great deal more than ours. :) Some of your perspectives are really great.

 

The reason I have so few people in a lot of mine was that we spent the night at Machu Picchu Lodge. We were able to be on the ruins before first light, and had nearly 2 hours of shooting time before the tourist buses started showing up. That really helped!

[anthony_brookes5]

A nice series of pictures but I think the 24mm has shown too much distortion. Perhaps a 35 would have been better but 50mm would have given the best results IMHO.

[bob_jarman]

Maybe, but I like the look the 24 gave, distortion and all. The 35 or 28 would have been a nice lens to have with me, but the 50 in most cases was no where near wide enough IMO. I tried it on several shots.

[arthuryeo]

Bob,

<br><br>

Beautiful shots. Nice warm tones and ultra sharp.

<br><br>

What scanner did you use? And, how did you use a polarizer with an M6? Could elaborate on that?

[bob_jarman]

Thanks Arthur.

 

I had my lab scan them when developing the rolls and make no prints. Our pro lab will scan as the film is developed for $10 per roll if done before cutting. The scans are good enough to get 4x6 album prints and do some minor cropping. Then If I get one I really want a big print of, I will either scan it with my old Minolta Dual Scan II, or have the lab make a drum scan for me if its something really extraordinary.

 

As far as using the polarizer, I just set it for maximum effect and left it there most of the time. I did that by screwing the filter on and marking a spot on the filter ring that was the exact top center. Then I took the filter off, held it up and rotated the filter while looking through it. When I got that effect I noted the number (heliopan filters have a nuber scale) that corresponded with the mark on the filter ring. I read that on this site site I believe.

[arthuryeo]

Thanks, Bob, for sharing your thots on the polarizer technique.

I appreciate it.