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Normally when I visit a city I try to walk around as much as I can. However since San Francisco covers such a large area, I decided to spend $20 on a ticket for one of the open top bus tours. The bus goes on a 2.5-3 hour journey around the major sights, and you are free to hop on and off at any of the stops along the route. This gave me the best of both worlds – I could use the bus to cover distance quickly, and I could walk in between the individual stops if I wished
The first place I chose to get off was at Alamo Square Park so that I could take a look at the Painted Ladies. From Wikipedia: “Painted ladies” is a term in American architecture used for Victorian and Edwardian houses and buildings painted in three or more colors that embellish or enhance their architectural details. Shooting the houses from the park with a wide angle lens gives a nice view of downtown San Francisco, and, although the weather wasn’t providing me with perfect skies, I got an OK shot of the houses.
Moving away from Alamo Square, I chose to walk across to Haight Ashbury, the center of the flower power revolution in the 60s. Today the area is mostly a tourist attraction, and the main street is bordered with shops selling head gear and alternative clothing.
After spending a while wandering around Haight Ashbury, and realising that most of it is closed before 12pm on a Sunday, I got back on the bus and traveled through Golden Gate Park to Golden Gate Bridge. The tour guide provided us with a good commentary of information about the bridge. I hadn’t realised that the bridge was such a suicide hotspot, and in fact 46 people are known to have jumped in 2013 alone. The bridge itself of course is a masterpiece of civil engineering, 1300m long, and around 70m above the water.
Another area that i always find worth a wander in San Francisco is Chinatown. In fact on this trip I think I ate most of my lunches and dinners here 🙂 It’s always a bit hit and miss with the quality of the food, but using the reviews on Foursquare before committing is always a good move. During the day there is quite a lot of activity around Portsmouth Square Plaza. Many of the older Chinese play cards or Chinese Chess here, and it is always interesting to wander around and here them chattering away and get quite animated with the games they are playing. Often when I am taking street photographs of people I gained eye contact with the subjects before I took the shot so that they are aware and OK with me shooting.
I did this with both of the shots in Chinatown here, but unfortunately this upset one of the other ‘inhabitants’ of the park – there are also a lot of ‘bums’ here, homeless/down and out Americans with nothing else to do but drink and sit around. One of them, a tall, bearded low life, took offence of me taking a photo of someone unconnected to him, and came over and started shouting at me. Quite entertaining, and when he finally tried to take a swing at me, I dodged, he lost his balance, and it ended up as a girly slap to the side of my head. Unfortunately that’s just one of the hazards of shooting in the street, and most of the time time nothing to worry about. Still, always important to keep your wits about you.
I then walked further down to the Embarcadero Center, and rejoined the bus tour.
By this time the bus was heading for the stop where I had originally joined the trip, Union Square. However I decided to stay on board until the City Hall stop – I had seen this building when I passed the first time in the morning, and had worked out that the sun should be going down behind the building later that evening. Luckily my timing was good, and I arrived there with a couple of minutes to spare. I was happy with the resulting shot and it turned out to be one of my favourites of the day.
I chose Big Bus Tours to drive me round San Francisco, and would recommend it to anyone who is in town for a short stay and wants to see the most of the city in one day. The next day I spent a bit of time wandering around the Mission District, which seemed to be heavily under construction along the main street.
All of the shots in this post were taken with the Leica M-E, and either the Summilux 50mm ASPH, or the Summicron 28mm.
Posts Tagged: Summilux 50mm
Chapter Forty One: Life in Istanbul, October 2014
On July 3, 2015 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
It’s been a while since my previous post looking at people sitting down in Istanbul. Here are some more photos from the same trip, looking at some of the stuff the locals get up to on a daily basis.
Selling pomegranate juice. Costs around a Euro, but freshly squeezed and tastes good, as long as you’re not too worried about the hygiene…..
Washing feet. Essential if you plan on praying in the mosque……
….. and it’s not just because they like to keep the carpet clean
Fishing on the Galata bridge. Literally hundreds of people lined across the bridge trying to catch fish. The Golden Horn is pretty well stocked, so success is almost guaranteed, and you’ll either end up with a tasty meal for later, or you can sell the fish to the restaurants trading below the bridge. The restaurants then serve the fish in a roll (balik-ekmek), which tastes pretty good. Just don’t try the turnip juice, which doesn’t. The Galata bridge is also a good spot to see dolphins, and there were 3 or 4 playing around whilst I was there.
Roasting chestnuts. The Turkish seem to have a fascination for roasting chestnuts, and they’re available all over Istanbul, whether it’s the middle of the day……
… or the middle of the night, together with a tasty cob of corn.
Selling flags. The Turkish flag seems pretty popular and well loved, and this guy was doing a brisk trade each time I walked past him.
Ever wondered where to buy a plastic mannequin? Well look no further…..
In my eyes, pigeon are vermin. Nothing more than rats with wings, noisy and filthy. But they seem pretty popular in Istanbul. Outside the New Mosque it’s even possible to buy a small bag of pigeon feed to make sure they don’t go hungry. The guy selling the feed at the back of the picture had an old analogue SLR hanging in the back of his cabin…..
If you can fit it on the back of a handcart, you’ll be able to find someone somewhere willing to pull it around for you.
This guy was trying his hardest to sell the prayer carpet over his shoulder. Or maybe it was a magic carpet? In any case, it wasn’t very popular with the punters, and he didn’t have any success in selling it when I was there.
All images taken in Istanbul with the Leica M-E and the Summilux 50mm ASPH lens.
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Chapter Thirty-Nine: Leica Factory Visit, Wetzlar, Germany: September 2014
On January 15, 2015 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
Back in October 2013, I visited the Leica factory in Solms together with some members from the Leica User Forum. At the time the visit was significant as Leica was about to close the facility in preparation for a move to their new factory in Wetzlar, and we were one of the last groups to visit.
Although Leica was originally based in Wetzlar, they had left the city in 1986 for larger premises in an old furniture factory in neighbouring Solms. Whilst the factory was functional, and completely customised to Leica’s needs, its appearance didn’t befit the image of the Leica marque, and it was becoming too small to deal with the rapid growth that Leica has experienced.
So, to coincide with the 100 year anniversary of the first Leica camera in 1914, Leica opened a new facility in May 2014 to provide a new manufacturing and administrative base for Leica Camera AG. The facility has been built to provide visitors with a complete ‘Leica Experience’. Alongside the factory itself, which can be viewed through windows, there is also a gallery area with rotating photographic exhibitions, a number of show cases showing the key cameras from Leica’s history, and a display cabinet containing one of everything Leica has ever created. There is also a Leica shop, and Leica Customer Services in the same premises.
I had the chance in September 2014, during a visit to Cologne, to make a day trip to Wetzlar to check out the new building. The 60 million euros that the project cost has certainly been well spent, and the campus is impressively architected. All of the interior walls and floors are white, and this gives the entrance area a very spacious feeling. After walking around the gallery area, and viewing an exhibition entitled ’36 aus 100′ showing some of the images that have made Leica famous over the last 100 years, I wandered through the tunnel at the back of the gallery area to look into the factory.
There are four or five windows that you can look through, each looking onto a different part of the manufacturing process. Each window has been created interactively and buttons can be pressed to provide information on each particular step of the manufacturing process.
Once you have passed the factory windows, you are presented with the display cases containing all of the Leica products from over the years, both the camera optics, and the sport optics (spotting scopes and binoculars). It was interesting to note that although the new Leica M60 and Summarit lenses had been announced some weeks previously at Photokina, these were not yet on display, although the Leica M100 editions were.
Upon exiting the tunnel you are presented with the Leica shop, a large area selling all of the current products, including the Leica cinema lenses, which was the first time I had seen them, and a large studio which was presumably used for testing the Leica S range.
There are also two restaurants on the campus – Cafe Leitz (mainly a coffee shop) and a restaurant. We finished our trip with a visit to the restaurant – it is accessible for visitors as well as the Leica staff, and prices and food quality are very good.
All in all, a very enjoyable day out, and worth a visit if you are in the neighbourhood.
Photos in this post taken with the Leica M-E Rangefinder, together with the 21mm Super-Elmar, 28mm Summicron and 50mm Summilux lenses
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Chapter Thirty-Eight: Ngaben Cremation Ceremony, Ubud: July 2014
On January 5, 2015 by Simon Leech With 1 Comments
- Travel
In Bali, as with other communities that practice the Hindu religion, it is normal to cremate the dead. Ngaben, the name for the cremation ceremony in Balinese, is the funeral ritual that is performed by the people of Bali to send deceased relatives to the next life. The ceremony itself is often very expensive, and, whilst it is normal for members of the upper castes to perform the funeral ritual within three days of the passing of a relative, lower social classes will typically wait until the next mass cremation ceremony, opting to bury the bodies for a number of months until the next mass ceremony takes place.
In Ubud, mass ceremonies take place a couple of times per year, and we were fortunate to be invited to such a ceremony during our travels. The cremation ceremony is not considered a sad event, as the Balinese believe in reincarnation so the body will only be temporarily absent as it passes on to the next life. The ceremony we attended was for around 80 deceased from three villages who had passed on over the previous couple of months.
Cremation is considered a family event, and young to old all take part in the celebration of the deceased’s life.
The exact date of a cremation ceremony is decided upon after consultation with a specialist in Balinese holy days. The ceremony itself consists of a number of parts. First the body is exhumed (in the case of cremations that are taking place some time after the time of death), and placed inside a coffin. The coffin is then put inside a decorative paper mache sarcophagus, or inside a wooden temple structure.
After this, the coffin is transported by relatives from the house to the location of the cremation. This can often be a couple of kilometres of walking, and, on a hot Balinese summer day, is hard work.
Additionally the procession never travels in a straight line in an effort to confuse the evil spirits and make sure they don’t travel with the deceased on to the after life. Watching, the procession almost seems choreographed.
Once the coffin arrives at the cremation, it is placed in line with the other sarcophaguses, and the family sit down to wait until the cremation starts. Whilst they wait the families feast, and wander around the food stalls and market stalls that are assembled.
It seems that in Bali the chicken has a very big role, and again chickens were being used as part of Ngaben. Poultry was tied to the sarcophagus, and released once the coffin had arrived. I was told that it was good luck if you were able to catch one of the released birds.
As soon as all of the coffins have arrived, and with the fire service in attendance, it is time to start burning the bodies. The ‘honour’ of lighting the first coffin is down to the relative of the most recently deceased – at this event this was a lady whose husband had passed away just the day before. Rather than using matches, the fire is fuelled by a complicated, and not particularly safe looking, gas installation.
It was certainly a very interesting experience, and, since it is seen as a celebration, we were welcomed by the locals. People didn’t seem to have a problem with me taking photos, and many were happy to pose. Out of respect I wore a traditional sarong and Balinese head dress.
Photos in this post were taken using the Leica M-E (digital) and Leica M6 (film with Portra 160). Lenses used were Summicron 28mm, Summilux 50mm, and Elmarit 90mm.
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Chapter Thirty Four: Denpasar Badung Burung (Bird Market), Bali: July 2014
On October 20, 2014 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
(Some readers may find the images in this post distressing) The role of the pet in Balinese society is fairly well pronounced. Almost every family owns at least one dog, probably a small run of chickens to provide eggs, and a songbird to provide song. The dog plays a very important part in the family – it protects the compound from human intruders, but also evil spirits, and natural vermin such as snakes and rats. It also delivers an important role as garbage disposal unit – eating the leftovers and keeping the village clean from food waste.
Of course, wherever there is a need to be fulfilled, there is always someone ready to fulfil it. And when it comes to providing Balinese families with pets, the somewhat barbaric animal markets are there to deliver the goods. During our trip to Denpasar we were able to visit the Denpasar Badung Burung bird market, and experienced the sometimes distressing conditions that these animals are kept in.
Despite the conditions that are evident from the photos, our driver assured us that there is a swift trade in buying and selling, and therefore the animals only stay in the market before they are purchased by a family and then taken home to live in better conditions. However this seemed hard to believe looking at some of the animals. The market traders are competing with one another for trade, taking an extra step or two to make their animals more attractive to potential buyers – take for example the brightly colored chicks, painted to attract the attention of children, and often given away as prizes at village ceremonies. The color quickly disappears, and the chickens grow into the family ecosystem, providing eggs, and, ultimately, meat.
Songbirds are also very popular in Bali, and men will spend hours standing at the market trying to find the bird with the most perfect singing voice, whether it be from the ‘official’ sellers with their cages, or the brown paper bag trade near the edges of the market.
One of the problems that has stemmed from the pet keeping industry and the pet markets is the introduction of otherwise protected and/or endangered species into the markets. Probably the best advice is not to buy from such markets, and there are organisations in Bali, such as the Bali Animal Welfare Association, who are working tirelessly to publicise the impact that the poor conditions inside the markets are having on the animals.
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Chapter Thirty Three: Denpasar Pasar Badung (Market), Bali: July 2014
On October 7, 2014 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
One of the memories that every visitor has of Bali is the food. Nasi campur, chicken sate, babi gulung, and all mixed with herbs including lemongrass, garlic, and sambal. Traditional Indonesian recipes with a little Balinese je ne sais quoi to make it unique. Supermarkets are fairly sparse in Bali, and refrigeration doesn’t seem the norm, so it’s up to the restaurant owners to get up at the crack of dawn to visit the local market to pick the produce they need to feed their diners.
When we were planning our hotel transfer from Nusa Dua to Ubud we were given the opportunity to stop off in Denpasar on the way. I had read about the two main markets in the city – Denpasar Pasar Badung (the traditional food market) and Denpasar Pasar Burung (the bird market, more on that in a future post) – and was eager to check them out, so we said yes.
I had expected the food market to at least have a faint sense of organisation, but as soon as we entered I realised I was very wrong. It was huge, dirty, and it stank. We arrived mid morning so the market day was already in full swing (this particular market stays open 24 hours a day), but the shelves were full, and deliveries were coming and going to keep up with the demands of the shoppers.
The market building itself is three floors. The ground floor is the busiest (and the dirtiest) and holds all of the fresh produce – fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish. And the occasional live cockerel for those who like there ayam as fresh as can be. The meat and fish isn’t stored in any kind of refrigeration unit like you might see at a western market, but instead is just piled up on benches, occasionally surrounded by ice cubes. On the second floor you can find spices, and dried foods, and on the top floor it is fairly quiet, with vendors selling cooking utensils and various fabrics.
The market is a very local affair, and there weren’t actually that many tourists wandering around. Instead the paths through the market are full of restaurant owners bartering with the sellers to get the best prices. There are however a number of ladies wandering the floor looking out for tourists, and when you get found you will be followed around, as they try to offer their services as a personal guide. Politely saying no 5 or 6 times seemed to be the best way to get rid of them.
Let’s just assume she was very tired from working the night shift 🙂
Back to the state of the market. It must be hard to keep it in clean shape when it never really closes, but it really was a filthy mess in some places. Some of the workers try to keep their areas clean with a hose, but this just seems to move the dirt around, and I’m sure some of the splash back from the hose was ending up on the produce. However this is where the restaurants source their food from, so I guess it is acceptable – we certainly didn’t suffer from any stomach problems whilst we were in Bali.
Pigs trotters. Wasn’t entirely sure if they were stacked up here waiting to be thrown away, or whether they were waiting to be displayed on a stall….
Outside of the market there is a warung area with vendors selling food.
All the images in this post were taken with the Leica M-E Rangefinder using the Summilux 50mm ASPH
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Chapter Twenty One: Soweto, Johannesburg, May 2014
On June 30, 2014 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
Meet Amos. Amos is 51 years old and lives and works in the Soweto township in the South of Johannesburg. I met Amos when I visited The Shack, the shebeen where he is employed. Amos told me that he has got 8 children of his own, and moved to South Africa from Malawi after his brother passed away from the AIDS virus in order to look after his brother’s wife and 8 children as well as his own. Their house had only one bedroom, and when the children were growing up they would all sleep alongside one another like sardines – when he returned home from work in the evening he would turn the light off in order to get changed in the dark.
All of the children have left home now. The youngest daughter is an IT trainee, and hopes to be able to get a job of her own and be fully self supporting once she has finished her apprenticeship. He was saddened that all his children are only interested in themselves, and don’t assist him in anyway anymore.
Amos works at The Shack, a shebeen just off Vilakazi Street. Shebeen is an Irish word meaning ‘illegal drinking place’, From Wikipedia: Shebeens are most often located in townships as an alternative to pubs and bars, where under apartheid and the Rhodesian era, indigenous Africans were barred from entering pubs or bars reserved for those of European descent. Today, shebeens are operated legally, and serve as part of the African culture. In addition to serving South African and international beers, shebeens offer local beers. At The Shack, they offer Joburg beer – Amos told me that it’s what keeps his skin looking good, and since it only contains 1.5% alcohol, he drinks it daily for breakfast as it’s a meal in itself. The beer is sold in a carton similar to a milk carton, and has an entertaining slogan on the side:
Amos showed me round the shebeen, but he seemed to be most proud of the ladies toilet. “You know Johnny Walker? Well we made Winnie Walker!”
All the shots in this post were made with the Leica M-E and Summilux 50mm ASPH. The first four shots were shot as ISO 2000, which shows that as long as the shot is well exposed, high ISOs are perfectly useable with the M-E…..
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Chapter Nineteen: Photowalk Amsterdam, March 2014
On June 10, 2014 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
A few shots from a recent wander around Amsterdam. One of the first fine days of the year, and to enable me to shoot with the Summilux wide open or thereabouts, I used a B+W 0.9ND filter to block a couple of extra stops of light. As you can hopefully see from these shots, the use of the filter hasn’t impacted the ability of the Summilux 50mm to take sharp and contrasty shots.
Sitting on a bench. Nieuwmarkt Amsterdam
Waiting for God-ot
When are you coming home?
Amsterdam Canal
Bridge of love locks, Amsterdam
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Chapter Seventeen: San Francisco, February 2014
On May 20, 2014 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
In February I was able to travel to Palo Alto to attend a new hire training, and took the opportunity to burn a few hotel points and spend the weekend before wandering around San Francisco. I managed to reserve the Marriott Hotel just off Union Square, which made a change from the hotels I have stayed at in the past in the Financial District, and it was a good base location for all the things I wanted to see.
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Chapter Fifteen: NDSM, Amsterdam, January 2014
On April 30, 2014 by Simon Leech With 0 Comments
- Travel
Away from the picturesque canals of the Jordaan, there is a different side of Amsterdam, reflecting the industrial shipbuilding past of the Dutch city. NDSM-werf, or NDSM Wharf, is accessible via a free ferry that departs regularly from the dock behind Centraal Station, and takes you to the North of Amsterdam in less than 15 minutes.
In 1916, the Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, or Dutch Shipbuilding Company, relocated from their previous location to the North of Amsterdam, on the other side of the Ij canal. In 1920 they were joined there by the Nederlandsche Dok Maatschaapij (Dutch Dock Company), and in 1946 the two companies merged to create the Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (Dutch Dock and Shipbuilding Company, or NDSM).
At the time, the shipbuilding industry was growing rapidly as the call for ships increased, and the NDSM were considered to be one of the leading companies in the industry, demonstrating modern innovations to their customers looking for new ships and repairs to existing vessels, however in the 70s, due to the oil crisis, political games, and increased competition, the work at NDSM gradually decreased, and in 1984 the shipyard closed its doors.
Since then, NDSM-werf has been defining its own future. The old factory halls have been converted into studio space for small creative companies, outdoor space has been turned into a gallery for graffiti artists, and, in a move to deal with the demand for student accommodation, shipping containers have been colourfully painted and turned into student digs.
In January I went for a wander around NDSM with some friends, and enjoyed shooting some of the derelict working space that we encountered. All of the shots on the day were taken with the Leica M-E, together with the Summilux 50mm f/1.4 ASPH lens. It was the first real outing I had taken with the 50mm ‘lux, and I was finally able to understand for myself what all the fuss is about – the Summilux 50mm is classed by many to be the best standard 50mm lens ever made, and, although it comes at a price, I can definitely understand this opinion. The lens is sharp even when used at f/1.4, and has lovely out of focus areas (or bokeh). Most of the shots in this blog were shot at between f/1.4 and f/4.
For further information about the NDSM-werf, check out this article online (in Dutch): http://www.ilovenoord.nl/2013/10/de-ndsm-werf-geschiedenis-en-toekomst/
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