Some Favorites from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2015 - Featuring Peru

Here is a selection of my favorite images from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2015. Peru was the featured country.

 

I shot all of these with my newly re-sealed Nikon FM2 and Nikkor AIS 35mm f1.4 lens on Agfa APX400 film.

 

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The Tombs

The Tombs, by Reed A. George

Nikon FM2, Nikkor AIS 35mm f1.4 Lens

Agfa APX400 Film

 

Just a quick shot I made while having lunch with my friend, Charlie, at the Georgetown restaurant called "The Tombs." You can see the rowing crew motif of the restaurant by noticing the oars on the left.

 

For this shot, I set my Nikkor 35mm f1.4 manual focus lens to f1.4 and prefocused to the top of a small set of stairs. Even though I have to shoot the Agfa film at iso 200 instead of the indicated speed of 400, there was enough light in just this one spot.

 

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Nikkor 35mm f1.4 AIS for Environmental Portraiture - Folklife Festival

In the middle of my film scanning efforts, this image just jumped out at me.

 

Traditional Peru in Washington, DC, by Reed A. George

Nikon FM2, Nikkor 35mm f1.4 AIS Lens, Agfa APX400 Film

 

I feel that this image includes just enough of the surroundings to give the subject context, yet still emphasizes her beautiful face and expression. So this is why many photographers prefer the 35mm focal length for environmental portraiture! I also think that the Agfa film, with its relatively low native contrast and considerable grain, gives the image a slightly vintage feel.

 

I've got more scanning to do, but am sure that I will assemble a few of these images from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival into a small collection.

 

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Smithsonian Folklife Festival - Featuring Peru - Shot with Nikon FM2 and Nikkor 35mm f1.4 AIS Lens

I just replaced the seals on my Nikon FM2. My latest roll of film showed evidence of a minor light leak. That's all fixed up now. It took about an hour to get all the old seal residue off and install the new ones, but it was well worth the effort.

 

To test it, I mounted my new Nikkor 35mm f1.4 AIS lens, loaded a roll of Agfa APX400 film (thanks again, Dennis!), met my friend Charlie, and headed into DC. We attended the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which featured Peru this year. Here are a few of the first pics I've scanned.

 

 

I just got the lens from another friend, Alain, a short time back. I haven't used it a lot. I think I like it.

 

I will be posting more from this event as I get them scanned.

 

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Testing the Nikkor AiS 35mm f1.4 With Film

I recently bought two classic lenses from a friend, the 50mm f1.2 and 35mm f1.4 AiS manual focus lenses from Nikon. Both are in truly mint condition.

 

I used the 50 f1.2 while I was in Japan, and have posted some results (Click Here). It's a very special purpose lens, but the way it isolates subjects with the miniscule depth of field, and can shoot in near total darkness is impressive.

 

I have not used the 35 f1.4 much at all yet, and decided to put a roll of film through my Nikon FM2N using only that lens. I didn't have any particular subject in mind when I went out, but wanted to see how the lens would do. Here are a few shots from that roll.

 

 

All of these were shot on Ilford HP5+.

 

The final shot really shows how the 35 f1.4 can isolate a subject, while including a lot of context in the image. If I'd shot this with a longer lens (easier to get narrow depth of field), it would not have been obvious that the boy had friends with him, that he was using an Apple computer, or that he was in a library at all. Kind of fun.

 

So, I need to keep exploring this lens. More to come!

 

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