Brunch may not be your favorite assignment if you are a line cook. After all, the dining room will probably be totally packed, and the menu won't be the restaurant's most innovative, either. Face it, brunch is the bread and butter shift and is what gives you the wiggle room (so to speak) to offer items like braised octopus on the dinner menu. On the other hand, as a photographer, brunch can be a good excuse to get out and shoot some nice images after an enjoyable meal accompanied by copious amounts of coffee.
The walk home from our favorite brunch spot is very pleasant and rich in photographic opportunities as the area is undergoing serious and rapid gentrification. The question is, what is a good walking around camera to take with you on such an adventure? Fortunately, there are any number of good answers to that question, but one set-up I particularly like centers on the Leica R4s. It's small, light weight, intuitive to use, and allows you to mount that yummy Leitz glass on the front. As well, they are as cheap as chips on the used market. You can pick one up for around $125. Crazy. The R4s was made in Portugal and has the reputation of having flaky electronics. At the end of the day, it isn't particularly collectible, which is good news for us shooters. My attitude is that all the units with bad circuitry have given up the ghost already, leaving the fit to survive. I decided to just grab one and go shooting.
I had chosen an older 50 mm f/2 as my lens for the day, to keep things compact. These older Summicrons can also be had for a decent price. Indeed, you could put together quite a nice little combo for under $500. Anyway, the film of the day was Ilford Delta 400.
The sun was high in the sky after brunch, but that helped accentuate the textures on this clapboard structure, which was past due for a fresh coat of paint. I am really glad I documented this building because it has now been renovated. I'm sure the occupants are much happier, but its less interesting photographically.
The next image shows an adjacent elevation of the same structure. The light here is different, and the textures are more subdued, while the reflections in the windows are more clearly drawn.
This film has very fine grain for a 400 speed emulsion. If the grain were to disappear entirely, would we still want to shoot film? It is not just a philosophical question. With a film like Ilford XP2 Super sometimes it is hard to tell that the image was captured on film. Delta 400 has just enough grit and grain to be noticeable, and I think this quality pairs really well with the high resolution images produced by the Leica glass. Adding a yellow filter to boost contrast might be the frosting on the cake for this combination.
