Straying from the project - part II
Taken with the SL2S
Even though it is nice to meet and photograph people I normally only see on television when at home and it is nice to make some extra pesos on the side, these side projects have been taking up quite a bit of time.
The good thing about that, is that I was able to give my new camera a nice try-out in the field. The thing I feared most was that I either loved the camera so much that I would touch my old camera anymore, or that I would leave it in the bag and that I would end op with a pricy lump of weight in my camera bag.
Luckily, both outcomes have not been the case. So far I have loved working with the SL2S. Even though it is big and heavy, it’s also fast (in terms of auto focus) and it is miles ahead in lowlight situations, compared to the M that I am so used to working with. I did have to get used to a zoom lens, but even that only took a so called minute.
Taken with the M 240 and a 35 mm
Taken with the SL2S
As I showcased in the previous post, I portrayed mayor Aboutaleb with my new camera. Entering Barrio 31 though, had to be done with the less bulky and eye catching M. It was the perfect balance. He wasn’t the only Dutch mayor in the city though. Only days after I photographed the mayor of Utrecht, Sharon Dijksma. As I only had about 5 minutes, I decided to grab my newest family member. Total shot, half total, close up… all in the blink of an eye as I could now stay in place and use the zoom. It’s not my regular way of working but hell, if I can just do a quick in-between portrait while I’ there, why not?
Taken with the SL2S
The weekend before I photographed these politicians, Peter and I interviewed André Rieu. The famous 73 years old Dutch musician visited Buenos Aires with his orchestra to play three nights in a row for over 35.000 people in total. The day before opening night, we visited him in his hotelroom. As everything needed to be done quickly and posed (5 minutes after his interview was the time I had) I trusted the SL2S to do its work. And it did!
The next evening we were invited to be at the concert which turned out to be a three hour program. Photographers were only allowed to shoot all the way from the back of the arena. Even with my new camera in APC-format, the 70 mm lens would never give me what I needed. After the first three songs, I had to promise to put the camera in the bag and not take it out, while I was brought to my seat nearly at the front.
Taken with the SL2S on APS-C format
At the end of the concert, people were crowding in front of the stage. A sea of mobile phones were recording every move that was made on stage. I tried to take a few shots with my iPhone in raw mode, but I knew the quality wouldn’t be sufficient. Good reason to look at the iPhone 14-pro maybe… 48 MP in an iPhone, that’s got to do something. I decided to not break my promise about my camera; the SL2S that is. Standing in the crowd, my M wouldn’t stand out that much… I decided to take the risk. It worked perfectly. Afterwards Peter and I were even invited backstage for another drink, before heading back to San Telmo.
Taken with the M 240 and a 50 mm.
Thinking I could finally focus fully on the project, there was one last Dutch politician to visit Argentina. Minister of foreign affairs Hoekstra visited in a` brief 24 hour flash visit. The Dutch embassy commissioned me to document a revealing of the once stolen and now returned statue of Anne Frank. Again, photographing in a quick session, with other press, having the advantage of auto focus and zoom, I chose for the SL2S. She worked like a charm and I was able to deliver only an hour and a half after everything was finished (and the minister was already back in the plane, leaving for the Netherlands.)
All taken with the SL2S
Today, for the first time, I have tried using my M lenses on my SL2S. As this was for the project, I’ll definitely write some more about it, but in a different blog though. But I can honestly tell you; it was a lot of fun too! I even filmed, though I am finding out that returning the microphone that I had bought was a smart idea… It would have been to much hassle, taking away the moment. Regretting not having proper sound, I’m realizing I’m just not a video kind of guy I guess…
