Prague Without The Trains or the Cameraphone

This is part of a larger experiment with loading my Ikoflex with color film. This roll was badly underexposed, though, because of the shutter having no intermediate settings between 1/100 and 1/300, and of course my lack of skill. I'm wondering if the batteries in my Gossen Polysix lightmeter are a problem, too. I've also got a bit of a blue cast over everything, which I've noticed to a lesser degree with other photos taken with a Zeiss, and I've got vignetting ala Holga or Lomo, although the vignetting is something I've experienced before with underexposed Ikoflex shots. I also had considerable light leaks on this roll, although I doubt this is the camera, as I mishandled the film several times, and we know how 120 is. The issues with the film, I sense, also inhibited the lab from doing a good scan. Any tips on how to get the most out of color in an Ikoflex or other old Zeiss-lensed TLR would be welcome. :-)

I just saw this photo and decided that it was perfect. My only regret was that I was carrying my Lomo and not my Ikoflex!! :-)

I just spotted all of these contrails illuminated by the sunset off to the left of the photo, and liked how they looked. They do serve as a reminder that there is a lot of air traffic coming in and out of Prague, even if it's nowhere near to what you would see in London or New York.

28 Rijna is not an address, but a street named for a date, the 28th of October. I took this photo because I liked the way the blazing sun that day had illuminated the street, and the action.

Same as the previous shot, I took this one for the sunlight, worried that my camera had malfunctioned on the first shot. In reality, this shot is more notable for the shadows in the foreground and the apparent light leak in the upper left. That light leak comes and goes on my Lomo 135, and I have yet to pinpoint the cause.

My Dad really likes this shot, given its illustration of globalization, even if Converse has been a world brand for decades.

I do have other photos of this hotel and its neighbors on Flickr, but this is one of my best, I think.

This was sort of one of those Lomo moments when I was walking to the Muzeum tram stop behind the Narodni Muzeum. The shot just looked good, so I took it.

Mestan is a 19th Century brand of Czech beer that is now the cheapest brand name beer you can buy in Prague, with a half liter bottle sometimes going for less than 4Kc, which comes out to less than 20 cents. This is the original Mestan Pivovar, or brewery, if I'm not mistaken, opened in 1898. Nowadays, though, Mestan is brewed at the equally historic Staropramen Pivovar in Smichov, and this old brewery has become an office complex on the upper levels, with an Arnold supermarket in the basement.

This is another, brighter shot of the old Mestan Pivovar.

Here you can see a little bit more detail on the Kommunardu (that's a street) side.

Here you can still see the original lettering on the pivovar, which I think was probably kept for historic purposes.

This is one of two photos that I took of Pankrac, in uncertain lighting conditions, so I ended up bracketing even with the Lomo. This one I shot at f11 and 1/250, I think, which made it too dark technically, but better in some ways than the f11 1/125 bracket, which was the other one.

This was my "proper" shot of Pankrac, with appropriate exposure.

This was a strictly experimental shot that I took in Sidliste Haje, like so many of my experimental shots there. I had to bracket this to get it right, and I think I ended up settling on f16 and 1/125, although I could be misremembering. I don't keep a notebook for the Lomo.

This is the smallest of Bohemia Bagel's Prague restaurants. Actually, come to think of it, it isn't really a restaurant, but a kiosk, as you can't sit inside. In the summertime they have tables on the sidewalk, though.

I just saw the light and shot this. I like how it looks. :-)

I'm 90% certain this sculpture dates to the Communist era. Why else would it have workmen and the word "Bratrych?" For the Czech speakers: is that "brothers," or "brotherhood?" I don't actually know since it's not in my dictionary.