Sunday, December 07, 2014

Saint Philip and Saint James!

Felipe and Santiago were the two patron saints of Montevideo, designated by Don Bruno Mauricio de Zabala himself. Maybe he could not choose a single one, or maybe Don Bruno just wanted to hedge his chances. I do not believe that the saints were consulted beforehand.

The two saints must have had more than a few headaches during the 190 years of life of this city. In compensation, a 10k is run every year's end in the saints' name. If you are interested here is some information about the 2014 version.

They run in the Rambla with a light back wind, the setting sun in front and a temperature of 32 C - very warm indeed. I took position about midcourse, old camera ready.

First came the wheelchair leader, making good time.

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The race was a battle of three - Mr. Bruno form Argentina, who won against Mr. Rojas and Mr. Zamora. Mr. Bruno was flying when he passed my station.

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The challengers were near.

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In these races there is a group of athletes that go for the medals and timing, and a much larger group of people that go for the fun and exercise. I singled out a Gaucho with a national flag, greeting a friend.

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In the slower times, the race became a massive walk-run affair, fighting the extreme heat. Along the Rambla, people walked more or less indifferently, watching the exercise and (I think) being very glad that they did not have to run along.

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Technical: Exakta VXIIb with Pancolar lens, FP4+ in Beutler.

2 comments:

  1. Nice work with the Exakta. Just enough blur to convey the movement. I'm always a little tempted by the Exaktas I see for sale, but I suspect they harbor more complexity than my skills can cope with.

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  2. Thanks Mike! The movement shots were taken with 1/100, following the moving subject.

    Despite their impressive number of little wheels, the Exaktas are not really complex to use, unless you get into slow shutter speeds. The VX IIb (and a) are very popular and not expensive.

    Lenses are a different issue, with the best lenses going for ridiculous figures. But there were so many lenses for Exaktas that if you are patient you may get something reasonable!

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