Madrid views on film

Grabbing a few hours free during the December break I went for a walk around the centre of Madrid in search of some bright colours and some typical cityscape scenes, join me for some traditional Spanish architecture and daily life.

Over the Christmas holidays I shot a whole load of film and it has taken me quite a while to get through all of the scanning. My first post from my 3-week holiday is a simple photowalk around Madrid, deciding I would go in search of some bright colours and traditional Madrid scenes. The weather was, surprisingly, uncooperative, but I still managed to get some decent shots. I actually cannot remember what film I used, it was probably Fuji Superia 400 or Kodak UltraMax 400, either being a decent consumer grade colour negative film.

This place is actually called “The Museum of Ham”…always a great place to visit.

I really like the composition of the shot but the colours and overall scanning came out quite poorly.

The colours are a bit dull but I really like how traditionally Spanish this looks.

I always like tunnel vision type shots.

Plenty of colour in this shot.

The many shades of red and blue caught my eye in this shot.

A typical Madrid life shot (and finally some sun!).

Always a fan of looking up and finding some interesting compositions.

A bit bright due to the sunlight, but I liked how the shadow cuts the image in half.

I really like the shadow in this shot. The colour is not as well rendered as I would have liked, but not bad for a consumer grade film.

I am also a big fan of empty Metro stations.

Doesn’t get more Spanish than this shot!

Some nice blue Spanish skies!

Nice composition and brightness in the blue sky complemented by the flowers and plants.

Overexposed on purpose as I was curious how the film would deal with a pre-sunset scene. Centre of Madrid in the background.

I like the perspective of this shot.

I like the old architecture.

One of my favourite shots of the roll.

Jamon Serrano everywhere.

I always think it is a good idea to try different perspectives and angles, so I was experimenting here with the straight lines.

The green caught my eye in an otherwise bland shot.

I’ve always liked this building, the bottom used to house a traditional Spanish restaurant…the mobile phone shop doesn’t have the same appeal.

Overall observations

Given that I cannot remember which film I used there is not that much feedback I can give about it. However I do know it was a consumer grade film, which you can tell with overall sharpness and feel of the shots. I think some of the shots came out well but with overcast weather and slightly dull lighting perhaps black & white may have produced some more interesting tones.

Otherwise I hope you enjoyed a small taste of Madrid from some different angles and perspectives than the traditional postcard views. I have quite a few additional posts in the works, including more city views (Hamburg), practising double exposures, and travelling by air views.

See you next time!

Neil