Adele noticed the YashMat while I was asking about the project laid out on her table in Union Square Park. It's called Other Places, and the site explains it better than I ever could.
She didn't balk when I asked her for a photo, and I began to make shutter and aperture adjustments since she was in the shade.
"Do you want me to do anything for the picture," she asked.
"You know, maybe it would be better if you got into the sunlight, since god knows if I'll get the exposure right."
I took three sunny shots, finishing out the roll. Then I noticed something. "Oh shit. I forgot to readjust for the sun. The shots are going to be totally blown out. But have no fear, I have this with me," I said as I produced a circa 1953 Zeiss Ikon Nettar that my father gave me. It's a funny thing...since I've been using the YashMat, people have been just giving me vintage cameras, but more about that some other time.
Now the thing about the Nettar (for the uninitiated) is that there's no through the lens focusing. You just guess how many feet the subject is away from you, and turn the focus ring on the lens to whatever you think it is. I figured she might be 1.2 meters away, adjusted my settings, and took the shot:
Oh yeah, there's one other thing about the Nettar. You have to remember to advance the film by hand after every shot, lest you forget and get a double exposure staring back at you when you get your film back from the developer eagerly wondering if you were able to correctly judge the distance on those close-ish shots and hoping that you got them in reasonable focus.
Good thing I took one more:
Cool. I like the double exposure and blown on shots the best. Happy accidents are always a nice surprise!
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