9th PENTAX DAY
(PART I)
Albornoz Palace Hotel
All in Spoleto
By Stefano Sagna
Saturday…
Here we are, for the
ninth edition of our Pentax Day, and here is my name again putting
together this brief report for the second time. Needless to say, I feel so
honoured for writing about our annual meeting, while I’m so happy to
repeat that it was, once again, an unforgettable occasion for meeting and
sharing our binding passion.
Since I live in
Vicenza, far from Spoleto, I managed to arrive on Saturday, just to see
that many people had the same idea, being already there at my arrival.
The whole day was
spent in pressing but not feverish preparations, thanks to the
considerable help we got by so many members.
We had plenty of
pictures to show, and I also brought some prints of mine, as promised last
year while inciting other members to do the same. This is for not losing
face after that lecture I gave everybody in my last year’s article.
The only jarring
note of the Saturday was the rain, beating all day long. In any case, we
didn’t discourage and continued working serenely, confident in a good
flow (of people, not water) for the next day.
Once everything was
set-up - display cases, tables, panels and pictures - we left Albornoz
Hotel for our accommodations and evening meal.
Speaking of panels:
such set-up was made easy this year, thanks to the excellent and very
practical poles and supports supplied by Manfrotto Trading (now Bogen
Imaging Italia), deserving our warmest thanks.
A group of members,
including myself, had an accommodation at L’Ulivo farm, so much
picturesque but mostly providing double beds. We’d prefer to maintain
strict silence about the occasional couples made up for the night, for not
making jealous some guiltless spouses or partners.
At the evening,
everybody met in a wonderful and elegant restaurant a few kilometres far
from Spoleto. No more rain, but external temperature was worth a good
February: 3°C, yes, THREE degrees! The meal was excellent, and the
company even more so. I also had the opportunity to handle Dario’s *ist
D. By fitting my 50 f/1.4 FA, we could take some nice portraits with the
weak ambient light. Chatting, I realized (am I not clever?) that the
fiftie acts like a 75 mm f/1.4 on the *ist D, with the size and cost of a
50. Think about the fantastic 85 f/1.4 Star becoming a 120 f/1.4: a
pleasure. That evening I started convincing myself that digital
photography hasn’t just disadvantages over my beloved film. Me thinking
so!
At a certain time,
we could hardly feel the cold, thanks to the warm and friendly environment
and the excellent red wine washing down the meal, but at the end we said
goodbye outdoors with chattering teeth. Anticipating the date of the event
over the previous year gave results far beyond our expectations: from over
30 degrees down to 3, could you say that? After all, writing this article
one month and a half later, I can still read 17 degrees, what a cold
Summer!
smc Pentax-DA 14mm
f/2.8 |
smc Pentax-DA 14mm
f/2.8 |
|
