Submitter's name:	Fernando González Gentile
Title:	Montevideo
Gear used:	OM-2 + 21/3.5 + tripod
Diaphragm:	f5.6
Shutter speed:	about 40 sec.
Film used:	Provia 100F
Technical information:	OM-2 on Auto mode, trusting its meter without exposure compensation. Ambient temperature just above 5 degrees Celsius. Stopped down not because I wanted the full moon to appear like a star but because I wanted the very distant rotating red and green lights to build up enough light on film: I should have made a full aperture exposure but OTOH I like its unreal shape. Scanned by Roberto Schettini using a Nikon Coolscan 4000 at 4000 dpi and cropped to fit the required size. One scan at 8 bit, ICE enabled.
Subject information:	You can see the entrance to the Bahía de Montevideo, where Montevideo harbor is located. Entrance is marked by the red and green lights. The horizon is the Cerro de Montevideo, on top of which is the Fortaleza de Montevideo, building of historical importance which has a white lighthouse. Very rarely would anyone find such a windless and cloudless night here, especially during the winter. I think the whole landscape is a landmark. I hope you like it.
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Comment left by: Duncan Paterson (no e-mail specified)

A very tranquil but cold looking scene. I think that the star effect on the moon adds to the icy feeling.

Comment left by: siddiq (no e-mail specified)

there was something vaguely familiar about the colors in this one, and it took a few viewings to realize it was Provia, since other shots i've taken at similar times tended to have deep purples. did not notice the harbor light until you mentioned them. as for the star shaped moon, i think it looks better this way vs an overexposed round circle. stunning place, please do share more photos!

Comment left by: José Adolfo (segura@cam.org)

Felicitaciones Feernando, hermosa y misteriosa toma! Congratulations for this very inspirated picture

Comment left by: the photog (no e-mail specified)

As siqqid said, the original slide goes into Deep Purple (but does not add smoke on the water :)) when viewed under tungsteen light. This brings the advantage of having registered warmer tones just above the horizon since picture was taken at 06:10 hs. This faint pink tone is not seen in my monitor. A small amount of light falloff on the corners isn't seen either. But when projected through a Carousel on a silver screen, the deep purple is not as noticeable. No color corrections were done after scanning, so I think this is due to making only one scan instead of the multiple scans the Coolscan is capable of. OTOH, my monitor drifts a little towards blue no matter how carefully I calibrate it. How I miss the wet darkroom ! Glad you liked the still, icy and misterious atmosphere, almost an absent atmosphere. You may find some more tiny lights that adds meaning to this landmark.

Comment left by: siddiq (no e-mail specified)

the pink horizon tones show up fine here, probably the monitor you are viewing is, as you say, a little on the cool side.

Comment left by: the photog (no e-mail specified)

with an utility named DigitalColorMeter at large aperture and the .jpg opened in PS, readings at 9.2 cm horizontal and 2.9 cm vertical are: Red 24.7%, Green 24.7%, Blue 44.1%. Could it be possible for you to check this? Thanks in advance.

Comment left by: siddiq (no e-mail specified)

uhm, i opened it up (after converting from AdobeRGB to my own sRGB working profile), with a cm ruler. 9cm horizontal measured from any side is off the photo. so i sampled the midway point between the harbor entrance lights (halfway up on their height and halfway between the two lights) and the rgb values were ~120-100-120

Comment left by: the photog (no e-mail specified)

wow, .jpg 801K 640 pixels (72pixels per inch) @ 100% measures 22.59cm. * 15.07cm. the midway point between the harbor entrance lights could be 4cm. horizontal, 9cm. vertical (zoom 400% to measure w/ more precision). My values there are 'round 43, 39, 45% red green blue respectively. difficult to make a valid comparison. thanks anyway for your prompt answer, very much.

Comment left by: siddiq (no e-mail specified)

if you could tell me where more specifically to sample using the same image that loads above, in pixels, might be easier to compare notes, or a feature on the photo as a guide, since it seems you are looking at the original scan while the image that loads above is far more compressed

Comment left by: chris (ftog at threeshoes.co.uk)

I like the colour and the way it feels so sharp - the edges are beautifully well defined. I also like the light and the lights.

Comment left by: the photog (no e-mail specified)

Chris: glad you liked the sharp feeling. Siddiq: I'm looking at the image that loads above, AFAIK. Either if I download image to disk or open with PS from the CD ROM, image size in pixels is 810K (640 pix * 427 pix) which @ 72 pix per inch renders a print size of 22.59 cm. * 15.07cm. Don't know how to tell where to sample using pixels as units, since rules are set in either centimeters, picas, inches, percentage, points and columns. And my mastering of PS is quite elementary. Let's not forget what started this exchange: Provia goes deep purple and neither you nor me are seeing this on our monitors. The photographer who scanned the slide agreed with me on not making any adjustments. So I wondered if blue was introduced by the Coolscan doing only one scan; besides I suspect my monitor is on the cool side since pink is hardly noticeable 'compared to the original Provia'. I do see some pink on the horizon, but less than on the Provia and its blending into blue far less subtle. I wish I could tell you where more specifically to sample in pixels. Thanks again, I'm learning quite a bit from your observation.

Comment left by: Roger Wesson (roger@world-traveller.org)

I really like the spartan feel of this photo - almost all of it's sky and water but the detail in the lights on the horizon and the couple of objects in the rest of the photo are plenty enough to hold the attention of the viewer. Very beautiful, and I definitely agree that it has a mysterious feel to it. Is that Mars up there? I do kind of wish it didn't have the piece of ground at the left interrupting the lovely glitter path of the moon, but it looks like it would have been difficult to avoid that.

Comment left by: the photog (no e-mail specified)

yes, Mars up there. The unavoidable piece of ground is a landmark too. It's the Escollera Sarandí, left wall of the Montevideo harbour. Named after the battle that took place on the shores of the Arroyo Sarandí, where Lavalleja's troops defeated the brazilian troops in 1825. The 'Banda Oriental' (name of Uruguay during those years) became a part of Argentina, and Brazil declared war to Argentina immediately after.

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