Monument Valley Roadtrip: Contax G2 + Portra 800
Written and Photographed by Nicola De Prato
When you enter Monument Valley, everything changes, the only feeling that you experience is peace. A panorama of boundless beauty appears in front of you and you start to hum the famous Ennio Morricone's tune.
Artist
My name is Nicola De Prato and I'm an Italian Cinematographer based both in LA and Italy. Since I moved to LA about 2 and a half years ago I came across film photography and very curiously started experimenting with the medium. You can find my pictures on Instagram @nicoladeprato or my videos on Vimeo vimeo.com/nicoladeprato.
Gear and Film Stock
The Contax G2 is a point and shoot but I usually shoot in manual mode metering both with an iPhone app and the internal meter that the camera has (sometimes accurate sometimes not). Extremely ergonomic, lightweight and equipped with fast lenses like the Zeiss Planar 45mm f/2.0 or the Zeiss Distagon 28mm f/ 2.8 it is one of the best film cameras in the market.
I bought two rolls of Kodak Portra 800 in Vegas and since I was on a road trip with variable lighting situations, I choose the 800 ISO version instead of the “classic” 400 ISO speed. Porta 800 is similar to Porta 400 but has more grain, slightly more green dominant, and slightly less saturation.
Porta 800 performs better in low-light situations rather than during the day but I love it because it is daylight base (5600k) instead of, for example, Cinestill 800T (3200k) and you have to remember to bring with you the 85B filter if you want to shoot during the day. Grain is still acceptable if you want that crispy look and skin-tones are flawless, to be expected from the Portra Family! With Portra 800, no tripod is needed, so you can focus more on your trip!
The Roadtrip
Each of us has played Cowboys and Indians at least once in our lifetime. As a child, the excitement was to battle against the "enemies", incarnating the Hollywood actor John Wayne or the legendary Sitting Bull in the Old Wild West. Stories set in a world of imagination, clashes, Revolvers, arrows, and fast horses pushed those kids-now-adults to visit Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, and many other US States.
I visited Monument Valley with my family last Christmas. We had the chance to explore inside the park learning about the history of the site and Navajo culture. You can still breath the Old and Wild atmosphere over there, as well as the thin red dust. With me, I brought my beloved Contax G2 loaded with Portra800.
When you enter Monument Valley, everything changes, the only feeling that you experience is peace. A panorama of boundless beauty appears in front of you and you start to hum the famous Ennio Morricone's tune.
The magnitude of the monoliths that recall a human or an animal silhouette, inspire and amaze men of past and contemporary times who continue to wonder how incredible this place is.
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