Photo Corners headlinesarchivemikepasini.com
A S C R A P B O O K O F S O L U T I O N S F O R T H E P H O T O G R A P H E R
Enhancing the enjoyment of taking pictures with news that matters, features that entertain and images that delight. Published frequently.
Matinee: 'A Vespa Trip'
22 January 2022
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 432nd in our series of Saturday matinees today: Taking My Leica on a Vespa Trip.
In this 3:48 clip, photographer and filmmaker Petr Vagner invites you to rake a ride with him on his Vespa as he wheels through the countryside of Czechia into the Austrian Alps and back down to earth in Venice. "All 800km can be done in a day with amazing peacefulness on the road," he says.
Especially if your Vespa starts right up with just a push of a button. We've never seen a Vespa start up on the first try, so naturally we were immediately charmed by this piece.
Vagner shot the video portions of the trip with a GoPro 9 and a Leica SL2-S, one in each hand, apparently, using the Vespa's autopilot (which, it's rumored by unreliable sources, Elon Musk stole from Vespa engineers).
We enjoyed the video, which put us in the driver's seat as the Vespa cruised along two-lane roads. We felt we had finally escaped our bunker to the open road for the first time in a year.
But we really loved the monochromatic stills. There are a few color images as well, but the black-and-whites took our breath away.
It didn't hurt that the subject was Venice, of course.
Vagner used a Leica M Typ 262 with a Summicon 35mm f2 ASPH. lens to capture the monochromes.
Leica SL2-S, GoPro, Leica M. We had no idea a Vespa could haul that heavy a load.
"Never be afraid to do a little adventure yourself," he advises. "Looking forward to what 2022 will bring. Stay amazing everyone."
Amazing like Venice, we might add.