¡Exprésate! - Day two

Day two in Mexico City. I remember I met Marta for breakfast. I had no idea what the menu said! At this point I really didn't know any Spanish and I really didn't know Marta either. I do remember getting coffee and off we went to the the Zócalo, the main plaza or square in the heart of the historic center of Mexico City, one of the largest city squares in the world. It was the first time I saw the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary. I remember when I walked in and stood the in this magnificent structure, it brought tears to my eyes. I remember thinking what amazing monuments man will build to honor his god. Little did I know I was to see many more monuments to many gods during this project.



The trip to the Zócalo was a location scout. From there, we headed to the largest market I had ever seen, La Merced Market, Mexico City. Located east of the Zocalo, La Merced is a traditional public market located in the eastern edge of the historic center of Mexico City and is the largest retail traditional food market in the entire city. This place was a photographers dream. Hundreds of stalls full of food flowers clothes - colors, textures, and the most amazing faces. But the light. The light was a terrible mix of daylight and tungsten. It was difficult at best but with some fill flash I made it through. I was shooting with a Fuji S2 Pro. They had just come out. It proved itself to be a workhorse of a camera but it loved to eat AA batteries. So much so I couldn't get thirty shots off on set of four. It was embarrassing! Later, I bought a Quantum Turbo 2x2 battery for the rest of the project. But that's another story.


Market - Images by Don Couch

I remember downloading the cards, my 256mb CF and the three 1 gig CF cards and being so excited with this days work. The market photos were my favorite. One tech note here. My client wanted a camera that would produce in camera TIFF files. They did not want to convert RAW to TIFF in the field. Remember, this was ten years ago. I only wish I had LIGHTROOM back them. At best it was the FUJI software or PhotoMechanic. My choice for a camera was either the Nikon D1 for $5000.00 and was six megapixel or the just released twelve megapixel Fuji S2 Pro for $2500.00. My contract stipulated I had to have a backup camera so two Fuji S2's it was. As fate would have it, Fuji turned out to be a great camera as well as a good career choice for me as well. My use of Fuji introduced me to more great people like Joe Cullen and Kayce Baker and years later brought my dear friend Alfred Gordon back into my life.