I ran my first roll of LomoChrome Metropolis through a newly-acquired black Canonet QL17 G-III, an informal test of both the film and the camera. I’ll probably write about the camera later. For now, I’ll just mention that I bought this Canonet from a Japanese listing at a discount due to a desilvered rangefinder. Cosmetically, it looked better than every so-called “mint” black Canonet I’d seen listed for twice the price. The camera turned out to have a few more flaws, including fungus on the rear element. I had it fully restored by Alex Bonarski, who works as rangefindercamera on eBay, and now enjoy a near closet queen G-III.

As for the film, I’d been curious about the desaturated LomoChrome Metropolis as an effect for gritty street scenes or post-apocalyptic images. While not as wild as some of LomoChrome’s other experimental color negative films, it definitely has a “look” to it. It’s not something I’d reach for by default, but I like it.

This particular collection of photos arose from a trip to Town Fair Tire to repair a slow leak caused by a screw in my tire. Fittingly urban and gritty. Well, sitting in their waiting area for an hour is no fun, so I decided to hike up to Starbucks for iced tea and a snack.

The thing about Federal Road in Brookfield is that it is a virtually car-dependent zone. Getting to Starbucks with my car up on a lift was not going to be easy. The ten-minute walk crosses over wide, busy roads with scarely any pedestrian amenities.

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I decided the trick would be to bypass the level boss of this quest:

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I mean, really? There’s just no getting through that alive on foot. Instead, my plan was to cross Federal Road at Town Fair Tire, and then cut across swaths of parking lots to get to Starbucks. Fortunately, the mid-morning traffic was light. If I waited for a few minutes, a gap in both directions would open up across the four lanes of traffic.

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I’ve seen these road at peak hours. This trip would not have been possible. Okay, here goes…

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Now safely across the street, I turned north. Here’s another gap I waited for to open up just to get an uncluttered picture. Notice it’s only the southbound lanes clear.

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Remember, I was still testing out film. Metropolis tends to accentuate certain colors despite overall desaturation. I kept an eye out for red, since that is what supposedly pops the most. Lots of red in the following image, and some other elements I like. Arrows on pavement. The intentional sliver of the sign on the right.

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Another favorite subject: bollards. And these just happen to be red! Here I am working my way across the shopping plaza where Michael’s is. No time to aimlessly browse art supplies, though.

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And here we discover our first crosswalk! It’s so that you can get to the store from your car and back again.

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A throwaway shot of stop signs. I think I was living at f/8 or f/11 for most of this set. The Canonet is performing as expected here, plenty sharp with all the depth of field in the world.

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One more road to cross, but this one is lightly travelled compared to the others. I exposed this roll at 200 ISO, the middle of its recommended range. As I understand it, images wash out more at 100 ISO and show more saturation at 400. I figured 200 would be a good baseline, and I could deliberately underexpose a frame for richer color, taking into consideration where the highlights and shadows will fall.

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Some more red. Some more bollards. Lots of parking. These cars are politely spaced in groups of three like the awnings.

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I didn’t have to wait here long to catch a red vehicle. It’s nice that it worked out timed to a red light. I thought the scene was interesting, completely hostile to pedestrians, and at the same time framed by nice greenery.

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Getting close to Starbucks now. One more expanse of empty parking spaces to go. That’s BJ’s Gas Station in the distance. I didn’t even know you could get gas at BJ’s. This is tucked way back from the road. You can’t see it when driving by. That nice greenery.

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I can see the lot to Starbucks now. There’s just this last tricky bit where traffic is coming in and out of the shopping area, and just not expecting to see anyone on foot at all.

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Finally made it! I’m not even a fan of Starbucks. I don’t even drink coffee. It’s just what’s out here. But I can order a few things and hang out a while without feeling awkward. I had an iced tea, some yogurt, and a glorious rice krispies treat.

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This is the view from in front of Starbucks looking south towards Town Fair Tire. Notice there are some sidewalks and crosswalks up here. But they don’t extend beyond this point, and I would have had to cross the Level Boss Intersection to access this crosswalk.

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Bollards, stripes, and traffic cones! I think these are here for a reason, and ironically it is that you absolutely should not drive on this!

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Finally, I hit the end of the roll earlier than expected and ended up with a slight overlap. I am accustomed to getting a few extra frames out of a roll of 36, and thought it would be guaranteed on the narrow-bodied Canonet. Apparently, LomoChrome doesn’t give you any extra to play with. I ripped the film trying to get to frame 37. But it seems fitting in this image of a defeated bollard.

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And with that, I headed back to Town Fair Tire where my car awaited with its patch and fresh alignment.