Alamo Square

I have had a roll of outdated Russian film  (Svema DS-4) in my camera for a number of days, and I've been kinda itchy to process it to see what I might expect from future rolls. I've looked for photos at Flickr that others have shot, and most of what I have seen is rather unsaturated and lacking contrast. My guess is that C-41 is  not the optimal process for it, but unfortunately, unless I were to invest in chemistry I know so little about  (I don't even have a clue if it's available any longer), C-41 appears to be my only option.

So... I went out hoping to finish off the roll, and made my way towards Lower Haight and a little beyond, going no farther than Alamo Square, a popular tourist site as across Steiner Street are the Painted Ladies, a row of Victorian/Edwardian-style houses  made famous in the opening credits to a 1980s/1990s television program, Full House. I get a kick out of coming to Alamo Square to watch the tourists taking photos of themselves and others with the Painted Ladies behind them... there is something about seeing the simple joy that accompanies the tourists that tickles me.

Alamo Square also happens to be a location where Robert Frank took one of the eighty-three photographs that appear in his classic collection, The Americans. (Google: Robert Frank San Francisco.) The scene can't currently be replicated as trees have since grown to obstruct the view. A few weeks ago, I noticed that one of the larger trees in the northeast corner (which is where Frank took his photo) had fallen due to heavy winds, so, I went to take a look to see if the view Frank had had been opened up again, but it hadn't. While I was there, however, a couple with their baby strolled by, and the man was trying to find the spot where Frank's photo had been taken. We talked a bit about that and about my Rolleiflex, and I offered to take a photo of him and his family. I just scanned that... it looks reasonably OK, albeit slightly underexposed.