I ran into these guys in the streets of Miguel Calmon during the summer. There were half a dozen or so kids with bird traps and caged birds, which they would later sell. Some of them agreed to be photographed, and I quickly took a few frames before they moved on.
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you, this shot lacks context. This is an image that I think does best alongside other images of birdcatchers (or as just a street portrait), that's why I waited to post it when I had another one printed...
I agree, it's amazing that I got the dark sky without filtration. I think it's due to the underexposure, along with the diafine (2 bath) development. My correctly exposed negs have white skies, but the underexposed have incredible separation... It's almost an incentive to underexpose, as long as I can push the contrast back to normal... All of my negs with dark skies are printed on max magenta.
Anyway, I don't pretend to understand the curve of the film... I remember once shooting tri-x on D-76 (after doing the speed and development testing with a densitometer), and I got BEAUTIFUL dark skies. No filter, only a new seagul TLR with a coated 3 element lens.
here is the self-portrait
http://home.comcast.net/~avillez/pictures/self/auto_fence.jpg