NEW YORK NEW YORK – I walked up the East River today in my commute home from midtown, shooting with my Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summicron Asph. lens. This is a great, classic focal length on a Leica. Not much going on on the East River though.
Facade
Graffiti
On this day last year: Caroling.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Most Sunday evenings we have a “family dinner” with our children, and now grandchild. We generally try to cook but sometimes resort to takeout. This presented an opportunity to catch up with my imagery of Victoria Campbell, now six weeks old, and known to me now on these pages as “Baby V”. Taken with my Leica Monochrom and Luxochron lens.
Baby V
On this day last year: Gate.
Gate
WARREN CONNECTICUT – A low energy day. But there was a moment of lovely light in our bathroom here, which I captured with my Leica Monochrom and 18mm Super Elmar lens.
Bathroom
On this day last year: Spin.
Olive plate
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. It’s not commercial and is a lovely long weekend for family and friends. This year Alexander and Laura (and Baby V) celebrated it with Laura’s family so Maria, Francesca and I joined some friends who are just down the road a bit in here in Warren. I contributed the turkey to the festivities, never one of my favorite dishes, as well as some braised mushrooms and gravy. Here’s a Thanksgiving gallery.
Dusting of snow
Guests arrive
Activity
More Activity
Table
Food Glorious Food
A rare misfire
On this day last year: A nice look up.
Express
WARREN CONNECTICUT – More fog. Leica Monochrom and a major legacy lens. I’ve told the story of this lens previously. The lens cell was made by Carl Zeiss Jena in 1945. The Soviets relocated the Carl Zeiss business to Kiev as war reparations. The lens cell was put in a Leica screw mount focusing mount and sold in the west, probably on the gray market. It’s a remarkably high performance lens with a lovely signature, one of few in existence. It’s rendering works particularly well on gray days.
More fog
Late fall planting
On this day last year: The Opera.
The Opera
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Party given by my friend Mike Harrell taken with my Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summilux lens.
On this day one year ago: Living room.
Couch
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A couple of look ups with my Leica Monochrom and Leica 18mm Super=Elmar M lens.
Look up
Look up
On this day one year ago: Francesca and Basil.
Francesca and Basil
WARREN CONNECTICUT – More of Baby V. Shot with my Leica S2 and a speedlight.
Baby V
On this day last year: Won’t these people ever leave Mustique? Selfie with the Monocrhom and Nocti.
Self
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Laura, Alexander and Baby V joined us here for the weekend so you’re getting . . . a gallery of baby pictures. The first is with my Leica S2 medium format camera and 120 macro lens. Focus with the lens hunts like the devil in an application like this. It’s frustrating. I’m tempted to chuck the whole thing and buy a Nikon. The rest are with my Leica Monochrom and f.95 Noctilux lens. Remember that I have a love hate relationship with this lens.
Infanta Victoria
Maria reads
Fussy moment
On this day last year: Still on Mustique. Also taken with my Monochrom and Noctilux.
Photographer
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A day of getting very close with my iPhone – which does well as a macro camera. Today I shot light sources around the house. The stripes on the wall of the square one are an artifact of a 60 cycle flicker of the LED light source. This was a “make something out of nothing” day.
Light Bulb
Light fixture
On this day last year: Mustique.
Hike
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I got up early and walked down Park Avenue — my morning commute — to a day of meetings. I got sunrise out our window with a Leica M and 280mm lens (which is fussy to use because focus is critical and it demands good tripod technique), more sunrise on Park Avenue with my Leica Monochrom, and a grid within a grid out the window of a conference room later in the day with my iPhone. I’ve posted them in reverse order because I like the grid image best.
Cells
Grazing light
Sunrise
On this day last year: The Grenadines.
Shadow
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A clear beautiful day. My kind of day to get out and find some light and shadows, but I’m house-bound because of professional commitments. I took an hour’s break with a telephoto lens out my window. I don’t often shoot with long lenses. This is a 280mm Leica lens made for the Leica R but used on my Leica M with an adapter. The M lets you focus through the lens with an electronic viewfinder but this lens is very demanding in terms of focus accuracy and good tipod technique. Here’s a sample.
On this day one year ago: Mustique rocks.
Rocks
NEW YORK NEW YORK – On foot on Park Avenue today with my Leica Monochrom and Luxocron lens. Pretty typical stuff, but not bad.
Park Avenue
Seagram Building Plaza
On this day one year ago: At Basil’s bar.
Bill
NEW YORK NEW YORK – One characteristic of Leica shooters is that we are likely to have multiple versions of the 50mm standard focal length lens. In my case I’ve lost count – six or seven – with the oldest dating to the mid-1930s and the newest being the f2.0 Summicron Asph. which is backordered and difficult to find. Today I’m shooting with a 1958 dual range Summicron which I have had modified for use on digital Leica M cameras. This is the classic Leica lens. Here’s what it’s images looks like:
On this day last year: Mustique.
Maria swims some laps
WARREN CONNECTICUT – A rainy day. I guess this is what we’ve been saving for. Out with my Monochrom and 18mm lens catching rain and fog with a wide lens. Visually it’s hard to make headway against the sameness of days like this. Here are three tries:
Fog
barn
tree line
On this day one year ago: Maria in repose.
Maria in repose
