Wednesday January 18, 2012

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Back in New York I met Francesca (our daughter) for dinner at a college burger joint near Columbia. They had Full Sail beer on the menu (the only time that I’ve seen it on the East Coast) so I ordered a dark one. Taken with my iPhone (what did I do before I had this thing?).

Full Sail

Full Sail

Because I’ve assiduously kept this blog I know that I was at the Full Sail Brewery in Hood River Oregon (a bit east of Portland) on October 27, 2009, over two years ago, when I captured this image:

Full Sail Brewery

On this day last year: a lonely guy view of a parking lot in historic Boston.

Blizzard Boston

Blizzard Boston

Tuesday January 17, 2012

GD Star Rating
loading...

NAPLES FLORIDA – In a break from meetings I ran into a friend having lunch at a casual bar on the beach. He posed as I photographed him with my iPhone. But this presents a dilemma. This guy is pretty prominent in the world that I work in; when he posed he didn’t realize this was destined for the web; I don’t necessarily want to “out” him as having fun in the middle of the day. How to handle it? Well here’s one idea: There’s an app for the iPhone that converts an image into tiles. At tile resolution he’s not recognizable:

Incognito

Incognito

Another sunset. This does happen every day so I’m generally against shooting sunsets (same category as pets and cute kids). It was really, really clear and occasionally when the sun sets toward the sea and it’s very clear you see a brief green flash. I’ve actually seen it once from Basil’s Bar in Mustique. So I set up to catch it but alas it didn’t happen. Here’s the sun where there would have been a green flash had it happened.

Yet another sunset

Yet another sunset

On this day one year ago: humongous ice-sicle.

Ice Warren Connecticut

Ice Warren Connecticut

Saturday December 31, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

TAOS SKI VALLEY NEW MEXICO – We’re staying at the Bavarian where we celebrated New Years Eve with some friends who have built a house here. A family party image with my Panasonic.

New Years Eve

New Years Eve

On this day last year: Maria in a nun costume. The scary thing about this was that Maria went to convent school and actually knows how to act like a nun.

Thursday December 15, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – There’s a lot going on in the iPhone photo world. Here for example is a site that does an iPhoto every day and reviews apps and the like: the modern iphotographer. Really useful source on apps. I’m sitting here looking at my iPhone 4G. It’s got 13 camera apps. Most cost $1.99. Or less. I’ve sorted out six post processing apps that I like or at least wish that I could master, and six photo information apps that I use when I’m shooting other cameras. This is fun, sort of productive and a real eye-opener. You’ll see a lot more of these over the next few weeks.

This one is an iPhone video still taken at a lunch meeting and processed with PhotoWizard that let me do the center focus thing and grunge it up a bit. there are lots and lots of photo grunge apps. Evidently everyone wants to be a hipster. I can move my visual self to Bushwick without actually having to move there. Cool.

Meeting

Meeting

On this day one year ago: Waldorf Astoria.

Home of the famous salad

Tuesday December 13, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – We entertained some Dutch friends in our kitchen. Captured with my Ricoh.

Dutch friends

Dutch friends

Christmas party at the Knick. Hmmm . . . . We’re doing the same things every year. With the same people. They’re not getting any younger. I sense an issue here. Memo to self: hang with younger people at edgier venues.

Christmas Party at the Knick

Thursday December 8, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – A friend, Bill Beekman, has collected a treasure trove of Virginia Woolf first editions, letters, manuscripts, autographs and photos. It’s all on display at the Forbes Galleries, starting with an opening tonight. Here’s Bill and his wife, Bunny, being photographed by a friend, and the same friend trying to photograph me with a very pretty white Nikon point and shoot. Taken with my Ricoh GRD IV, aka the “party animal”.

Bill and Bunny

Bill and Bunny

Good luck shooting me

Good luck shooting me

On this day one year ago: Interior at St. John the Devine. One of my favorites from last year.

St. John the Devine

Tuesday December 6, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I meet monthly for breakfast with a group of college classmates. One member of our group is the headmaster of an independent boys’ school – we meet in his office, which seems kind of appropriate on many levels. Here’s a picture of Andy, captured with my iPhone in video mode, using an app called Video Stills as a frame grabber to sort out individual video frames as stills.

Andy

Andy

On this day one year ago:

Questar Duplex Telescope

Sunday November 27, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW PRESTON and WAREN CONNECTICUT – So here’s another one of the buildings in New Preston Connecticut, shot with my Alpa Max, a 47mm Schneider Digitar lens and a Phase One IQ 180 back. I caught our friend Dorothee Grisebach and Maria with my Leica after we packed the car up to come back to New York.

New Preston

New Preston

Dorothee and Maria

Dorothee and Maria

On this day one year ago: Dog treats.

Privet House

Saturday November 26, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

WARREN CONNECTICUT – Well our adult children decided today that they had had enough of a good thing (Warren Connecticut) and headed back to New York where things are predictably a bit more lively. Here is a shot of a field (it’s really hilly up here) and our departing children, spouse and friend from Germany. The weekend is winding down. We suffer the Sunday blues on Saturday. Leftovers are gone. The house seems empty.

Field Warren

Field Warren

Kids

Kids

On this day one year ago: Storm in Warren.

Warren Storm

Warren Storm

Thursday November 24, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

WARREN CONNECTICUT – Thanksgiving day. This (apart from Father’s day which is the most important day on the calendar) is my favorite holiday. It’s not commercialized. there is little or no guilt associated with it. There’s a lot of food, which in my mind is a good thing.

The downside of this holiday in our family is that I’m the most competent cook, so meal preparation tends to fall on me. By the time we sit down on Thanksgiving afternoon my eyes are crossing; I’ve got band-aids covering self-inflicted nicks, and tastings along the way have fully satisfied any cravings for turkey that I may have had. In reviewing past years’ work I have confirmed that Thanksgiving is not a auspicious day for photography for me. This year i produced a totally (and purposefully) out of focus image with my Ricoh GRD IV.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

On this day one year ago: Venini vases.

Drying Venini vases

Sunday November 20, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – We’ve instituted a weekly Sunday family dinner with out children and any house guests or close-at-hand close friends. The large concept is that it’s a home cooked sit down meal. So we had dinner at home with Alexander and Laura, Francesca, and a visiting German friend, Dorothee Grisebach. Taken with my Ricoh GRD IV.

Aunt Dorothe

Aunt Dorothee

On this day one year ago: Bunnell Farm.

Bunnell Farm stand Litchfield Connecticut

Bunnell Farm stand Litchfield Connecticut

Sunday November 13, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – We had dinner with some friends at Pino Luongo’s new restaurant, Morso. The “we” in this case is the editorial me; Maria is in Brazil on business. Taken with my ever ready Ricoh GRD IV.

Gil

Gil

As promised I’m stopping with the self portraits. I’m expecting traffic to skyrocket. That means I’m going back to “On this day one year ago . . .” Too bad that on this day one year ago I did a pretty pedestrian shot out my window. Note that a year ago I was whining about being busy. November is a tough month. Anyway . . . .

On this day one year ago: Out my window.

Lexington Avenue

November 13, 2010

Saturday November 12, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I stayed in town this weekend for an number of reasons – the best one of which was a birthday party for Francesca, our daughter, given by some friends. Here they are shot with my Ricoh GRD IV. The on camera flash on this thing isn’t all that bad.

Party

Party

Here’s the last of the self variations that I’m going to post. Here I divided the print plane into quarters and placed a quarter of an image from each of four different times, and blended them.

Self times four

Self times four

Tuesday November 8, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – We went to Mas, a new locavore restaurant on Downing Street in the Village, to celebrate Francesca’s Birthday. Here she is blowing out a candle, taken with my ever-ready Ricoh GRD IV.

I mention the equipment that I’m using in most posts. Why? Well it’s because it helps bring traffic to this site as people search specific camera brands that they are considering.

Happy Birthday Francesca

Happy Birthday Francesca

So . . . back to the 24 hour self-portrait series taken in 1999. I have experimented with theses images at some length, for example by exploring the grid. (You may remember that the background is a grid “appropriated” from a Chuck Close image.) I divided the print plane into a grid, and then for each square I selected at random the corresponding square in one of the 24 self portraits. The result is a self portrait assembled from randomized bits of me taken over a 24 hour period. The finished work includes a title and caption. ad is printed 24×36 inches.

Self x 24

Self x 24

Saturday October 22, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

WARREN CONNECTICUT – A friend had a birthday celebration at has house under construction in Warren. There was no heating so we build a large fire in the fireplace. There were no kitchen appliances so we grilled the food. the wine selection was over the top with a 2000 Ch. la Conseillante (one of my favorite Pomerols) and 1996 Pichon and Latour. Not bad. Pictures taken with my Leica M9 and 24mm Summicron lens.

Construction site party

Construction site party

The wines are ok

The wines are ok

Here’s my boring self, from my hourly series, at 10:03 PM on February 13, 1999. Again taken with an Arca Swiss 8×10. This is the only image in the series where I’m wearing glasses, which we will see as we display some of the variants on these pictures (probably in mid-November at the pace we are moving at) has odd consequences.

Sunday October 16, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW MILFORD CONNECTICUT – This is the two year anniversary of my photo-a-day effort. I haven’t missed a day! 730 days with at least one photo every day. This is just the beginning! I’ve included the first picture in this effort (from October 16, 2009), an image of the Jean Dubuffet statue in One Chase Manhattan Plaza. Today we had a picnic on our last outing of the year in our 60-year old wooden boat. Photographed with with my Leica M9 and 24mm Summilux lens.

I’ve also included below the third in my 24-hour “self” series. Taken on February 13, 1999 at with my Arca Swiss 8×10 view camera.

Boating on Candlewood Lake

Boating on Candlewood Lake

3:56 PM local time February 13, 1999

3:56 PM local time February 13, 1999

Jean DuBuffet "Four Trees" One Chase Manhattan Plaza

Friday October 14, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – A friend came ver for dinner in the kitchen. Image taken with my Leica M9.

A couple of new thoughts. I really liked the way that the self-portrait that i posted yesterday came out on the web. I’ve decided the give the “on this day one year ago” idea a rest for a month. Instead I’m going to post the full series of 24 hourly shots of myself, one a day starting today. The first image was taken at 2;06 PM local time on February 13, 1999. All were taken in my studio in Warren Connecticut with an 8×10 Arca Swiss view camera. I processed and scanned all of the negatives. The background derived from a Chuck Close self-portrait.

Here’s the image of the day followed by the first self portrait.

Francesca Barra has a friend

Francesca Barra has a friend

February 13, 1999 2:06 PM

February 13, 1999 2:06 PM

Tuesday October 4, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Francesca has a new hat. This and the Triborough Bridge shot at the golden hour (which is particularly golden this time of year) were shot with my Panasonic GH-2. This is my kit for snapshots and for long lenses.

Francesca has a new hat

Francesca has a new hat

Sunset

Sunset

On this day one year ago: kitchen reorganization.

Kitchen

Kitchen

Sunday October 2, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK NEW YOK – Well today is the big day for Alexander (our son) and Laura. I was a participant and had little energy/focus for photography. Here’s a quote on the event from a note from a friend:

I thought that Laura’s and Alexander’s wedding ceremony was beautiful, touching, and memorable. I was entranced by the rich and majestic setting (St. Ignatius Loyola was truly gorgeous), and charmed by the priest, whom I found interesting and compelling.

And then there was the wonderful, joyous, energetic, and sumptuous cocktails and dinner and dancing at the Yale Club. What a perfect setting! The hors d’oeuvres and dinner were delicious (I was the fellow who ate 8 pounds of the grilled sausage) and the dancing was amazing. Why didn’t you warn me that Francesca (senior) is a whirling dervish? She is a sensational dancer. I danced with Francesca for a song or two and, as I walked exhausted back to my table, concluded that she has the aerobic capacity of a Navy seal. And, of course, Patrizia was amazing to watch as she moved across the dance floor. Francesca (junior) was stunning (as always) and looked fabulous on the dance floor herself.

But, most important, I was touched to see Laura and Alexander so obviously happy and in love. They make a handsome couple. I was moved by their closeness, and I know that they will be very good to and for each other.

Anyway, a couple of images with my M9 and 50 mm Summilux lens:

Laura gets made up

Laura gets made up

Announcement

Announcement

On this day one year ago: New Milford Congregational Church.

First Congregational Church New Milford, CT

Saturday October 1, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YOK NEW YORK – This is rehearsal day for Laura and Alexander’s wedding. Thankfully I’m not serving in any official role as a photographer for the event. Wedding photograph is grueling business – I have tremendous admiration for the team that is shooting the wedding. I managed a few shots with my Panasonic GH2 at the rehearsal at St. Ignatius.

Alexander and his best man, Karim:

Alexander and Karim

Alexander and Karim

The families watch

The families watch

Maria practices her reading

Maria practices her reading

Alexander and Laura sit patiently

Alexander and Laura sit patiently

On this day one year ago: The Guggenheim.

Guggenheim Museum New York

Wednesday September 28, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

BROOKLYN NEW YORK – Today is Maria’s birthday. We had a small dinner at Frankies Spuntino in Brooklyn (that’s not a typo – it’s owned by two guys named Frankie). Shot with my Leica M9 and 50 mm Summilux lens.

Maria has a birthday

Maria has a birthday

On this day one year ago: Citicorp.

Citicorp

Tuesday September 27, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A couple of things happened today. We spent a while with Alexander and Laura, his fiancé, preparing for their wedding, which is next weekend. Here they are, with Maria, taken with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summilux lens:

Last minute planning

Last minute planning

My firm had an alumni reception at Morgan Library. We had free run of the collection, assisted by docents. It had been a while since I had been there – the overwhelming impression is admiration for J.P. Morgan. Today’s billionaires build superboats, buy 747s, and collect 100,000 square foot houses. Morgan assembled a treasure trove of illustrated manuscripts, drawing and rare books. What a difference.

Morgan Library

Morgan Library

Morgan Library

Morgan Library

On this day one year ago: St. John the Divine.

St. John the divine

Thursday August 11, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I took a walk in the Union Square area with my Alpa and the 35mm Schneider. Partly cloudy, but occasional burst of fine light. this is made from two images captured, hand held, and stitched in Photoshop. Remember that I’m shooting with an 80 meg back so the resulting file is very large. Stitching with this very wide lens results in a highly distorted image, which I corrected in Photoshop – a process that involved significant hard labor.

Union Square

Union Square

In the evening Alexander and his fiance, Laura, came over for headshot for their wedding announcement in the New York Times. This is the one that the liked – taken with my Panasonic GH2 and on camera flash.

Laura and Alexander

Laura and Alexander

On this day one year ago: Elio’s.

Elio's

Monday August 8, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

MARBLE DALE, CONNECTICUT – A friend just bought a 1956 Austin Healey that had major surgery in 1967: the Ford racing division replaced the engine with a 400 hp 302 cubic inch Ford racing engine. Of course adjustments were made in the transmission and rear end and the steering as suspension parts. Hear’s the car: Austin-Healey BN2. The sound this thing makes can’t be believed. The upgrades evidently didn’t include brakes. It’s a wild drive. Here’s my picture of the day, taken with my Alpa TC.

Doug and Marty have some fun

Doug and Marty have some fun

On this day one year ago: Paraty. One of the many lovely 18th Century colonial buildings in Paraty, Brazil.

Paraty

Sunday August 7, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

WESTHAMPTON, NEW YORK – More with the Leica and the 50mm Summilux. I’ve been shooting a lot in the past month with Alpa and a 35mm Schneider which for a number of reasons facilitates images with a lot of depth of field and corner to corner sharpness. The Leica lets me rebel from that a bit. today (and yesterday) I generally shot with this lens wide open at f 1.4, producing large far out of focus regions. Steve’s house seemed to call out for this treatment.

Like most modern Leica lenses the 50 mm Summilux has optimum sharpness at its widest aperture, f 1.4 (lenses from other manufactures often need to be stopped down two stops for maximum clarity), this is one of the reasons why these lenses are so expensive. The out of focus portions of the of 50mm Summilux images have a lovely, creamy character, a quality that is referred to as “good bokeh”. I also like the way it renders colors. I don’t often write effusive praise for lenses. I guess I just got carried away by this one.

By the way, sorry about the dog. You know how I feel about pictures of dogs and cute kids.

Gil

Gil

Molly takes a break from reading

Molly takes a break from reading

Self

Self

On this day one year ago: big boat.

A day on a boat

Saturday August 6, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

WESTHAMPTON, NEW YORK – I carried my Leica M9 with a 50 mm Summilux lens around all day. I’m often surprised and delighted by the images that this combination produces – I think that if I were to limit myself to a single camera and lens this would be it.

Still life

Still life

Party

Party

More party

More party

On this day one year ago: a not so magic moment.

Party

Friday August 5, 2011

GD Star Rating
loading...

WESTHAMPTON, NEW YORK – We spent the weekend visiting our friend Steve Rubin in Westhampton. This was unusual for us, but Steve is a very good friend. We spend weekends in Litchfield County, Connecticut, which bills itself as the “unhamtpons”. We haven’t been to the Hamptons in 15 years but as I said Steve is a really good friend. It was a great weekend; Westhampton is the Hampton that is closest to New York City so the drive there was much less fearsome than I expected. I actually made the drive back to our apartment on Sunday in an hour and 20 minutes.

Taken with my Leica M9 and a 24mm Summilux lens.

Steve Rubin

Steve Rubin

On this day one year ago: Salman Rushdie and his son at FLIP.

Salman