NEW YORK NEW YORK – Out on the street on a bright day between meetings with my iPhone. This image has been altered; I took a number of images in rapid succession; I added the shadow to the image of the walking man.
Park Avenue Pedestrian
On this day one year ago: snow drifts. This seems odd, now. This winter we haven’t had any real snow since the end of October.
Wind blown snow, Warren Connecitcut
NEW YORK NEW YORK – This was a busy day of Holiday preparations. I took exactly one picture with my iPhone. (This will be a relief for those of you who have tired of endless iPhone galleries.) There was a single moment of magical light as I passed a truck with an amazing paint job. The iPhone does a good job of rendering extreme greens. (It’s less successful with reds.) I percolated the image with the Percolator iPhone app – this may have been a gilding-the-lily kind of mistake. Anyway, here it is:
One helluva paint job
On this day one year ago: costumes.
Costumes
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Feeling better. I went about my business today carrying my iPhone and collecting images. This thing is addictive. I haven’t tried very hard to edit the day down – I present this as an iPhone gallery. My reaction: “get a grip, Campbell.”
First an image that was not taken on December 19 – I’m posting this on Christmas Day so I thought I should share a Christmas greeting. The front of our house grunged up with an app called “plastic bullet”.
Have yourself a grungy Christmas
1185 Park with a tilt shift app that create an impression of very narrow depth of field, making everything look like toys.
1185 Park in miniature
A panorama stitched (defectively – there’s still a reason for these big cameras) from three frames.
1185 Park Stitch
More street.
Fire alarm
Literally a picture of the street.
CATV
On this day last year: Chuck Klein.
Chuck Klein
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I had lunch at the Barking Dog Cafe. A burger at the bar and a glass of IPA. The beer turned out to be a mistake – it predictably brought on an overwhelming need to nap. Anyway in the morning I got some work done and in the PM I did all of the prep work for a dinner party for 11 that we’re having in Connecticut on Saturday night.
Anyway here are the iPhone stills from the Barking Dog. One grunged up and the other modified with an app called Percolator, which overwrites the image with patterns of circles that are straight out of Benoit Mandelbrot.
Barking Dog
Barking Dog
On this day one year ago: musicians at the Union Club.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – So I spent part of the day walking around with my iPhone in video mode. I isolated stills from the video using a “frame grabber” app on the iPhone. Here’s an example from the Shake Shack on 86th Street.
Shake Shack
On this day one year ago: Statue in our garden.
A better print:
Garden in winter
NEW YORK NEW YORK – This is a very busy time for me. Barely time to meet simple physical needs, let alone photograph. I did make it out to Fairway to buy groceries. Taken with m Ricoh GRD IV, my constant companion during this period. As you will see I don’t excel at “street”, even with the street shooter’s favorite camera in my hand.
Fairway
Back to my self portrait series. I experimented with what I looked like at various resolutions. Here is one of the February 14, 1999 self portraits, shot on an 8×10 Arca Swiss. In this version I’ve reduced the resolution to four pixels by four pixels.
Low res self
NEW YORK NEW YORK – One way to kill the blahs (at least for me the notorious gear slut) is to try a different camera. My Ricoh GRD IV arrived today. The Ricoh GRD series has a cult following of street shooters. This is a tiny (shirt pocket sized) camera with a fixed 28mm f1.9 lens equivalent that produces very high quality images within its limitations (the small sensor limits you to roughly 8×10 inch prints, but they are beautiful). I started out by reading manual (God forbid!) and messing around with it around the house. It really does fit into my pocket so I took it to my daily workout on an elliptical machine and shot from the hip while walking the dog.
elliptical machine
Walking the dog
It’s me, it’s me oh Lord . . . . Here I m again, this time at 10:07 AM on February 14, 1999. I’ve clearly survived my all nighter shooting myself every hour and I’m refreshed from my shower.
10:07 AM February 14, 1999
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A great day for late fall light. I found myself at Columbus Circle with my Alpa. This was an easy day for me, photographically. The subway image prints at 24×36 nicely and has a vigor that I’m trying to achieve in every image, but actually don’t often realize.
Subway
Columbus Circle
So dear reader, here is my self-portrait from 3:58 AM on February 14, 1999. We’ll come to the end of these soon enough. I generally disapprove of blogs that feature pictures of their creators, but since we got off on the subject of appropriation in art in an earlier post I just thought it would be interesting to post my own examples.
3:58 AM February 14, 1999
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A very wet day. I went out in the rain with my Leica and a 35mm pre-ASPH version IV Summicron lens, known as the bokeh king. (Here is Ashwin Rao’s terrific article on bokeh). “Bokeh” for you non lens nuts is the causality of the out of focus image; good bokeh is creamy with smooth transitions between in-focus and out of focus areas; bad bokeh is crunchy with abrupt transitions between in-focus and out of focus. Modern highly corrected designs tend to have poor bokeh; older designs tend to have good bokeh.
S. Feldman Housewares
From 3:03 AM on February 14, 1999.
3:03 AM February 14, 1999
NNEW YORK NEW YORK – So I’m using my Alpa and a 35mm Schneider as my walk-around camera. This only works on sunny days – I’m a sunny day kind of guy so I prefer these anyway. Here’s in image from Madison Avenue and 55th Street
Good light
Here’s the next in my series of 24 self portraits taken in 1999. This is from 12:58 AM on February 14, 1999. I slept on a cot in my studio, setting an alarm to wake my hourly for a picture. I clearly haven’t been to sleep on yet because I still look fairly well put together.
12:58 AM February 14, 1999
NEW YORK NEW YORK – We had lunch today at the relatively new Shake Shack on 86th Street. Here’s a diner at a neighboring table, taken with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens.
Punter
The next image in the continuing series of hourly portraits, this one taken at 6:04 PM, local time on February 13, 1999.
6:04 PM local time February 13, 1999
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A gray day but not quite raining. A poor day for landscape in the city. I walked up Third Avenue with my Leica and Wide Angle Tri Elmar lens (shot at 21mm).
Children
On this day one year ago: Lake Lillinonah.
Lake Lillinonah Connecticut
NEW YORK NEW YORK – As you might expect this is an emotionally flat day for me after all of the excitement of the wedding. My mojo is elsewhere. It’s gone into hiding. I hope it’s not gone forever. But I threw my Alpa into a small bag and soldiered on. I caught this at Citicorp Center on my way to the office. Everyone is alone, facing away from everyone else. Everyone is an island. That’s what life is like sans mojo. A lucky shot. Odd how you can do well at something regardless of your state of mind by just doing it daily.
The Alpa (with an 80 meg medium format back) is very demanding of technique when used handheld. At 80 megs of resolution a bit of camera movement was plainly evident in this image. I down-rezed the file to 24 megs – the file size produced by a high end Canon or Nikon – and the jitters disappeared.
Citigroup
On this day last year: a fixer-upper.
[/captio a fixer-uppern].
SHANGHAI – We have mostly finished our meetings so we spent part of the day as tourists. We went to the Shanghai Museem – Maria and I had been here in April. The collection is good but a little disappointing given Shanghai’s stature. In April we photographed the stairwell – it was the second photograph in my post for April 19. Here’s a link – scroll down to the second photo. stairway in Shanghai Museum. I shot the stairway again, this time a close up of the dragon-motifed banister.
I got bored with the Museum so I took a walk in the neighboring People’s Square. There were young couples with a single child everywhere, a result of China’s one child policy. The Chinese say that single children have six parents (including four grandparents) so they are seriously doted-upon. See the image below.
Finally the Shanghai municipal government’s building is located on the People’s Square. it was finished in the 1990s. It is clearly meant to be imposing but only succeeds at being tedious – typical of civic architecture everywhere in the world.
All images taken with my Panasonic GH2 and 1 14-140mm zoom lens.
Stylized dragon
One Child Policy
Government
On this day last year: East 51st Street.
East 51st Street
HONG KONG – A long day of meetings. I managed a walk in the park in front of the Mandarin with my Panasonic GH2.
My personal workout includes a stretching and flexibility routine that draws on elements of yoga, dance and sports stuff but I could work full time for the next 10 years at it and I wouldn’t achieve the level of discipline that this woman has.
Lotus
On this day last year: Tight crop on large lips in the East Village.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – More rain. Really. A lot of rain. I walked around with my Leica and a 90mm lens looking for rain themes. The Leica isn’t billed as being “weatherproof” but it does tolerate the rain, especially if you sheild it with a coat or your body when you’re not shooting. A couple of examples:
Rain
Exit
On this day last year: Andy Berkman.
Andy
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Another walk around day with my medium format outfit. This is the steps from the 23rd Street station on the Lexington Avenue subway, taken with my Alpa TC and 35mm Scheider XL lens.
23rd Street Station
Water tank
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Alexander’s fiance had her wedding shower today, so he and his future father in law and I went to lunch together. We went to The Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant in Harlem. Here’s what The Red Rooster’s website says about itself:
We named our restaurant after the legendary Harlem speakeasy that was located at 138th Street and 7th Avenue, where neighborhood folk, jazz greats, authors, politicians and some of the most noteworthy figures of the 20th Century – such as Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Nat King Cole and James Baldwin – would converge . . .
After lunch we walked down Lenox Avenue to Central Park, me carrying my Alpa TC, Phase One IQ 180 back and a 47mm Schneider XL lens.
This is not 1975:
Black Muslims on Lenox Avenue
Grandma's Place
The Blood of Jesus
The self-same Lenox Lounge referred to on the Red Rooster’s site. Note the patched bullet holes in the facade.
Lenox Lounge
And finally, a Mostly Mozart concert in Avery Fisher Hall. Take with my Blackberry.
Mostly Mozart
On this day one year ago: A boring out my window. The photo-a-day guy was under real pressure here.
Out my window
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I’d be lying if I reported that the meds instantly made me feel better. The Lyme thing drags on. I did make it out of the apartment to run some errands in our neighborhood, Carnegie Hill, where I caught this with my Leica M9 and a 24mm Summilux lens.
Carnegie Hill walkabout
On this day one year ago: restoring and reframing.
Picture
NEW YORK NEW YORK – We’re having a run of seriously stormy weather which has driven me inside with my camera. I caught this between meetings with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summilux lens.
BlackRock
On this day one year ago: Gary Fisketjon.
Gary Fisketjon
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Back to an especially busy time in my day job. I caught this on the way to a morning meeting with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens. For some reason good things just seem to happen to me if I hang around Lever House.
Hmm . . . someone has something to hide
On this day last year: A not very interesting shot at the side of a building.
Lexington Avenue
NEW YORK NEW YORK – The James Beard Foundation Awards were held at Lincoln Center this evening. I caught my image for the day on my way to a rehearsal (I’m the chairman of the organization). Here’s what we say about the awards on our website:
Deemed “the Oscars of the food world,” by Time magazine, the James Beard Foundation Awards are the country’s most coveted honor for chefs; food and beverage professionals; broadcast media, journalists, and authors working on food; and restaurant architects and designers.
Jos Andres of miniBar in Washington DC won the outstanding chef award and spoke movingly on the experience of being an immigrant in America.
Captured with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens:
Lincoln Center
On this day last year: Spring sunrise.
Spring Sunrise
BEIJING – We visited the Forbidden City this morning in heavy rain. This monumental collection of parks and buildings was built in the early 15th Century as the “home” of the Emperors. It is remarkably crowded with Chinese tourists there to soak up their national heritage. Go early. We started at the North Gate at opening time (most people start at the South Gate on Tiananmen Square) and moved South through the complex, giving us a few hours of relative peace until we ran into the the throngs that started at the same time that we did, but at the South gate. This is a standard view of the North Gate from Jingshan Park which abuts the Forbidden City to the North. Taken with my Leica M9 and a 90mm lens, two frames stitched.
It rains on the Forbidden City
Here we are at the South Gate five hours later. The South Gate faces Tiananmen Square, the giant square that is the heart of official China. Tianamen Square is accessible only through subterranean passages with security checks; there are security cameras everywhere; sentries march prescribed routes through the square.
South gate of the Forbidden City
South of Tiananmen Square is the new Qianmen Walking Street. This had been a vibrant shopping street in the 1950s. The street and the area to the East of it were recently demolished – the walking street consists of new storefronts built in traditional style. The impression is that some Disney virus infected the urban planners who put this here. To the West of it is still a dynamic area old side streets and alleys. Here’s Maria trying to get unlost. Taken with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summicron.
School girls help Maria
On this day one year ago: fundraiser at Gustavinos.
Benefit at Gustavinos
SHANGHAI and BEIJING – Another travel day. The trip from Shanghai to Beijing is only two hours flying time but the disruption in the day, and the time spent in taxis and airports, is the enemy of my photo a day project. I managed a few captures in Hongqiao Airport and some images from a walk after dinner in Beijing.
This was taken with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summilux lens:
Hongqiao Airport
Leica and 35mm Summilux lens. This is an apparently wealthy young Beijinger photographing his girlfriend – and assistant (who is out of sight) is holding a reflector to soften her shadows.
/Beijing at night
On this day one year ago: Hello “Hello Kitty”.
Hello Kitty
NEW YORK NEW YORK – We went for a walk to Union Square where we did some shopping in the farmer’s market for meals over the weekend. A pedestrian image, captured with my Alpa TC, which demonstrates once again that great gear doesn’t guarantee great images. This is in contrast to the image from one year ago.
Mushrooms
On this day one year ago: Vietnam Memorial. For me the most emotional image since I started this project. I was in Vietnam in the Marine Corps. Of my Basic School class of 317 Second Lieutenants I know of no one who finished a 13 month tour of duty – almost everyone was killed, seriously wounded or sent home after their third Purple Heart. Karl Marlantes’s novel Matterhorn captures the experience brilliantly – I highly recommend it. Many friends of mine are listed on this wall. Visiting it is almost unbearable. I’ve reproduced the picture at full web size.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – So I find myself walking around New York with a battery in my inside coat pocket and a wire snaking down my sleeve. It connects to the digital back on my Alpa TC. It’s flexible and is highly compatible with my style of shooting but at some risk that I’ll be mistaken for a suicide bomber. I take a fair number of images like this at extreme angles, but this is one of my favorites.
The lady wears red
Here’s another take on the sunrise out our dining room window with my Alpa Max:
Sunrise out my window
On this day one year ago: Another cold day in Connecticut.
Warren sunrise
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I took a walk after a meeting on West 12th Street. St. Vincents Hospital, which recently closed, was the where may of the first casualties came. This is an ad hoc memorial in the block south of St. Vincents.
9/11 memorial
On this day one year ago: Sunrise in Boston.
Sunrise Boston
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – The Waldorf Astoria. Here’s a Wikipedia article on this deco landmark. The photograph is taken with my Leica M9 and my new 36mm Summilux II lens, with a neutral density filter to permit shooting at f 1.4 in daylight. More work on out of focus images. The overexposed area in the lower right is intentional – dramatic overexposure can result in a banding artifact with some digital cameras – I removed some banding in this image in Photoshop.
On this day one year ago: Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Another eventful day. Midday found me in midtown with my Leica M9 and a very wide lens, a 15mm Voitlander. This is similar to an image that I posted last week – Park Avenue – I’ve got quite a few of these that I haven’t posted.
On November 2 last year we went to a book party for our friend Patrizia Chen at The Corner Bookstore: Patrizia tangos
Corner Bookstore
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – This evening I took a walk on West 12th Street. I arrived here just before sunset, catching the long shadows on a bar.
I’m writing this post on the evening of October 17 – the delay is a consequence of shooting a lot of images over the last few days (requiring a lot of time and effort to edit) and a power failure in Connecticut this weekend which left us in the dark and without computer power. One consequence of the delay is that the previous day’s image (October 12), an image that I don’t much care for, has been at the top of my blog for a long time. Memo to self: in the future I have to be much more disciplined about getting posts up following an image that I’m not proud of (the photo a day format insures that there will be some of these).
Anyway, the bar in the West Village shot with my Leica M9 and a 50 mm Summilux Asph. lens.
West 12th Street
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