NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Out on the street at last, but still with a technical camera. Alpa makes a tiny technical camera, the Alpa TC, that lets me use my Hasselblad 60 meg back and 36mm Schneider lens in a compact, hand-holdable package. Mine looks just like the following image downloaded from the Alpa website.

Alpa TC

It’s basically the same form factor, functionality and focal length as the legendary Hasselblad Superwide C (one of my all time favorite cameras), but digital. Very cool. How often have I raved about gear on this blog?

I’m posting two images today from the post office building on Lexington Avenue and 54th Street on an afternoon with brilliant early spring light and the attendant reflections. The first is my image of the day. Again we see how well the files from the Hasselblad back convert to black and white.

Post office building

I’m posting this one just to show what is possible. I shot this pointing way up with the 36mm lens, which resulted in wildly converging vertical lines. I then corrected the perspective in Lightroom. Extreme perspective corrections are often problematic because they “stretch” pixels resulting in poor resolution. But when you start with a file captured at 60 meg resolution this really isn’t a problem, at least not at web resolution.

Plaza in front of the post office building

On this day last year: Citicorp Center

Citicorp

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NEW YORK NEW YORK – Well here we are, still in the rain. Only today it’s heavy. Actually pouring for hours. I decided not to go out except to walk the dog. For my picture for the day I explored out my window with my Hasselblad H4D-60 with an HC 300mm lens and a 1.7x tele extender giving an effective focal length of 500mm (equivalent to 330mm in 35mm terms). This combination doesn’t work very well and Hasselblad doesn’t suggest otherwise. The camera doesn’t autofocus and optical quality is just ok – it looks fine a web resolution but really can’t be printed large. Based on some testing that I did a bit later image quality is better if you use the HC 300 without the tele extender and crop to achieve the 500mm point of view. Anyway, here’s the image:

Rain, rain go away

On this day last year: Joshua Tree National Park. I rated this image poorly last year but on reflection I like it.

Joshua Tree National Park

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NEW YORK NEW YORK – A bleak day in Manhattan. I walked around Central Park in search of something that would stir my imagination. I captured this view of the Central Park Reservoir with Alpa TC with 36mm APO Schneider lens.

Central Park Reservoir

On this day one year ago: a very wide view of Times Square at night.

Times Square

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NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spent a few hours sorting out my Alpa Max today. Alpa provides the ability to shim the back adapter to achieve perfect focus. This requires an object to focus on that’s a long ways away; I used the Triboro Bridge out my dining room window. I was also able to work out corrections for the color shifts across the frame that result from putting a digital back on a technical camera. Late in the afternoon the light and the sky turned interesting so I captured this (a two frame panorama):

Out my window

On this day one year ago: a truly uninteresting IR image of the World Trade Center construction site.

World Trade Center Construction Site

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I took a walk in Hell’s Kitchen in interesting light. This with my Leica M9 and a 16mm Voigtlander lens.

Hell's Kitchen

On this day one year ago: the Mall (aka Poets’ Walk), Central Park.

Poet's Walk

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I spent the morning in a snow-covered Central Park. A few interesting images. Here’s a view of the El Dorado, one of three large building on Central Park West built by Emory Roth (the others are the Beresford and the San Remo). This is a common angle on the building, across the Central Park Reservoir. Two frames taken with my Hasselblad H4D-60, with a 300 mm lens on a monopod. This is another example of how well this camera’s files convert to black and white.

El Dorado

On this day one year ago: From Bryant Park.

Prom Bryant Park

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I spent most of the day in the office. Fortunately in the late afternoon there was a moment when the light was wonderful, so I caught this image looking south from 919 Third Avenue with my Leica M9 and 35mm Summilux II lens. It’s two frames stitched.

South from 919 Third Avenue

On this day last year: Dinner at Le Bernardin.

Le Bernardin

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I left the apartment early this morning to run some errands, camera in hand. There was a light snowfall that progressed to a full fledged storm. As I left our building’s courtyard I noticed that the view back through the entrance might be of interest. Odd. I’ve lived here for a long time and this hadn’t occurred to me. On the way back I stopped on the Park Avenue island, and took this with my Leica M9 and a 90mm Elmarit lens:

1185 Park Avenue in snow storm

One this day last year: Restaurant construction Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn. This looks more interesting to me with a year’s perspective.

Construction Old Fulton Street

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I had lunch with a friend, Bill Hoar, at Blue Smoke, Danny Meyer’s BBQ joint. We had very good burgers but the service was poor, uncharacteristic for a Danny Meyer restaurant. After lunch I stepped out onto Lexington Avenue and was amazed: the light was spectacular. Golden, slightly filtered sunlight from the southwest, just illuminating the west side of the avenue, with a very dark sky to the north as a backdrop. The key feature in this urban landscape was the Chrysler Building, a long-time favorite subject of mine. I hadn’t planned on walking, but I ended up walking from 27th Street to Grand Central, dodging traffic and snapping all the way. I’ve been dreading this post for several days now – I can’t possibly edit the images down to one for today without a bit more perspective so I’ve included four images of the Chrysler Building.

No fewer than three passers by commented to me about the light (this is New York – people don’t talk to strangers on the street); one commented that I was lucky to have a camera to be able to shoot this. I’ve thought a lot about this. It wasn’t luck that I had a camera with me – I actually carry a camera everywhere. But I’m lucky to live where I do at this time; I’m lucky to be able to make the time to pursue photography and this daily photo blog; and I’m lucky to be able to shoot with brilliant and exotic equipment.

Anyway, here are the images, all shot with my Leica M9 and a 90mm Elmarit lens.

Chrysler Building I

Chrysler Building II

Chrysler Building III

Chrysler Building IV

On this day last year: Empire State Building. An odd coincidence; stalking the Chrysler Building this year and the Empire State Building on this day last year.

Empire State

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I took a walk today on the Lower East Side, ending up at Frankies on Clinton Street for an excellent lunch. Frankies Spuntino. The Lower East Side maintains its sruffy vibe well into the 21st Century, although some streets like Clinton Street are edging cautiously toward gentrification. This is a storefront on Delancey Street taken with my Leica M9 and my ever-present Voigtlander 12mm lens.

On this date last year: Lexington Avenue and 93rd Street.

Ottomanelli

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