WASHINGTON CONNECTICUT – We had dinner tonight at the home of friends who have built one of the best gardens in Connecticut. Shot with my Sony A7rii and converted to black and white.
Day 2494 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day last year (day 2129): Fixer-upper.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Day two with my Sony, converting to black and white. Nothing great here but it’s not the camera’s fault.
Day 2493 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day five years ago (day 667): Manhattan in good light.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I’m shooting with different equipment for the next week. I’ve become very concerned about Leica service, particularly through their New Jersey service center. In April I sent Leica: my 50mm Summicron Asph. lens for cleaning, lubrication and adjustment (after three years of hard, daily service – this why I’m shooting with different 50mm lenses now); my 135mm for “six bit coding” (a routine Leica service); and my new second Monochrom body to have the frame lever replaced because it had fallen off. Here we are in mid-August and these items still haven’t been returned. Only pro-forma communications. They don’t return email. You can’t leave a voicemail message because their voice mailbox is full. This is frustrating enough that I’m considering alternatives to Leica.
Starting today for a week I’ll be shooting a Sony a7rii, the current leader among mirrorless “SLRs”. The terrific thing about it is that adapters exist for almost every type of lens ever made, so it opens a broad range of legacy glass. It has a good 42 meg sensor that delivers resolution comparable to the Leica Monochrom. I own this camera for the occasions when I absolutely need to shoot color, when I really need autofocus, for odd legacy lenses (like my rangefinder Carl Zeiss lenses from the ’30s and ’40s) and when I need a backup. I’ll converting images to black and white.
Here is my first day’s effort with the Sony, starting in the kitchen as I defamiliarize myself with the Sony’s overly complex controls.
Day 2492 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day two years ago (day 1763): Classic.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – This is a little more like it. My mojo is close to resurfacing. All shot with my Leica Monochrom and 1962 legacy “rigid” Summicron lens.
Day 2491 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day five years ago (day 665): Manhattan
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Getting my bearings back home. Not a very productive day.
Day 2490 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day six years ago (day 299): Sao Paolo. The color original and the black and white conversion.
TODI ITALY and NEW YORK NEW YORK – A long travel day: we started at dawn in Todi, drove to Pisa which actually has direct flights to New York, turned in our rental car, waited hours because Delta’s flights were mostly cancelled because of a computer failure on their part, miraculously boarded and flew to New York, and took a taxi home. All shot with my Leica Monochrom.
Day 2489 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day six years ago (day 698): Parati Brazil.
TODI ITALY – We’ve been here for a while now. Sunflowers. Stone farmhouses turned into weekend villas. Vineyards. Romanesque Churches. I’m starting to run in circles and probably need a break from Unbria.
Day 2488 of one photograph every day for the rest of my life.
On this day two years ago (day 1758): Brooklyn steps.
