COPENHAGEN – For some reason this was not much of a day for photography. It may have been the mixed gray light or the fact that the city seemed to be shouldering a remarkable burden of tourists. The following was taken with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summicron Asph. lens.
On this day last year: Shrubbery in the dark taken with my Noctilux.
PARIS – A day of tourism. All shot with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summichron Asph. lens. I’ve edited post to add three more images to an already overburdened day, three images taken with my iPhone as Bob and I sampled a very, very good burger at Paris New York, an excellent burger joint (really) in Strasbourg-St Denis (a changing neighborhood in Paris that’s still mid-cycle).
On this day last year: Test. Testing focus on my then “new” Leica M4 (film!):
PARIS – Some days are better than others in my photo-a-day world. I’m visiting my sister-in-law and her husband, who have a flat in Neuilly-sur-Seine which is technically a suburb of Paris but is closer to central Paris than much of Paris. Our edgier friends accuse it of being serious and bourgeois, much like the upper east side where we live in Manhattan (i’m developing complex about this). Anyway we spent the day exploring on foot, mostly in the neighboring Bois de Boulogne, the gigantic park located on the edge of Paris. Today’s photos are from a garden within a garden, the Bagatelle. All shot with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summicron Asph. lens.
Francesca and Bob:
On this day one year ago: Doug and Judy’s House.
OUTSIDE OF PARIS – I arrived in Paris this morning and was picked up at the airport by my friend Laure who took us off to her family’s country house where we spent a perfect day, starting with lunch with some friends. Pictures taken with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summicron Asph.
On this day one year ago: Bachelorettes.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I’m headed off to Paris this afternoon; Maria’s going to Stockholm on business; we’re meeting in Copenhagen where we’re having dinner at noma and visiting Louisiana. Not a bad week ahead of us, but this is a travel day and that’s miserable from a photo standpoint. I popped out for croissant for breakfast, taking my Leica Monochrom and 24mm lens. This is the first time that the 50mm Summicron Asph. has been off of the camera in over a month. Here’s an empty playground. It’s hard for me to photograph playgrounds with children because park rules in NY forbid adults without children. We’re expecting a granddaughter in two months so this is about to change.
On this day last year: Salad on the hoof.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – We saw and apartment on the Lower East Side that our daughter is interested in buying; then spent and hour in the office; then walked home via the East River and the Vinegar Factory. All the while carrying (and occasionally shooting with my medium format Leica S2). Have I told you that I hate my daily workout on an elliptical machine. Well I do. It’s boring. I only do it because its preferable to instant death from a cardiac problem, but just barely. So I’ve decided to try to get my daily exercise by walking everywhere, wearing a doodad on my wrist that monitors my activity to make sure that I’m getting enough. We’ll try this for a few months to see how it works.
Images from the walk along the river, all with the Leica S2 and 70mm lens.
On this day last year: Good Seats.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A very busy day so I approached the photo-a-day aspect of my life by putting my Sony RX100 in my pocket. I snapped away with it as I went about my business and was disappointed by the results. One tends to treat a small camera casually. Actually, to get good results you need to do everything that you do with a larger camera: see the opportunity; stop; pre visualize; consider depth of field and exposure; focus and compose carefully; wait for the magic moment; expose, minimizing camera movement. All of the foregoing steps take a few seconds but if you skip anything you get nothing of any worth. Here’s the one image that I liked.
On this day last year: Rain at dusk. A lovely image in lovely light.
