Author: Woody

Friday November 2, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Thursday November 8, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – My Leica Monochrom has been my constant companion now for two months. It’s developing a bit of patina. For those of you who aren’t photo gear nuts you should know that this camera is entirely manual. No autofocus. It has a rangefinder – you align a split image in the middle of the viewfinder. I’m modestly astigmatic, which makes aligning the split image problematic. I’ve finally gotten glasses that correct my astigmatism so I’ve been walking around practicing focusing with them. Here’s from a bathroom in our apartment shot with my 35mm Summilux lens af f1.4 (which provides very shallow depth of focus). I intended to focus on the tiles and that’s how it came out, with the towel a little out of focus. So I’m still in business with the Leica.

On this day one year ago: Blahs.

Tags 1185 Park Avenue

Events and holidays Family and friends

Thursday November 1, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Wednesday November 7, 2012

NEW YOKR NEW YORK – A good day with my camera. We had dinner with Patrizia Chen and some friends of hers. I’m getting even better results from my Leica now that I have glasses that correct my astigmatism. Before Patrizia’s dnner I stopped at Ladurée, an outpost on Madison Avenue of the French cathedral of macaroons. All images taken with my Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summilux lens.

On this day last year: Ceiling. I was struggling here.

Tags Dinner party, Manhattan, Patrizia Chen, Shopping

Landscape Urban

Wednesday October 31, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Tuesday November 6, 2012
22 Comments on Wednesday October 31, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Out my window, looking north, après le déluge. Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summilux FLE lens. Two frames stitched.

This evening we went to the Met’s new production of The Tempest. Very cool. This with my iPhone during an intermission.

On this day last year: Central Park.

Tags Manhattan, New York

Landscape Urban

Tuesday October 30, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Monday November 5, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Sandy passed by here last night. It was noisy, but up here on Carnegie Hill we didn’t loose power (or anything else). We think of Carnegie Hill as a neighborhood on the Upper East Side, but it’s actually on a hill. We stayed in until the weather quieted down and then took a walk in the neighborhood. Not much drama here. The FDR Drive is closed, which permitted getting some angles that I’ll never be able to photograph again. All taken with my Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summilux FLE lens.

On this day one year ago: Fall colors after the blizzard. As I said . . . we had a freak storm last year on this date.

Tags Manhattan, New York, Rain, Storm

Interior Landscape

Monday October 29, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – This is the second year in a row for a freak storm for us at the end of October. Last year in Connecticut a major blizzard dumped an unprecedented amount of heavy snow while the leaves were still on the trees causing major damage. We lost power for a week and roads were impassable for the better part of that time. We were trapped. Based on that experience we decided to ride out Superstorm Sandy in Manhattan. I spent a good part of Sunday and Monday on preparation – not in a mood for pictures. Here’s a large lead acid battery that’s designed to power a telescope that I’ve adapted to be a power source for charging mobile phones and the like in a power failure. Taken with my Leica Monochrom and 35mm Summilux FLE lens.

On this day last year: Freak storm. As I said before, we had a freak blizzard in Connecticut last year.

Tags 1185 Park Avenue

Portrait

Sunday October 28, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Saturday November 3, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – We had dinner at home amid preparations to hunker down for Sandy. I’m test driving an iPad app called Softbox Pro – it turns your iPad into a small softbox light source. It’s not much light so you need to tamp down ambient light and hold it close to the subject. Here I’ve asked the subject to hold it but the natural inclination is to hold it as if reading it, which results in Bride of Frankenstein lighting. Not very flattering.

On this day last year: Subway Subway Subway[/caption]

Family and friends Landscape

Saturday October 27, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Friday November 2, 2012

KENT AND WARREN CONNECTICUT – We’re showing our age: Maria and I went to a birding class in Kent this morning. We took a walk with the group behind the Kent town hall. Interestingly there were fewer birds that normal (our guide reported) because they had gone to ground feeling the low pressure as Sandy approached. Later in the day I experimented at bit with high ISO landscapes – shooting at ISO 5000 and f16 to maximize depth of field. Both images taken with my Leica Monochrom and 28mm Summicron lens.

On this day last year: S. Feldman Hardware.

Tags Autumn, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Rain, Trees