Author: Woody

Monday July 23, 2012

VISCHER FERRY and SARATOGA SPRINGS NEW YORK – We took a hike and picnicked in the Vischer Ferry area – 20 minutes’ drive south of Saratoga – today. There’s a very pleasant trail that follows a towpath of one of the extensions of the Erie Canal. It started to pour just as we got back to the car. By the time that we got back to Saratoga there was one of those post storm moments with amazing light. I captured some images that are the first that I’ve really liked in Saratoga.

Here’s to towpath with my Leica M9 and 24mm Summilux.

Amazing light with same setup.

On this day last year: Nancy has a travel day.

Tags Saratoga Springs

Sunday July 22, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Saturday July 28, 2012

SARATOGA NEW YORK – We (the real we, not the editorial we) went to the track this afternoon with Alexander and Laura. Four adults. We bet on five races. A total of 20 bets, each of us taking a different horse for each race. We consulted tout sheets, horoscopes and fortune cookies and plumbed our color preferences. We didn’t have a single winning ticket. Not one.

At least I got some pictures. The track at Saratoga isn’t elegant (for that matter neither is Churchill Downs). The NY Racing Association depends on small bets from thousands of t-shirted bettors – who are here indeed in large numbers. Here are some punters on the rail captured with my Fuji X-Pro1 and 35mm lens.

One of the large houses on Union Street on the walk back from the track.

On this day last year: A bad travel day. Not much of a picture. Really.

Tags sara

Family and friends Small town

Saturday July 21, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Friday July 27, 2012

SARATOGA SPRINGS NEW YORK – I guess we must be helicopter parents. Our daughter, Francesca, is taking the New York State bar exam in Saratoga next week so we drove up here to keep her company at meal times. Saratoga is warmed over from the gilded age – Diamond Jim Brady and C V Whitney are long gone, replaced by hordes in t-shirts. It’s the end of the ballet season and the start of the racing season. We stayed in a Victorian relic named the Adelphi Hotel. I’m not in love with any of the images that I’ve taken here.

The carousel in the park taken with my Leica M9 and a 24mm Summilux lens:

In the Adephi, taken with my Fuji X-Pro 1 and a 35mm Fuji lens:

On this day one year ago: Spence School.

Tags Saratoga Springs

Street Urban

Friday July 20, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Thursday July 26, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Fotocare had a sample Leica Monochrom so I borrowed it for an hour to give it a spin. Very interesting camera. It’s a Leica M9 with a grayscale only sensor. The absence of a Bayer filter in front of the lens roughly doubles resolution. It forces thinking and seeing as if one is shooting black and white film. I’ve ordered one. Here are some results from my walk with it.

One more film shot from Milan:

On this day last year: Public Library.

Tags Manhattan, New York

Interior

Thursday July 19, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Wednesday July 25, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – A friend who’s the Head of the Browning School took us on a tour of a major construction project that the school has undertaken. This from the boiler room; taken with my Leica M9 and an 18mm lens.

So I was walking down the street and spotted a big shrub that was in bloom and it looked like a lilac. Same shape leaves. Same color leaves. Similar shape bush. Small lilac-colored flowers brow in grape-like clusters, but have a yellow center. No real scent. But it’s late July and lilacs bloom in the late spring, so what is this thing. I shot it with my iPhone. Any ideas?

More film scans from Milan. One thing is clear: as I’ve previously noted this project (a daily photo blog) would be something between very hard and impossible shooting film. Here I am still posting from Milan two weeks after our return. The fact is that my Imacon scanner grinds through one frame at a time so a roll of film is a lot of work. I do love the scans that it produces, though.

On this day last year: Carnegie Hill.

Tags Construction

Transportation Travel

Wednesday July 18, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Tuesday July 24, 2012

AMTRAC TRAIN SOMEWHERE IN CONNECTICUT – I took the train back to New York and had a chance to catch up on editing photos and writing posts. Here’s from my seat on the train with my Fuji Xpro-1 and an 18mm Fuji lens:

More film scans from Italy, all taken with my Leica M3 and 50mm Summilux lens on XP-5 film.

On this day last year: Home sick.

Tags Trains

Landscape Recreation Urban

Tuesday July 17, 2012

Post author By Woody
Post date Monday July 23, 2012

BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS – I had a couple of hours fee this morning in Boston, and actually did pretty well with my Fuji Xpro-1 and an 18mm lens (28mm equivalent). In the evening we were guests of a client at their box at Fenway Park – I caught the Green Monster with my iPhone – five images stitched in photoshop. The Red Sox lost to the White Sox (who in Chicago actually follow this team – I’ve never met a Chicagoan who isn’t a Cubs fan), but we had the pleasure of watch balls carom off of the wall.

On this day last year: Centerfold.

Tags Baseball, Boston