NEW YORK NEW YORK – More time in the trenches on may day job, and fussing around with my new Ricoh GRD IV. This thing lets you get really, really close.
More me. This is number 23 out of the series of 24. We’re getting close to the end.
Author: Woody
Categories
Thursday November 3, 2011
NEW YORK NEW YORK – One way to kill the blahs (at least for me the notorious gear slut) is to try a different camera. My Ricoh GRD IV arrived today. The Ricoh GRD series has a cult following of street shooters. This is a tiny (shirt pocket sized) camera with a fixed 28mm f1.9 lens equivalent that produces very high quality images within its limitations (the small sensor limits you to roughly 8×10 inch prints, but they are beautiful). I started out by reading manual (God forbid!) and messing around with it around the house. It really does fit into my pocket so I took it to my daily workout on an elliptical machine and shot from the hip while walking the dog.
It’s me, it’s me oh Lord . . . . Here I m again, this time at 10:07 AM on February 14, 1999. I’ve clearly survived my all nighter shooting myself every hour and I’m refreshed from my shower.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – More blahs. Today I had lunch at Harry Cipriani with Michele Parmigiani, a remarkable watchmaker who has a show of mechanical wonders that he has restored for the Sandoz foundation at A La Vieille Russie. Lunch was excellent and we were surrounded by fashionable Italians. Somehow out of all of this I couldn’t make a plausible photograph. Tonight was our James Beard Foundation annual Gala at Gustavino, a genuinely interesting space built into one of the approach ramps to the 59th Street Bridge. No photos worth taking up hard drive space. The best I could do for today is this safe view of a Manhattan facade. One of my objectives in my photo a day work is to capture the visual part of life from a privileged (in an artistic rather than economic sense) point of view. It may be that I’m just too wound up in practicing law and the Gala to relax and see the world around me. Still, one photo every day . . . .
Let’s see here, it’s Mr. Curley Hair again. Looking a little fresher at 9:00 after a night of fitful sleep interrupted by my hourly photo regime.
Categories
Tuesday November 1, 2011
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I’m feeling really stale with the Leica at events. I couldn’t take a picture I liked at Chris Matthews’ launch party for his JFK book. I’m stuck with a shot of the ceiling of the room we were in ath the Gramercy Park Hotel. Grim. This has been a very busy period with my day job making it hard to get into the moment.
Self, taken 8:00 AM February 14, 1999. One of a series of 24.
Categories
Monday October 31, 2011
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I took a walk today in Central Park looking for storm damage with my Alpa TC and 35mm Schneider lens. The camera provoked a number of conversations. There were a lot of tree limbs down, but nothing very dramatic. I needed up shooting a pretty conventional rocks and trees image but the high resolution medium format files make it seem important:
I’ve taken this picture before, actually quite a few times. Here for example is an olive tree from the Pelopnnesian Peninsula taken in 1970 with my twin lens Rollei 2.8F. The tree was probably a couple of thousand years old when I shot it. I hope the intervening 40 years have been kinder to it than they have been to Greece in general.
Here we go with the “Its all about me” part of this post. I’m now actually embarrassed that I started out posting these things, but having started I need to finish. Here’s 7:01 AM on February 14, 1999.
Categories
Sunday October 30, 2011
WARREN CONNECTICUT – It finally stopped snowing around noon. We got a devastating 21 inches of wet, heavy snow. Most of the trees still had all of their leaves so the snow collected on them, breaking or uprooting trees in absolutely record number. Power, telephone and cable and internet are out over most of the state. This is been called the most damaging storm in Connecticut’s history. We have a backup generator for occasions like this (we loose power several times each winter; without power the heating system doesn’t work; if the house gets below freezing there is massive damage to the plumbing). Anyway, I took my Alpa (with the 35mm Schneider) out after the storm cleared. Here’s what it looked like – a typical January scene on October 30.
These images exploit the amazing dynamic range of the Phase One IQ 180 back.
It’s me again, this time at 6:03 on February 14, 1999. As I’ve said quite a few times now this is one of a series of hourly self-portraits shot with an Arca Swiss 8×10 view camera.
Categories
Saturday October 29, 2011
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Well here it is, not quite November yet, and we’re suffering a blizzard. Our preparations for winter were not quite complete, but we have replaced our backup generator that failed during this fall’s hurricane. I went out into it with my Alpa, Here are two typical images – the first a monochrome and the second in color (the idea was to record the point that the trees still have their fall foliage). It was a monochrome day – you almost can’t tell the difference. This is classic “be there” stuff.
More of me. This series is making me increasingly uncomfortable – it’s just not in my DNA to post pictures of myself. Anyway, here’s 4:54 AM on February 14, 1999. One of a series of hourly shots taken with a Arca Swiss 8×10 camera.
