WASHINGTON D.C. – The James Beard Foundation sponsored a food policy conference, focusing on issues surrounding sustainability, at the Pew Charitable Trust’s offices in Washington. After the conference, taken with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens.
On this date one year ago: October 21, 2009
WASHINGTON DC – I flew down to Washington for dinner at Nora. Nora’s menu. Nora Pouillon hosted a dinner for some of the participants in a food policy conference sponsored by the James Beard Foundation the following day. Not much time for photography but a fabulous meal. The menu included little gem lettuces with figs and cherry glen goat cheese; deep fried soft shell crabs with soy ginger emulsion (the best soft shell crabs ever); Amish veal roast with chanterelle sauce; champagne risotto and honeycrisp apple pie.
I spent the night in a hotel near the Convention Center – a part of town that was formerly a tenderloin area but is rapidly being gentrified. Not a good day for photography but I caught this building in passing near the Convention Center with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summicron lens. Two frames stitched.
On this date one year ago: October 20, 2009
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Antonio Monda’s birthday party. Antonio’s Wikipedia entry. At parties I work with a Nikon D700 and an 85mm f1.4 lens, shooting wide open. I never use flash. The advantage of the D700 is very, very good low light capability – it’s much better than the Leica that I use in other circumstances. Shooting the 85mm lens wide open results in very selective focus, which suits my shooting style.
Here’s Antonio and his daughter.
Here’s a part of the crowd cheering Antonio on as he blows out his candles. The woman who the focus is on is Donna Tartt. Behind her to the left is Maria Campbell, my wife; to the right is Jay McInerney.
On this date one year ago: October 19, 2009
BRONX NEW YORK – Last weekend we caught an independent film, City Island, on pay-per-view, so I thought that I should drive out to City Island to find out what’s really going on there. Wikipedia entry on City Island.
According to Wikipedia “City Island is an urbanized area, reminiscent of a small New England town.” Actually I found it more reminiscent of Bushwick than Nantucket. Sort of a Bushwick-by-the-Sea. That may not be a bad thing because according to a recent Gawker article Bushwick (which is in Brooklyn) is the new center of cool.
City Island was really, really quiet – almost deserted. Bars were empty; there was no one on the street; most businesses were closed; but there were no parking signs everywhere, suggesting that the island gets crowded in the summer. The light was poor for photography. I’ll go back on a better day in season. There may be a project here. Here’s a house tricked up for Halloween. (On the Halloween theme, City Island has a spooky neighbor, Hart Island – visually a slightly sinister low silhouette to the east of City Island. It’s the site of New York’s potters field. Wikipedia entry on Hart Island) Taken with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens.
Here’s another one – same camera and lens but stitched from three frames.
On this date one year ago: October 18, 2009
WARREN CONNECTICUT and BROOKLYN NEW YORK – We started out the day in Connecticut (with power restored) – photographed a neighbor’s cornfield in the rising sun. We drove back to New York to attend an engagement party for our son in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn.
Cornfield; Leica M9 and 1954 Dual Range Summicron lens.
Fort Hamilton. Same equipment.
On this date one year ago: October 17, 2009
WARREN, CONNECTICUT – This is the first anniversary of my One Photo Every Day Blog. We’re in Connecticut (without electricity) and the fall foliage is if anything better than ever, so my photography this weekend is fixated on it. Here’s foliage in early morning light. Three frames stitched, taken with my Leica M9 and a 90 mm Elmarit lens.
I’ve decided from this point on to experiment with putting in links to last year’s post from the same date:
On this date one year ago: October 16, 2009
My first post after a frustrating month sorting out blog technology was an image of the Jean DeBuffet sculpture at One Chase Manhattan Plaza.
Here are a couple of more from October 16, 2010 – since it’s my anniversary I’m giving myself a break from the editorial chore of sorting pictures down to one. We ran into an old friend, Lane Smith, at a book signing for his book, It’s a Book, at the Hickory Stick Bookstore in Washington, Connecticut Here are couple of links of interest: Lane’s video version of the It’s a Book, which ironically went viral. And Hickory Stick Bookshop. Shot with my Leica M9 and a 1954 50mm Dual Range Summicron.
Finally, more foliage. Leica M9 plus 35mm Summicron v. IV. Two frames stitched.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I decided to cook today. We had in the refrigerator the end of the produce from our garden in Connecticut: an aubergine, some zucchini, some tomatoes and a few other odds and end. This obviously assembles easily into a ratatouille. Both images with my Leica M9 and a 40 mm Summicron C lens.
Mise en place:
And here about an hour and a half later is the assembled product, ready for final cooking.
