NEW YORK NEW YORK – My college classmates here in New York annually celebrate everyone in the class’s birthday (on a arbitrary date). I’m part of a subgroup that brings better than OK wines. This year one of our colleagues brought four bottles of ’83 Lafitte. I brought a couple of magnums of ’97 Chablis “Les Clos”. One of our number served as our host at the Brook, a midtown club. Here’s a silver cup on our table given annually, judging from the inscriptions, for some achievement or other. I generally avoid in-focus people at affairs like this lest they be judged harshly for hanging out in such a stuffy-looking environment. This with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Luxochron lens.
At the Brook
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I shot a bunch of different cameras today. My iPhone, shooting an anniversary present: a silver Tiffany bowl from the early 1930s; the engraver misspelled Maria as “Marcia”; this would be hard to explain to Maria so I sent it back to be re-engraved; it won’t be ready for our actual anniversary on September 29. Tough luck. My Leica Monochrom with my Luxochrom lens on the street; I’m consistently getting my strongest images from this combination. My Sony RX100 II: the setup for an anniversary party (given by us for us) at the Knickerbocker Club. Same camera: an image of me and two friends at the party taken by one of our guests. I didn’t shoot at the party because I really did have to connect with everyone there and photography gets in the way. It’s the difference between being and observer and a participant. I’m usually happy to be an observer (delighted, actually, being an observer feeds my inner introvert) but tonight I need to participate.
Anniversary PresentPedestrianKnickerbocker ClubNot taken by me
BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS – I spend a lot of time in Boston. Both of today’s and last year’s images are in Boston, not a coincidence because I’m in Boston for client meetings every year in mid-September. Shot with my Sony RX100 II at a Red Sox game at Fenway. A demonstration of how ubiquitous security cameras are, and of the Sony’s ability to throw backgrounds out of focus (a rare talent for a small sensor camera).
Fenway
BARRYTOWN NEW YORK – We drove over here this morning (Barrytown is a few miles north of Rhinebeck and a few miles west of Red Hook) for the wedding of two friends, Bill Clegg & Van Scott. As usual at these things my shortcomings as a wedding photographer were manifest, but I did get a few images of Francesca (our daughter) and Bill. Here you go:
At weddingWeddingThe site
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A foodie day. A friend and I sponsor an annual Edwardian dinner so here we are after a great deal of wine. Still standing at least. Leica Monochrom and 35mm lens.
Edwardian dinner
NEW YORK NEW YORK – We had ten for dinner tonight. I catered it myself. The trick in this number is to minimize last-minute preparation, for example by planning on side dishes that are served at room temperature, spring veggies with a bagna cauda sauce (substituting finely chopped chorizo for the anchovies), green pea puree and a warm potato salad. The entree, a butterflied leg of lamb marinated in yogurt, was an easy last minute roast, so the only last minute cooking activity was carving the lamb. Here we are at the table taken with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm Summillux lens.
Dinner
