NEW YORK NEW YORK – Well, today is my birthday. I don’t like making a big deal of these anniversaries so we had a small family dinner out at Maialino, Danny Meyer’s displaced Roman Tratoria on Gramercy Park. I caught more tulips (i’ll soon get over this) in the rain, and then Alexander and Baby V at dinner. It was dark at Maialino so I brought my f.95 Noctilux and of course my Leica Monochrom.
Day 1,658 on one photo every day for the rest of my life.
AMSTERDAM THE NETHERLANDS – We’ve met up with ten friends from all over Europe who share a common bond: the are (or are married to someone who is) celebrating a major birthday right about now. With a lot of help from Maria we’ve organized ourselves to come here for three of four days to visit the Rijksmuseum , which has been closed for eleven years for renovations, and generally to have fun. Obama was here last week; thank God we weren’t because security rendered this city immobile; his photograph speaking in front of The Night Watch, the most prominent picture in the Rijsmuseum’s collection, was widely published in the US.
Anyway, enough idle chit-chat. The new surroundings have energized me so I’m suffering a bit from shutterrhea. The landscape images today are from the first few hours after my arrival, in the lovely light that inspired Vermeer. The final two images are of our group of friends in the library of the Rijsmuseum.
Day 1,626 of one photo a day for the rest of my life.
SOUTH KENT, CONNECTICUT – We got together with some friends this evening at a Jason Wright’s house for a New Years Eve celebration. Most of the lighting was provided by halogen down lights, which make the art look good but aren’t great for photographing people (look at the pattern on the wall in the background below). I struggled a bit but finally ended with a nice images of John Novogrod, taken with my Leica Monochrom and Noctilux lens.
John Novogrod
WARREN CONNECTICUT – This is more like it. Children and grandchild have arrived so the pace has picked up. Basil the Norwich Terrier seems to be in the middle of everything, looking for food in the Christmas wrappings.
BasilBasilBaby V
WARREN AND ROXBURY CONNECTICUT – Another foggy, winter day shot with my Leica Monochrom and 135mm APO Telyt lens – two frames stitched. Later, a party with the same camera and Noctilux lens.
Fog`Focus
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Here’s where the week delay between shooting and posting hurts. Here’s a perfectly fine, if boring (tedious, really) Christmas image take four days before Christmas when it was timely and posted today, when it is stale. Oh well . . . I live and learn. Not a great day photo-wise.
Hmmm . . .
On this day last year: Subway via an antique Zeiss Jena lens on my Monochrom:
