Monday April 30, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – My Birthday. I spent four or five hours around midday in Central Park in the Ramble. This is an area in the park that is essentially wild (not really – it was planted to simulate wild by Olmsted and Vaux). My landscape class shot in this area last week – I had to miss the session so this is my catch up work. I found the light harsh and the area oppressive and sinister – perhaps as a result of its reputation for being dangerous earned in the 1970s and 1980s. Images are taken with my Alpa TC and Phase One IQ 180 back.

The Ramble Central Park
The Ramble Central Park
Ramble redux
Ramble redux
More Ramble
More Ramble

On this day last year: Warren Spring.

Warren Spring
Warren Spring

Friday April 27, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Another gray unappealing day. Where do these thing come from? I really take better pictures in nice light. Anyway, I shot in the 23rd Street area for a bit today and came up with this, shooting with my Sony NEX-7 and Leica 24mm Summilux. In editing images today i started an experiment with the “soft proofing” feature in Lightroom, new to the relatively recent version 4.0. It predicts what your picture will look like in print or on the web, overcoming a slight bias toward printing too task and flat if you don’t soft proof.

Empire State
Empire State
Empire State
Empire State

On this day one year ago: a pretty neat shot.

J McLaughlin
J McLaughlin

Wednesday April 25, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I’ve been thinking about what it is to photograph landscape (whether urban or otherwise). Let me describe the experience. There comes a moment when you physically experience some remarkable aspect of the light. For me the world seems to grow quiet and I work without thinking, intuitively. Time seems suspended. I reach this state of mind on those rare occasions when the light is very special and combines with the scenery in front of me to create a heightened sense of reality. It’s good to have a camera in hand when this happens. I’m not wildly successful seeking these moments out with a tripod.

there was one of those moments this morning in the space between the Seagrams Building and the Racquet and Tennis Club.

Racquet and Tennis Club
Racquet and Tennis Club

Rafael Barrios sculpture “Acrobatic”.

Rafael Barrios
Rafael Barrios

More of the same:

Acrobatic
Acrobatic

Seagrams Building lobby:

Lobby
Lobby

On this day last year: Forsythia in the shape of Italy.

Forsythia
Forsythia

Monday April 23, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I walked around midtown with my iPhone and the 645 Pro app. I guess the name of the app is supposed to suggest medium format capabilities. Well it doesn’t turn the iPhone into a medium format camera, but its “raw” format may add a stop or so of dynamic range. Here’s an example. Note the slightly unpleasant bokeh in the out of focus portion of the image.

Dio du
Dio du

Still tends to clip highlights.

Rock Center
Rock Center

The saturated blues are pretty good.

Blue foot
Blue foot

On this day one year ago: The Great Wall.

Great Wall
Great Wall