Landscape – Page 624 – Woody Campbell

Friday April 13, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Hmmmm . . . Friday the 13th. I took a walk on 11th Avenue in the morning light. 11th Avenue is great for urban landscape. There are Hopperesque blocks. There’s a tenderloin vibe. This sort of thing has mostly disappeared in Manhattan. Hell’s Kitchen might as well be renamed “Dante’s Catering”. I captured a couple of images with my Alpa TC, 32mm Rodenstock and Phase One back, a setup that I use hand-held — it works like a digital Hasselblad Superwide C.

We stayed in the City – rare for a Friday night – because I and a friend hosted an “Edwardian Dinner” at the Knickerbocker Club. The image is from my iPhone – I’m in the picture (but I set it up) so there’s obviously a guest photographer.

Here’s 11th Avenue:

The Edwardians:

On this day last year: Dinner at the James Beard Foundation popup.

Thursday April 12, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I periodically go back to school on photography. It’s a great way keep to technical skills fresh, to get work critiqued and to meet new friends. Today I started a ten week class on landscape at the International Center for Photography taught by Benjamin Dimmitt, a landscape photographer who does a variety of subjects and has a particularly lovely body of work on primitive Florida. The first assignment was to shoot “out your window”, literally or figuratively, in a comfort zone, at various times and in various lights. Of course I shot out my window, something that I’ve done frequently here, at various times over a 24-hour period. You’ll be seeing more of these over the next few weeks.

So . . . I put my Alpa Max on a tripod, selected a 72 Schneider lens (the “normal” formal length for this format) and fired away. The results where ok, but the most interesting thing going on seemed to be the sky so I switched to a wide lens (the 32mm Rodenstock) to get more of it. Because of accidents of meteorology the night images came out as the most interesting.

On this day one year ago: Citcorp. I photograph the Citicorp building and its neighbors a lot: Citicorp Center images. I love their bulk and the surprising angles and reflections. It’s also convenient for me. My advice to urban landscape artists: Look up!

Wednesday April 11, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK (yes it’s that place again) – I took the big guy out today (my Alpa) hoping for landscape. The light was a disappointment – the camera is heavy so it’s really no fun to lug it around all day and come home empty handed. Well not quite empty. The playground near the 96th street subway stop was momentarily suffused in curtain filtered sunlight so I caught this (Alpa with Phase One IQ 180 back and 32mm Rodenstock lens).

On this day one year ago: James Beard Foundation popup restaurant.

JBF Ltd. - James Beard Foundation restaurant pop-up

Sunday April 8, 2012

WARREN CONNECTICUT – Easter. At long last, a good picture. From a technical standpoint I’ve been operating with two left feet this weekend (really stagnating), probably because I’m the cook in the household and I’ve been distracted making sous vide brisket for the Novogrods’ Seder and smoked, roast leg of lamb for Easter dinner today. But enough whining and excuses. There was a moment this morning, right after the rising sun broke out above a low rim of clouds, when the birches looked positively radioactive. Really. Amazing. It didn’t matter where I stood or what I shot. This was done with my Sony Nex-7 and Leica 50mm Summilux lens.

On this day one year ago: In the Conservatory Garden. Pictures from gardens in the Spring usually suck. At least mine do. That wasn’t the case last year – I managers a nuanced effort on a rainy day. This shows the Leica 24mm Summilux at its best. Maybe there’s an April 8 phenomenon.

Friday April 6, 2012

WARREN CONNECTICUT – Glowing morning light in the stand of white and red oaks and sugar maples next to our house. Nicely seen but badly executed. Somehow nothing I shot today is in focus. It seemed like I was doing what I always do but the results are wildly defective. How can this happen? I’m going to fuss with my gear a bit to make sure everything is ok (this particular rig – the Sony Nex-7 and 24mm Summilux lens has never let me down before, and indeed this combination does not demand a high level of technique). I’m worried. I overcooked some past earlier this week and Maria was quite testy about it. I’m putting a small version of the image up because at this resolution you can’t see the defects.

On this day last year: Bricks and more bricks. At least last year I got an in-focus image.

Thursday April 5, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YOUR – Good light in Manhattan comes at odd times. Out there in the non-urban landscape good light predictably arrives around sunrise and sunset – the so-called “Golden Hour”, but it really doesn’t last an hour. Manhattan is fine at a distance at the Golden Hour but at street level that early or that late everything is bathed in deep shadows. Magical light in Manhattan is more often caused by sunlight reflecting off of a large building and acting as a fill light at street level. The first of the images for today is an example – taken at about 2:30 in the afternoon, a generally poor time for landscape anywhere else. The second image is just a reflection of Citicorp Center ending up in an odd place. Both taken with my Sony Nex-7 and 50 mm Summilux lens.

On this day last year: Big yellow teddy bear lamp (no kidding). So last year there was this big yellow teddy bear in the plaza between the Seagrams Building and the Racquet and Tennis Club . . .

Monday April 2, 2012

NEAR NASHVILLE TENNESSEE – I got a few pictures of the house off before heading off to the airport to come home.

On this day last year: Glacier.