Tuesday February 28, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I find myself stalking the Chrysler Building . . . again. This time from the north with a moderately wide lens. I’ve done the thing with the lamp post before, but honestly they are everywhere; rather than dodge it I just thought that I’d work it in. If you want to see more Chrysler Buildings you can pull down “Tags” in the space to the right, scroll down to “Chrysler Building” and click. You’ll find that no fewer than 11 posts have featured this icon, 12 counting this one.

Why? Because it’s fabulous. Ever changing. And it’s a real challenge to come up with a fresh point of view on a major icon. Taken with my Sony Nex-7 and a 24mm Leica Summilux lens.

Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building

On this day one year ago: poor composition. Interesting. Both today’s post and last year’s post feature lamp posts. They’re ubiquitous and some of them are attractive. As I said it’s hard to keep them out of the New York landscape.

Carl Schurz Park
Carl Schurz Park

Monday February 27, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – So there’s a camera app for the iPhone called Percolator which I’ve used occasionally to perk up my daily photo. See for example here. I’m pretty restrained using it. Here’s a more radical example. Walking down Lexington Avenue I passed a store front that had be decorated with circles in more or less exactly the percolator proportion using more or less percolator colors. Is this an iPhone app influencing the real design world, or do they have a common antecedent? Taken with my Sony Nex-7 and Leica 24mm Summilux lens.

Percolated?
Percolated?

On this day last year: Snowy day.

More snow
More snow

Sunday February 26. 2012

WARREN CONNECTICUT – I took a break from organizing AV on this very, very cold and clear day, capturing sunrise across a cornfield at the bottom of the valley that defines our view, and a rambling house that was an inn 80 years ago. Taken with my Nex-7 and 50mm Leica Summilux lens.

Tanner's Farm

Former LoGrotta Inn

On this day last year: New Milford.

St. John's Episcopal Church New Milford
St. John's Episcopal Church New Milford

Saturday February 25, 2012

WARREN CONNECTICUT – Woke up with a headache and general fuzziness. Not a supper interesting day from a visual standpoint with a high, overcast flat sky so I spend most of the day in the house laying out a new AV setup. When I took my Sony Nex-7 and a 50mm Leica Summilux to the fish trailer on 202 to buy dinner the sun cooperated with a brief breakthrough.

Fish trailer

On this day last year: Statue of Liberty in amazing light.

Statue of Liberty and Hoboken
Statue of Liberty and Hoboken

Thursday February 23, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – You may have noticed that I’ve been shooting with a Sony Nex-7 and Leica lenses for the past three weeks. I decided today to return to my Leica M 9 for a quick comparision. The first thing I noticed was that the Leica seemed heavy and the shutter release seemed rough and noisy compared to the Nex-7 (!!). No kidding. The Leica. But it’s also a pleasure to focus in good light and the frame lines are really a terrific way to see – not a surprise since I’ve been shooting Leica Ms for most of my life. I spent the day looking up at facades with a 35mm Summilux lens. What I noticed when I got the images home is the files are supurb. Mostly in focus and well-exposed. Beautifully detailed and nuanced. The old M9 body still has some life in it. I really do like the 18 meg files produced by the Leica more than the 24 meg files produced by the Nex-7. Here are a couple of examples.

Madison
Madison
Park Avenue
Park Avenue

On this day last year: attractive woman at the Knick.

Dinner at the Knick
Dinner at the Knick

Tuesday February 21, 2012

BOCA GRANDE FLORIDA – A sad morning. We’re packing to go back to New York. We took a pre-breakfast walk down to the beach. We’re on the Gulf of Mexico facing West, so phnotography is better in the evening here than in the morning. This is what I got at the beach club with my Sony Nex-7.

Gasparilla Inn Beach Club
Gasparilla Inn Beach Club

On this day last year: Caboose Gallery.

Kent Caboose Gallery
Kent Caboose Callery

Monday February 20, 2012

BOCA GRANDE FLORIDA – We spent today on the beach. Maria could do this all day every day forever. One day is about the limit for a month or so for me. This a long beach – 7 miles or so. I took off walking with my Sony Nex-7 and a 35mm lens. Here are three images from the day. Sunset at the Gasparilla Inn beach:

Sunset
Sunset

The Gasparilla range light. These structures are only called light houses when there is an actual house for a tender to live in. The Gulf of Mexico (and the bay behind the island) are shallow here making navigation tricky for large boats. Three frames stitched.

Gasparilla Range Light
Gasparilla Range Light

A portion of Maria’s horde of shells from the beach.

Shells
Shells

On this day last year: Washington CT Congregational Church.

Washington Congregational Church
Washington Congregational Church