Landscape – Page 652 – Woody Campbell

Sunday October 23, 2011

WARREN CONNECTICUT – I went out hunting for late fall landscape today, mostly in the garden. I used my Leica M9 and 24mm Summilux, which if you follow these posts closely you will have noted is my most used camera/lens combination by far. But I also found a new tool, a new iPhone 4S. The camera is surprisingly good. Dynamic range is only so-so – highlights tend to get blown, and prints are marred by jpeg weirdness (white fringes is the like) but this thing is surprisingly usable and always at hand. It’s quite serviceable for web resolution.

First the Leica and then some iPhones.

The iPhones, with a little help with post-processing in Lightroom.

Finally, what post would be complete without a self-portrait from the 24 hour series. If you think that you’re getting tired of these, image how I felt sitting for them and pushing the cable release, then processing the film, etc. Part of what I’m doing with these ix exploring repetition and the passage of time. Anyway 11:05 PM on February 13, 1999 with an Arca Swiss view camera.

Friday October 21, 2011

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Today we did the sacred and profane on Fifth Avenue. Starting with the sacred I stopped by Marble Collegiate Church, the oldest Protestant congregation in North America and for decades the bully pulpit for Norman Vincent Peal. The Church has a “Payers for Peace” program. The congregation offers prayer for service men and women who have died in Central Asia during the week; yellow ribbons with the names of the departed are attached to the railing around the Church. Here’s a segment of the fence with a statue of Dr. Peal in the background. Images taken with my Leica M9 and a 24mm Summilux lens.

Now the profane. At the 42nd Street Library I spotted the following, which I couldn’t resist:

From my self portrait series taken hourly on February 13, 1999 the image from 8:52 PM. Taken with an Arca Swiss 8×10 view camera.

Thursday October 20, 2011

NEW YORK NEW YORK -I read a glowing review of the World Trade Center Memorial in the New York Review of Books so I made a reservation and made the trek down there. It’s huge. The memorial is the foundations of the two towers – recessed (by 50 feet or so) pools where the foundations were. Water cascades down the four sides of the foundations holes to the pools. The water disappears into black square holes in the center of the pools. The falling theme is powerful given the context. The central hole evokes a grave. The names of all of the 9/11 victims were cut into the railing around the pools. The Memorial owes a lot to Maya Lin and at the same time is totally unique. Images taken with my Leica M9 and a 12mm Voigtlander lens and 24mm Summilux lens.

Another take on the Old Equitable Building taken with my Leica and a 24mm Summilux lens:

8:00 PM February 13, 1999 from my series of hourly self-portraits over a 24-hour period.

Wednesday October 19, 2011

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I explored downtown with my Leica after some meetings today. Here’s the Old Equitable Building, Thames Street, a block from the Occupy Wall Street protests. Taken with my Leica M9 and 90mm lens. Four frames stitched.

Here’s my self portrait from 7:03 PM on February 13, 1999:

Monday October 17, 2011

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Another day on the street with my Alpa TC and 35mm Schneider lens. The Bull and Bear on Lexington Avenue in the 50s.

The next in a series of 24 self-portraits taken on February 13, 1999 with an Arca Swiss 8×10 view camera.

Saturday October 15, 2011

WASHINGTON CONNECTICUT – Perfect autumn day. I got to New Preston before the stores opened so I had an opportunity to capture some of the local building before cars showed up. Taken with my Alpa Max and 47mm Schneider lens. I used the shifts on the camera to correct perspective in the camera.

The end in a series of 24 self portraits, taken in my studio in Warren on February 13, 1999 at 3:00 PM local time.

Monday October 10, 2011

WARREN CONNECTICUT – I got a bit confused writing the posts for October 9 and today. Today’s pictures were originally published as October 9 – probably because I forgot that I was in Warren (rather than New York) today, which is Columbus Day. (I typical write these posts about a week after the fact.) Columbus Day really isn’t a national holiday, but what the hell, I’m an adopted Italian so so it’s a good excuse not to go to the office. Anyway, here are two pictures from a walk around our Warren property, taken with my Leica M9 and a 24mm Summilux lens (I’ve stated elsewhere that this is my best friend ever, lens-wise.) Back lit ornamental grasses, and a Balinese Garuda.

On this day one year ago: Waterfall, New Preston.