Urban – Page 100 – Woody Campbell

Monday January 27, 2014

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I went out today with a 1939 Carl Zeiss Jena 85mm F2.0 lens. This lens had a fabulous reputation back then. I managed to fit it onto my Sony Alpha 7 using no fewer than thee adapter (Zeiss rangefinder to Leica screw mount; Leica screw mount to Leica M, and Leica M to Sony E mount). It actually works and stopped down to f11 the lens is as sharp as a modern lens. Wide open it has lovely “bokeh”. The qualities are illustrated in the two images below which don’t have much merit otherwise.

Day 1,565 of my daily photo blog.

On this day four years ago: Mustique. On this particular day I’ve been in the Caribbean in each of the past four years. As a photographer I struggle with the tropics. There’s not much of of visual interest in Paradise. So I’ve reached back four years for a rainy day in Mustique.

Thursday January 23, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA – I drove back here early – the sky was poor for landscape so I decided to spend the day walking San Francisco. Here is a mini-gallery of images with my Leica Monochrom and 50mm standard lens. Sorry about the number of images. Editing is difficult without the passage of a bit more time, which provides perspective. Many of the images are stitches; the first is actually composed of 10 separate exposures.

I lived in San Francisco for a year back in the day. It’s changed surprisingly little. South of Market has gentrified a bit but the tenderloin has moved north to the area behind the St. Francis Hotel and appears to be more robust than ever.

Day 1,561 in an unbroken string of at least one photo every day.

On this day last year: The Diner.

Thursday January 16, 2014

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Back on my home turf with my Leica Monochrom in Central Park. A pretty hackneyed image.

Day 1,554 of one picture every day for the rest of my life

On this day one year ago: Dallas training center.

Thursday January 9, 2014

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spend a fair amount of time lurking around Citicorp Center and the Lipstick Building looking up because this part of Manhattan is visually rich. You get a lot of “look ups” from me from around here. Here’s another. Eight frames stitched taken with my Leica Monochrom and 75mm Summicron lens.

Day 1,546 of one photograph a day for the rest of my life.

On this day last year: Sunnylands. The Annenberg estate, Sunnylands, in Palm Desert.

Wednesday January 8, 2014

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Sometimes shooting through the window of a glass curtain wall building works. It takes a little bit of technique to avoid reflections and dirty spots on the glass but sometimes it can be done. Here’s a twofer: the Lipstick Building and the Chrysler Building. This is out the window of my office. Three frames stitched with my Leica Monchrom and 75mm Summicron lens. It’s an accident that I’ve posted two tall skinny pictures within a week of each other.

Day 1,545 of one photograph a day for the rest of my life.

On this day last year: Sunset in Santa Monica.

Monday January 6, 2014

NEW YORK NEW YORK – Alexander and I went to a Rangers game. Surprisingly sporting events are not really good venues for me to photograph. There’s not a lot of landscape at a hockey game. So I snapped off a six frame stitch of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on my way walking to Madison Square Garden. Taken with my Leica Monochrom and 75mm Summicron lens.

Day 1,543 of one photo a day for the rest of my life.