Saturday August 13, 2011

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Alexander’s fiance had her wedding shower today, so he and his future father in law and I went to lunch together. We went to The Red Rooster, Marcus Samuelsson’s restaurant in Harlem. Here’s what The Red Rooster’s website says about itself:

We named our restaurant after the legendary Harlem speakeasy that was located at 138th Street and 7th Avenue, where neighborhood folk, jazz greats, authors, politicians and some of the most noteworthy figures of the 20th Century – such as Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Nat King Cole and James Baldwin – would converge . . .

After lunch we walked down Lenox Avenue to Central Park, me carrying my Alpa TC, Phase One IQ 180 back and a 47mm Schneider XL lens.

This is not 1975:

Black Muslims on Lenox Avenue
Black Muslims on Lenox Avenue
Grandma's Place
Grandma's Place
The Blood of Jesus
The Blood of Jesus

The self-same Lenox Lounge referred to on the Red Rooster’s site. Note the patched bullet holes in the facade.

Lenox Lounge
Lenox Lounge

And finally, a Mostly Mozart concert in Avery Fisher Hall. Take with my Blackberry.

Mostly Mozart
Mostly Mozart

On this day one year ago: A boring out my window. The photo-a-day guy was under real pressure here.

Out my window

Thursday August 11, 2011

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I took a walk in the Union Square area with my Alpa and the 35mm Schneider. Partly cloudy, but occasional burst of fine light. this is made from two images captured, hand held, and stitched in Photoshop. Remember that I’m shooting with an 80 meg back so the resulting file is very large. Stitching with this very wide lens results in a highly distorted image, which I corrected in Photoshop – a process that involved significant hard labor.

Union Square
Union Square

In the evening Alexander and his fiance, Laura, came over for headshot for their wedding announcement in the New York Times. This is the one that the liked – taken with my Panasonic GH2 and on camera flash.

Laura and Alexander
Laura and Alexander

On this day one year ago: Elio’s.

Elio's

Wednesday August 10, 2011

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I explored the UN area with my Alpa TC today. Poorish light – intermittent high clouds and a very bright sky. Some of the better ideas I had were in the deep shade in Stuyvestant Town, but the images are poor – the TC simply needs a lot of light or a tripod. Anyway this is the best thing to come out of the day:

Trump
Trump

On this day last year: Sao Paulo.

From the Emiliano

Wednesday August 3, 2011

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – While I was in Africa Phase One released a firmware update to the IQ 180 back that enables “live view”, the ability to view on the back’s lcd screen what the camera is seeing in real time. Live view is commonplace in consumer cameras, which use CMOS technology, but is difficult to implement in medium format cameras which use CCD technology. I downloaded the update and installed it and voila it worked. Live view is a boon to technical camera users because it permits composition on the back’s lcd monitor while using shifts. I set the back up on my Alpa Max with my 72mm Schneider Digitar and took the following out my window (with the back shifted up 15mm and to the right 17mm),

New York Rooftop
New York Rooftop

On this day last year: Trancoso at night.

Trancoso