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.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – So I’ve corrected the post for today (as originally published today’s entry had tomorrow’s pictures – time travel or something). This is one of the series of 24 hour photos – this one at roughly 1:00 AM today by moonlight. There was an almost full moon today, making a 24 hour landscape study feasible (otherwise at this time of year you would get 11 black frames). This is a 90 second exposure – the IQ 180 back is supposedly limited to 30 second exposures – the longer exposures resulted in bright purple areas in each of the four corners of the image – in this particular image they were easily fixed in Photoshop. It was very still, so movement of the trees was not a big factor. Of course the earth did rotate so you will see star trails in the sky. Anyway, here’s the landscape by moonlight taken with the Alpa Max, Phase ONe IQ 180 back and 120mm Schneider lens. Changing the image has screwed up the star rating for this post – there are some things that I can’t fix. My apologies if you voted and your vote has been applied to the wrong picture.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Twelve or so years ago I did a series of projects where i set a camera up on a tripod and took an image each hour over a 24-hour period. I generally used a 4×5 view camera, but also an 8×19 view camera and a 35mm (generally my Leica M7). I typically shot images that were set up to mimic a well known piece of art, “appropriating” the organization and subject matter. For example I did a 24 hour series at our pool in Connecticut and a Balinese statue after Jennifer Bartlett’s study of her pool in Italy. (See Jennifer Bartlett pool for example.) I stopped doing the 24 hour sequences after I went digital. The fact that you can put a digital camera on a tripod and set it to take a picture every hour made it too easy and took the life out of these projects;
Enter the Alpa and the Phase One IQ 180 back. The aesthetic is similar to 4×5 or 8×10 and it’s entirely manual – you really can’t automate taking a 24 hour sequence. So I decided to give a 24-hour project a try. No reference to any only other works of art – just a shot of a tree line at our place in Connecticut. I shot 24 images, one each hour from late afternoon October 8 through late afternoon October 9. I’m please with the results and have resolved a couple of technical issues, so I’m starting work on a serious series, again borrowing from a well-known work. Here’s the image from 5:57 PM (local time). My self-imposed rule is that all images need to be taken within 10 minutes plus or minus the hour. Precision (i.e. exactly on the hour) really isn’t possible because of the vagaries of cat napping and so on. I’m pleased with the results so I’m searching for a project with a fine arts referent. By the way, I’ve also included an image of the Alpa set up to capture the tree line.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I had amazing luck today. I went to the Guggenheim Museum with my daughter and a close friend of hers; we had lunch at The Wright (a restaurant located in the Guggenheim) and walked the Central Park reservoir. I’ve been trying to take a picture I like of the museum for two years; I finally got it. I’ve also being trying to take a picture of the reservoir with the west side skyline in the background, and tall grass/reeds in spots around the reservoir in the foreground; I finally got it. Both taken with my Leica M9 and 24mm Summilux lens, more than justifying my affection for this combination.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spent the day at my office. I had tossed my Alpa into a bag so I was equiped for wide angle. Our firm has a collection of chromogenic prints prints of images made in the 1980s by Jim Dow of every major league baseball stadium. The images were taken with an 8×10 camera and typically consist of 3 unstitched panoramic images.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I went today with a tripod and my large Alpa, the Alpa Max, to explore Riverside Park and the George Washington Bridge. My start was delayed by personal errand – by the time I got into things the golden light was gone and the light was rathe uninteresting. I’ve posted some examples anyway.
George Washington BridgeRiverside ParkRiverside ParkRiverside ParkRiverside Park
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Francesca has a new hat. This and the Triborough Bridge shot at the golden hour (which is particularly golden this time of year) were shot with my Panasonic GH-2. This is my kit for snapshots and for long lenses.
