NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spent a couple of hours today messing around with the Fuji X100s. With a new camera there is always a process of getting it dialed in to my shooting style and practicing so that managing the controls becomes second nature. It’s also important to explore its limits: what’s the practical highest ISO and the lowest-hand held shutter speed, for example. Here’s a 12,500 iso shot in a dark hall in our apartment. The Fuji’s autofocus is reasonably good under these difficult low light circumstances (even much larger SLRs have a tendency to hunt a bit in near dark conditions). From the hall in near darkness with a secret selfie in the form of my shadow.
High ISO
On this day last year: Perar 35. Experimenting with a tiny triplet 35mm lens called the Perar on my Leica M9. I ended up selling the lens – I really don’t have much use for lenses with a lot of “character”. Here it is on my M9 (which I subsequently traded for my Monochrom).
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Back in the saddle with my Leica Monochrom. I promise to write a post about why I mess around with other equipment. Later. When I get around to it. Next week. We’ll see. The Monchrom is my best friend.
I’ve decided to make time to walk where ever I happen to be going in Manhattan. Briskly. The theory is that this mode of transportation will relieve me of the need for other forms of exercise.
Today, while walking, I looked for abstractions with my Monochrom and 50mm Summicron Asph. lens. I’ve already posted a less effective color image of the first site below.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – We had a full house in Connecticut this weekend. Maria is in Paris but Alexander and Laura, Francesca, and Will Hoar (Maria’s godson) and his fiancée, Olivia Wolf. What a riot. Shot with my baby Sony RX100 II all weekend. The Sony has a zoom lens but I only shoot it at the wide end which is 28mm equivalent. Thus the wide angle distortion.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – In our local Staples I noticed a nice piece of decoration: a large “sculpture” of correction fluid with “oops” written in the middle of it. Make a bronx cheer noise if you remember what correction fluid is. Hmmm. Awfully quiet here. This thing must have been make in the 70s or 80s. Apart from the now obscure iconography this is actually very interesting – it could be mistaken for a Warhol if it were hanging in MOMA rather than in a Staples on 86th Street. Here it is, taken with my baby Sony RX100 II (my go-to go-everywhere camera of the moment).
So there’s this joke website called Gizoogle that translates any website from standard English into Hip-Hop (the link to this is courtesy of Salman Rushdie). Here’s what it did to the foregoing paragraph:
NEW YORK NEW YORK – In our local Staplez I noticed a sick piece of decoration: a big-ass “sculpture” of erection fluid wit “oops” freestyled up in tha middle of dat shit. Make a funky-ass bronx cheer noise if you remember what tha fuck erection fluid is yo. Hmmm fo’ realz. Awfully on tha down-low here, so peek-a-boo, clear tha way, I be comin’ thru fo’sho. This thang must done been make up in tha 70s or 80s fo’ realz. Apart from tha now obscure iconography dis is straight-up straight-up bangin-ass – it could be mistaken fo’ a Warhol if it was hangin up in MOMA rather than up in a Staplez on 86th Street yo. Here it is, taken wit mah baby Sony RX100 Pt II (my go-to go-everywhere camera of tha moment).
From now on I’m using this thing as a co-author to liven this site up.
Oops.
On this day last year: Riverside Park South. I used to think that I liked Riverside Park South and the Trump buildings that face it. But . . . I glanced casually at this image when I prepared this post and thought it was in Boston. This is an absolutely generic urban development that could be in any city in the world. Of course the park is preferable to the wasteland that formerly inhabited the space. Here it is (this was taken with the high end medium format rig that I was shooting at this time last year – subsequently replaced with my medium format Leica).
NEW YORK NEW YORK – This is a really heavy day in the real work world. In other words, long hours at the computer. Here’s an image of my personal habitat for the day, taken with my baby Sony RX100 II. This was moment of rest: my hands weren’t actually on the keyboard.
Keyboard
On this day last year: Construction of the Second Avenue subway.
