Friday May 4, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I got a new lens today. A Leica Noctilux – affectionately known as a “Nocti”. Further evidence of my infatuation with exotic gear. The Nocti has been backordered for a year or more. At f.95 it’s the fastest still camera lens around. Big and heavy. The point of this lens is to shoot it wide open so I also bought a neutral density filter which permits shooting at f.95 in daylight. I clamped the Nocti onto my Sony Nex-7 and took a walk up Broadway. The focusing with the Nex-7 was a little disappointing. F.95 demands very accurate focus and the Nex didn’t deliver – only about half of the images from the day were technically good. Here is a sampling.

Broadway

Victoria
Victoria

I ended up at the James Beard Foundation Media Awards:

Beard run-up

Beard Book Awards

On this day one year ago: Rain.

It rains on Lexington Avenue
It rains on Lexington Avenue

Monday April 30, 2012

NEW YORK NEW YORK – My Birthday. I spent four or five hours around midday in Central Park in the Ramble. This is an area in the park that is essentially wild (not really – it was planted to simulate wild by Olmsted and Vaux). My landscape class shot in this area last week – I had to miss the session so this is my catch up work. I found the light harsh and the area oppressive and sinister – perhaps as a result of its reputation for being dangerous earned in the 1970s and 1980s. Images are taken with my Alpa TC and Phase One IQ 180 back.

The Ramble Central Park
The Ramble Central Park
Ramble redux
Ramble redux
More Ramble
More Ramble

On this day last year: Warren Spring.

Warren Spring
Warren Spring

Sunday April 29, 2012

WARREN CONNECTICUT – A good day in the country. There was a moment when a shaft of sunlight illuminated a vase in the kitchen – a fleeting moment caught with my Sony Nex-7 and 24mm Summilux lens. Later in the day I walked around with my infrared camera, a Panasonic LX3 that has been adapted so that it’s sensitive to infra red light only.

Good light in the kitchen

Out of the closet
Out of the closet

IR Trees

On this day one year ago: Southbury Congregational Church

Southbury Congregational Church
Southbury Congregational Church

Saturday April 28, 2012

WARREN CONNECTICUT – I spent the better part of a physically dreary day preparing for a dinner party here. Desultory photography. Food and photography are my two great loves and I don’t seem to be able to do them at the same time. I took some snapshots at the party with my Sony NEX-7. Here’s one of them.

Winston
Winston

On this day last lear: The view from Dewey Lebouf, the law firm that’s gone bust.

West 53rd Street
West 53rd Street