Month: October 2010

Wednesday October 20, 2010

Post author By Woody
Post date Wednesday October 20, 2010

WASHINGTON DC – I flew down to Washington for dinner at Nora. Nora’s menu. Nora Pouillon hosted a dinner for some of the participants in a food policy conference sponsored by the James Beard Foundation the following day. Not much time for photography but a fabulous meal. The menu included little gem lettuces with figs and cherry glen goat cheese; deep fried soft shell crabs with soy ginger emulsion (the best soft shell crabs ever); Amish veal roast with chanterelle sauce; champagne risotto and honeycrisp apple pie.

I spent the night in a hotel near the Convention Center – a part of town that was formerly a tenderloin area but is rapidly being gentrified. Not a good day for photography but I caught this building in passing near the Convention Center with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summicron lens. Two frames stitched.

On this date one year ago: October 20, 2009

captioNora Pouillon,Nora Pouillon,n=”Umpqua Road Oregon

Tags Washington D.C.

Events and holidays Family and friends Portrait

Tuesday October 19, 2010

Post author By Woody
Post date Tuesday October 19, 2010

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Antonio Monda’s birthday party. Antonio’s Wikipedia entry. At parties I work with a Nikon D700 and an 85mm f1.4 lens, shooting wide open. I never use flash. The advantage of the D700 is very, very good low light capability – it’s much better than the Leica that I use in other circumstances. Shooting the 85mm lens wide open results in very selective focus, which suits my shooting style.

Here’s Antonio and his daughter.

Here’s a part of the crowd cheering Antonio on as he blows out his candles. The woman who the focus is on is Donna Tartt. Behind her to the left is Maria Campbell, my wife; to the right is Jay McInerney.

Donna Tartt, Maria Campbell, Jay McInerney

On this date one year ago: October 19, 2009

Tags Antonio Monda, Jay McInerney, Maria Campbell, New York, Parties

Landscape Small town

Monday October 18, 2010

BRONX NEW YORK – Last weekend we caught an independent film, City Island, on pay-per-view, so I thought that I should drive out to City Island to find out what’s really going on there. Wikipedia entry on City Island.

According to Wikipedia “City Island is an urbanized area, reminiscent of a small New England town.” Actually I found it more reminiscent of Bushwick than Nantucket. Sort of a Bushwick-by-the-Sea. That may not be a bad thing because according to a recent Gawker article Bushwick (which is in Brooklyn) is the new center of cool.

City Island was really, really quiet – almost deserted. Bars were empty; there was no one on the street; most businesses were closed; but there were no parking signs everywhere, suggesting that the island gets crowded in the summer. The light was poor for photography. I’ll go back on a better day in season. There may be a project here. Here’s a house tricked up for Halloween. (On the Halloween theme, City Island has a spooky neighbor, Hart Island – visually a slightly sinister low silhouette to the east of City Island. It’s the site of New York’s potters field. Wikipedia entry on Hart Island) Taken with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens.

Here’s another one – same camera and lens but stitched from three frames.

On this date one year ago: October 18, 2009

Tags Bronx, New York

-Woody's Picks Events and holidays Family and friends Landscape

Sunday October 17, 2010

Post author By Woody
Post date Sunday October 17, 2010

WARREN CONNECTICUT and BROOKLYN NEW YORK – We started out the day in Connecticut (with power restored) – photographed a neighbor’s cornfield in the rising sun. We drove back to New York to attend an engagement party for our son in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn.

Cornfield; Leica M9 and 1954 Dual Range Summicron lens.

Fort Hamilton. Same equipment.

On this date one year ago: October 17, 2009

Tags Autumn, Brooklyn, Connecticut, Warren

Home Landscape Portrait

Saturday October 16, 2010

WARREN, CONNECTICUT – This is the first anniversary of my One Photo Every Day Blog. We’re in Connecticut (without electricity) and the fall foliage is if anything better than ever, so my photography this weekend is fixated on it. Here’s foliage in early morning light. Three frames stitched, taken with my Leica M9 and a 90 mm Elmarit lens.

I’ve decided from this point on to experiment with putting in links to last year’s post from the same date:
On this date one year ago: October 16, 2009

My first post after a frustrating month sorting out blog technology was an image of the Jean DeBuffet sculpture at One Chase Manhattan Plaza.

Jean DuBuffet "Four Trees" One Chase Manhattan Plaza

Here are a couple of more from October 16, 2010 – since it’s my anniversary I’m giving myself a break from the editorial chore of sorting pictures down to one. We ran into an old friend, Lane Smith, at a book signing for his book, It’s a Book, at the Hickory Stick Bookstore in Washington, Connecticut Here are couple of links of interest: Lane’s video version of the It’s a Book, which ironically went viral. And Hickory Stick Bookshop. Shot with my Leica M9 and a 1954 50mm Dual Range Summicron.

Finally, more foliage. Leica M9 plus 35mm Summicron v. IV. Two frames stitched.

Tags Autumn, Connecticut

Food and wine

Friday October 15, 2010

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I decided to cook today. We had in the refrigerator the end of the produce from our garden in Connecticut: an aubergine, some zucchini, some tomatoes and a few other odds and end. This obviously assembles easily into a ratatouille. Both images with my Leica M9 and a 40 mm Summicron C lens.

Mise en place:

And here about an hour and a half later is the assembled product, ready for final cooking.

Tags Cooking, Food and wine, New York

Landscape Out my window Urban

Thursday October 14, 2010

Post author By Woody
Post date Thursday October 14, 2010

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A crap day for photography. The weather was an appalling mixture of wind and rain. I carried my Leica around all day, but didn’t get much use out of it: My schedule consisted of lunch at the Harvard Club with an old friend (photography isn’t appropriate here) followed by a trip to B&H with the same friend but I didn’t have the wit to use my Leica there. An evening concert at Carnegie Hall, guest of a professional friend so again photography wasn’t appropriate. I arrived home after the concert empty-handed photo-wise, so I set my Nikon up on a tripod with a long lens and shot the rainy night out my window. Long exposures with long lenses are technically demanding and I was tired, so the results are so-so at best. Here’s the best of a poor lot, shot with a Nikon D700 and a 200mm lens with a 1.7x tele-extender.

Tags New York, Night