Month: October 2011

Monday October 24, 2011

Post author By Woody
Post date Sunday October 30, 2011

NEW YORK NEW YORK – More fussing around with my new iPhone 4S. I tried my classic out my window brick wall torture test, shooting with the phone braced against a window sill to approximate the effect of being on a tripod. I used the “HDR” (high dynamic range) mode given the phone’s tendency to blow highlights and the long dynamic range of the scene. It turns out that this was a mistake – on close inspection there are ugly white bands where the buildings meet the sky. After a bit of digging online I came to the conclusion that Apple dramatically over sharpens in HDR mode – so for future reference I’ll be avoiding it. Later in the evening I shot a Martini at the Monkey Bar – odd that this famous bar serves a Martini in a sherry glass. Whatever . . .

The next installment in my 1999 24-houe self portrait project – this one from 12:08 AM on February 14, 1999. As always taken with an Arca Swiss 8×10 inch view camera.

Tags Restaurant

Garden Landscape

Sunday October 23, 2011

Post author By Woody
Post date Saturday October 29, 2011

WARREN CONNECTICUT – I went out hunting for late fall landscape today, mostly in the garden. I used my Leica M9 and 24mm Summilux, which if you follow these posts closely you will have noted is my most used camera/lens combination by far. But I also found a new tool, a new iPhone 4S. The camera is surprisingly good. Dynamic range is only so-so – highlights tend to get blown, and prints are marred by jpeg weirdness (white fringes is the like) but this thing is surprisingly usable and always at hand. It’s quite serviceable for web resolution.

First the Leica and then some iPhones.

The iPhones, with a little help with post-processing in Lightroom.

Finally, what post would be complete without a self-portrait from the 24 hour series. If you think that you’re getting tired of these, image how I felt sitting for them and pushing the cable release, then processing the film, etc. Part of what I’m doing with these ix exploring repetition and the passage of time. Anyway 11:05 PM on February 13, 1999 with an Arca Swiss view camera.

Tags Connecticut, Warren

Events and holidays Family and friends

Saturday October 22, 2011

Post author By Woody
Post date Friday October 28, 2011

WARREN CONNECTICUT – A friend had a birthday celebration at has house under construction in Warren. There was no heating so we build a large fire in the fireplace. There were no kitchen appliances so we grilled the food. the wine selection was over the top with a 2000 Ch. la Conseillante (one of my favorite Pomerols) and 1996 Pichon and Latour. Not bad. Pictures taken with my Leica M9 and 24mm Summicron lens.

Here’s my boring self, from my hourly series, at 10:03 PM on February 13, 1999. Again taken with an Arca Swiss 8×10. This is the only image in the series where I’m wearing glasses, which we will see as we display some of the variants on these pictures (probably in mid-November at the pace we are moving at) has odd consequences.

Tags Dinner party, Warren

Icon Landscape Monuments Religion Urban

Friday October 21, 2011

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Today we did the sacred and profane on Fifth Avenue. Starting with the sacred I stopped by Marble Collegiate Church, the oldest Protestant congregation in North America and for decades the bully pulpit for Norman Vincent Peal. The Church has a “Payers for Peace” program. The congregation offers prayer for service men and women who have died in Central Asia during the week; yellow ribbons with the names of the departed are attached to the railing around the Church. Here’s a segment of the fence with a statue of Dr. Peal in the background. Images taken with my Leica M9 and a 24mm Summilux lens.

Now the profane. At the 42nd Street Library I spotted the following, which I couldn’t resist:

From my self portrait series taken hourly on February 13, 1999 the image from 8:52 PM. Taken with an Arca Swiss 8×10 view camera.

Tags Church, Libraries

Icon Landscape Monuments Urban

Thursday October 20, 2011

Post author By Woody
Post date Wednesday October 26, 2011

NEW YORK NEW YORK -I read a glowing review of the World Trade Center Memorial in the New York Review of Books so I made a reservation and made the trek down there. It’s huge. The memorial is the foundations of the two towers – recessed (by 50 feet or so) pools where the foundations were. Water cascades down the four sides of the foundations holes to the pools. The water disappears into black square holes in the center of the pools. The falling theme is powerful given the context. The central hole evokes a grave. The names of all of the 9/11 victims were cut into the railing around the pools. The Memorial owes a lot to Maya Lin and at the same time is totally unique. Images taken with my Leica M9 and a 12mm Voigtlander lens and 24mm Summilux lens.

Another take on the Old Equitable Building taken with my Leica and a 24mm Summilux lens:

8:00 PM February 13, 1999 from my series of hourly self-portraits over a 24-hour period.

Tags Wall Street, World Trade Center

Landscape Urban

Wednesday October 19, 2011

Post author By Woody
Post date Wednesday October 26, 2011

NEW YORK NEW YORK – I explored downtown with my Leica after some meetings today. Here’s the Old Equitable Building, Thames Street, a block from the Occupy Wall Street protests. Taken with my Leica M9 and 90mm lens. Four frames stitched.

Here’s my self portrait from 7:03 PM on February 13, 1999:

Tags Manhattan, New York, Wall Street

Street

Tuesday October 18, 2011

Post author By Woody
Post date Monday October 24, 2011

NEW YORK NEW YORK – We had lunch today at the relatively new Shake Shack on 86th Street. Here’s a diner at a neighboring table, taken with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens.

The next image in the continuing series of hourly portraits, this one taken at 6:04 PM, local time on February 13, 1999.

Tags Restaurant