NEW YORK NEW YORK – Have you filed your estimated taxes? So a new lens just arrived for my Panasonic GH2 – a 7mm to 14mm zoom (14-28 35mm equivalent). This thing is very wide and very good. The pictures are interesting. I’m a wide shooter and this lens is really wide. Even the picture of my feet that I took to make sure that the camera was working has some interest.
On this day one year ago: Hmmm . . we’re on to an appropriation them here. I appropriated Mike Bidlo.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Maria’s in Paris and our children are off in their separate directions and I didn’t have any dinner plans, so I had a lonely guy moment. I ordered a pizza and opened a Stella. Here’s the pizza in its various stages, captured with my Panasonic GH2, 29mm pancake lens and a stepladder.
On this day last year: Evening light adumbrates fall foliage.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Our firm’s partners meet for lunch every Tuesday. I wouldn’t ordinarily photograph at one of these but this was a special occasion: it was the last lunch at which Rick Evans served as presiding partner, a role that he is retiring from after a record-setting 13 years of service. I sat across the table from my retired partner Andy Hartzell, who doesn’t make many of these because the conflict with the weekly “French table” at the Yale Club, which actually includes a French tutor. Anyway here’s Andy caught with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summilux lens.
On this day one year ago: San Pablo del Lago
NEW YORK NEW YORK – Our friends Varya Gornostaeva and her husband, Sergei Parkhomenko, were in town from Moscow so we had a small dinner party for them in our kitchen. Varya has terrific English and Sergei very good French (as does Maria) so we had enough languages in common to communicate well. This is Sergei captured with my Leica M9 – this is less annoying than it looks because it was at the end of the meal and still mid-afternoon in Moscow.
On this day one year ago: A passport photo for Maria. This very clearly demonstrates that I really could make a living at photography, doing passport photos.
NEW YORK NEW YOK – The James Beard Foundation Media Awards were held this evening in an event space on West 42nd Street. Terrific party. Outside there were anti-foie gras demonstrators, who object to the treatment of geese in producing foie gras, because the Foundation has not taken a stance against foie gras (which was not served at the event, but I would have been fine if it had been because I love it). This taken with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens.
On this day one year ago: Sunset from the High Line Park. One of my favorite images from the past year.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A new lens for my Alpa. Yesterday’s experiments finally convinced me that my 45 mm APO-Rodenstock Grandegon was just not up to the demands of a 60 megapixel back so I’m selling it and I’ve replaced it with a Schneider 48mm APO-Helvetar, which is optimized for large, high resolution digital applications. I’m experimenting to see if this longer focal length can successfully be used handheld in my Alpa TC. So far the results are mixed – it takes some time to find a working relationship with a new lens. Here’s an image of “visual noise” (and street food) on Park Avenue that came out of today’s effort.
On this day one year ago: Nan Talese at yet another party ant Antonio Monda’s.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – So I spent the afternoon testing and working out the high and low points of a new lens for my Alpa kit. This is our library taken with my Alpa Max, a 48mm lens Schneider Helvetar APO lens and Hasselblad 60 meg back.
On this day one year ago: rehearsal at Lincoln Center for the James Beard Foundation Awards.
