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.
Andy Hartzell
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – So I took the subway downtown to return the IQ 180 to Digital Transitions. They are on 35th just off of Fifth Avenue so this gave me a chance stalk one my favorite icons, the Empire State Building, in very interesting light with my Leica M9 and a 90mm lens. Three frames stitched.
Empire State Building
KENT and WARREN CONNECTICUT – Well the IQ 180 (see my posts from the previous two days) is starting to sing. I went for a hike today carrying my Alpa TC with the 36mm Schneider Digitar and the Phase One IQ 180. This is a compact, hand holdable combination. The form factor and functionality are very similar to the legendary Hasselblad Superwide C (one of my favorite film cameras ever), but the 80 meg digital back delivers much higher resolution than medium format film. The trick is mastering this oddball combination of exotic stuff to the point where I can stop thinking about it and start really shooting.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – Second day with my loaner Phase One IQ 180. Very high performance photo equipment is like a very high performance car – the photo equivalent of noise, vibration and harsh ride are part of the experience. This thing doesn’t auto anything, and getting the most out of it takes some work. I spent part of the day experimenting with shifting the back on my Alpa Max technical camera. Initial results are technically good but uninspiring as I focus on technique rather than seeing. Here’s our pool in Warren and the perennial border next to it with the IQ 180 on the Alpa Max and my 47mm Schneider Digitar.
Pool Warren Connecticut
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I had the opportunity to borrow a demo Phase One IQ 180 digital back for the weekend. This is the latest and greatest in digital backs, with an 80 meg sensor and a sophisticated iPhone-like interface that makes it particularly well adapted for use on a tech camera. I’m considering trading my collection of Hasseblad gear for the IQ 180. After picking it up at Digital Transitions I got it set up my Alpa TC and went for a walk. Unfortunately the weather turned grim – as issue because these high end digital backs need a lot of light (or a sturdy tripod and a long exposure). I got as far as the Guggenheim Museum when it started to rain. Anyway, here is an early effort with it:
Guggenheim
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Another rainy afternoon exploration of Carl Schurz Park, on the East River near Gracie Mansion, the Mayor’s official residence. I am again working with my Alpa technical camera, a 35mm Scheider Digitar lens and my 60 meg Hasselblad digital back. The overcast sky was quite bright – not the best conditions for a guy who is essentially a landscape photographer.
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.
Dinner in the kitchen
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.
