NEW YORK NEW YORK – A quick note on equipment. Most of my work here is done with a Leica Monochrom, a classic Leica rangefinder camera that takes only black and white images. The lack of color information means that it produces roughly twice the resolution of normal digital camera – giving lovely, medium format film-like images. I shoot wide but most often keep a standard 50mm lens on the camera. I get wide by shooting multiple overlapping images and “stitching” them on a computer. Result is very large files that can be printed large. The large files and intense detail invest mundane subjects with an importance that is impossible to achieve with smaller files.
Today’s images is three frames stitched. I’ve taught myself how to stitch reliably without using a tripod.
Day 1,817 of one picture every day for the rest of my life.
LONDON – Still here. Another day exploring Holland Park, Chelsea and Kensington. I walked to the Serpentine Gallery where there was a Marina Abramović performance entitled 512 Hours. No cameras in the gallery but nice light outside so I had a pretty good run of architectural images.
Day 1,741 of one picture every day for the rest of my life.
PALM DESERT CALIFORNIA – I made the soul-crushing drive up to Palm Desert from Santa Monica this morning to take my medium format Alpa and Phase One gear (a so-called technical camera – probably because you need an engineering degree to set it up and get the most out of it) to Camera West to trade for a Leica S medium format camera. The Alpa just hasn’t been working for me – it requires working from a tripod and my vision suffers when I use a tripod – my work is best when I use a more intuitive and less calculating approach. The Leica S can be hand held elegantly. I traded my technical camera and four lenses for a Leica S and four lenses and got some change back. Nice.
After completing my deal I made the short drive to Sunnylands where I had arranged for a tour through a friend. Sunnylands is the Annenberg estate – it includes a private golf course and a house, grounds and decor that are tributes to mid-century Modern. It’s currently owned by a foundation and used for high-end conferences.
Too much chit-chat here. Let’s move on to some images. The first two with my new camera. The balance are with my Leica Monochrom.
WAREN CONNECTICUT – More of Doug and Judy’s house. This taken with my M9 and 24mm Summilux lens. Two frames stitched. This post illustrates a problem with the web format for images: the browser contains the width of images. I use 900 pixels, which is large by web standards and means that this site loads more slowly than it might otherwise, but this is a photo site and image quality matters to me. The result of the 900 pixel limitation, though, is that horizontally oriented pictures like this one, which can be stretched out on a wall in person, end up being very small on the web. This results in a bias toward portrait orientation in the pictures that I post, and probably in the pictures that I take. The web has affected by shooting style.
Doug and Judy’s House
WARREN CONNECTICUT – A dislocated weekend. For today and tomorrow we’ve ceded our house to our daughter, Francesca, for a bachelorette party that she’s throwing for a friend. Dangerous territory. So we’re camping out for the weekend at Doug and Judy Hamilton’s house because they’re on the way to Salt Lake via the California Zephyr (a train!). I spent today photographing Doug and Judy’s house with my Alpa Max and Phase One IQ 180 back. Then the bachelorettes descended on us for cocktails, which I captured in the waining light with my M9 and a 1954 50 mm Dual-Range Summicron lens. Here you go:
Judy and Doug’s HouseJudy and Doug’s HouseJudy and Doug’s HouseJudy and Doug’s HouseJudy and Doug’s HouseBachelorettesBachelorettes
NEW YORK NEW YORK – A dull day in all respects. I shot the swoosh porte cochere that was added to building in it’s renovation with my Leica M9 and 35mm Summilux lens. During our absence in Saratoga an exhibit of Niki de Saint Phalle’s work was installed on the Park Avenue islands so I’ll be shooting it over the next few weeks.
919 SwooshArt on Park
MILAN ITALY – One last day of tourism in Italy. Maria has finished her meetings so she was able to join me visiting Villa Necchi, Pinacoteca di Brera and shopping on Via Spiga and Via Montenapoleone. One this is clear: these Milanese do design and retail like no one else.
So here are my captures for the day, tank with my Leica M9 and 24mm Lummilux lens.
Villa NecchiVilla NecchiMaria sees the big picture
On this day one year ago: a sick day. I’ve cropped this to be one of my favorite headers for this site.
