WARREN CONNECTICUT – Back in bed battling the flu from hell. We cancelled a dinner party. I spent the weekend trying to prepare for meetings next week through the fog of flu. I got out with my tech camera for a few minutes in the late afternoon:
On this day one year ago: Riverside Boulevard.
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.
I joined my old friend John Novogrod for a hike on the the Appalachian trail.. I’m posting three images from the hike.
Earlier in the day I shot the Warren Congregational Church again.
On this day last year: Hacienda Zuleta
WASHINGTON CONNECTICUT – Well here it is, Fathers Day again. This is a stupid ersatz “holiday” made up by greeting card publishers, but my public position on it is that it’s the most important holiday on the calendar. At least that’s what I tell my children.
Alexander and I celebrated by playing a round of golf. When asked if I play I can truthfully say “no”, but I do own a set of clubs and maintain a golf membership at our local club in Connecticut. Anyway, here’s Alexander doing what he does best on the golf course, which is pounding the hell out of the ball off the tee – he outdrives me by about the length of Central Park.
On this day one year ago: a shot (which no one much liked) of a perennial boarder in Connecticut.
WEST CORNWALL CONNECTICUT – We had dinner at the Wandering Moose cafe here in West Cornwall. Alexander, my son, observed that West Cornwall feels more like New York state than Connecticut – it has a slightly funky Adirondack vibe. This with my Leica M9 and a 28mm Summicron lens. Local businesses consist of the Wandering Moose Cafe, a simple place that we rather like, Ian Ingersoll, a brilliant cabinet maker who specializes in Shaker-inspired designs, and RSVP, a restaurant that offers French bistro food – Zagat gives the food a 28 but that’s nowhere near correct – we’ve been fairly underwhelmed there.
On this day last year: Out my window.
NEW PRESTON CONNECTICUT – I’ve developed a rule of thumb for landscape photography. There are rare moments when the light is absolutely magical. It may be the “golden hour” or the moment when the sun breaks through after a storm. Some days and places are better than others, but really great magic light moments are fairly rare. Here’s my rule of thumb: If you experience a magic light moment stop whatever you are doing and photograph whatever is at hand with whatever equipment you have available. Even if the subject is mundane the light transforms it – perhaps turning it into a serious statement.
After endless rain we finally had a few moments of late afternoon sun creating a brief magic moment. Fortunately I had my Alpa TC and 60 meg back in the car and managed to find a place to stop in New Preston.
On this day last year: Seagrams Building.
WARREN CONNECTICUT – It poured all day. These are actually pretty good conditions for intimate details of the Northeastern landscape. I captured this in our garden with my Alpa TC and a 35mm Schneider Digitar lens. That’s Basil, our Norwich Terrier, putting his nose in the picture.
On this day one year ago: Friends in Mustique.
WEST CORNWALL CONNECTICUT – I spent the morning exploring the Northwest corner of Connecticut with my Alpa TC and a Schneider 35mm Digitar. The light didn’t cooperate – it was one of the cloudy days with a high, bright sky. This from a bridge of of the road in West Cornwall that parallels the Housatonic River. I ended up leaving an empty camera back by the road. Someone picked it up and dropped it off at a local cafe, the Wandering Moose
