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
QUITO ECUADOR – We’re not supposed to be in Quito – we had a 8:30 AM flight to Miami. It was unfortunately delayed for 13 hours so we found ourselves back in Quito for the day. We explored on foot and stumbled onto the National Assembly building. I say stumbled on it because it doesn’t show on printed maps or Google maps. Odd. Perhaps this is a residue of the long-running (60 years) border dispute with Peru in which Peru’s president, Alberto Fujimori, threatened to bomb Quito – a dispute that was finally settled in 1999.
This is Harvey Stein photographing a police show of force in front of the National Assembly building. They were there in response to a demonstration by teachers seeking more funding for education (as far as I could tell with my pidgin Spanish). This is the front gate of the National Assembly. At the rear gate there was a group of film makers and students seeking federal funding for the Ecuadorian film industry. Demonstration - Ecuador National Assembly
QUITO ECUADOR – We’re back in Quito getting ready for the flight home. I woke up early to capture the city waking up in lovely light. The man near the center of the frame is wheeling his shoeshine stand toward Plaza de La Indepenencia where he will set it up for the day.
Shoe shine man
CAYAMBE ECUADOR – This town hosts a week-long festival for Pacha Mama (Mother Earth) and Taita Inti (Father Sun) around the summer solstice. This guy’s costume bears no relationship to the prevailing native garb at this festival – he probably looked as odd to the Ecuadorians as he does to us. His mask looks like it was made from a child’s bib, but on close examination it’s actually finely beaded. He’s sufficiently odd that I’ve adopted him in the header for my site.
Cayambe festival
ECUADOR – I’m back tired after a long day of shooting, with limited internet access.  I thought that I should post a photo from today – I’ll update the post with further information when I have a better connection.
HACIENDA ZULETA, ECUADOR – We visited Hacienda Zuleta a few hour drive north of Quito.
I’ve paraphrased the history of the hacienda from its web site. In the late 16th century, King Charles gave the Zuleta region to the Jesuits, who implemented Spanish methods of farming and cattle and sheep production. In the following years a small wool mill was established. And by 1691, the Hacienda house, granary and chapel were completed and the farm was in full operation. In 1713 the property was confiscated and transferred to Canon Gabriel Zuleta, making Zuleta his seventeenth hacienda. The farm became known as Cochicaranqui de Zuleta. After the Canon’s death the farm passed to the Posse family,who restored the hacienda back to its 17th century grandeur. The estate was sold to Jose Maria Lasso in 1898 and passed through two generations to its current owner, Galo Plaza Lasso, the ex-President of Ecuador.
We attended the feast of San Juan at the hacienda – this is Mr. Plaza Lasso catching an offering from a local village.
