NEW YORK NEW YORK – I’m continuing to experiment with my new Panasonic GH2. I walked down Lexington Avenue with it (an errand to pick up our dog from a haircut), taking images that I might have done with my Leica M9. Here’s a sample. The images are fine at web resolution, but don’t have the impact that the Leica files have when viewed close up or printed large.
On this day one year ago: Another errand – this one to Jean Silversmith.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I walked down Lexington Avenue on this rare bright and sunny day. I had Alpa TC with a 35mm Schneider APO lens and a 60 meg Hasselblad digital back. And the battery with the wire dangling out of my sleeve. Here are three images. I couldn’t decide which I liked best. It’s probably painfully obvious (perhaps “none of the above”), but I’ve posted all three. We’ll see how they look for a while and I’ll take two down based on a more extended reaction.
(I subsequently edited this post on March 2 shrinking the size of the less favored pictures, with thanks to those who commented on the choice.)
On this day one year ago: Lever House in twilight.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spent a few hours sorting out my Alpa Max today. Alpa provides the ability to shim the back adapter to achieve perfect focus. This requires an object to focus on that’s a long ways away; I used the Triboro Bridge out my dining room window. I was also able to work out corrections for the color shifts across the frame that result from putting a digital back on a technical camera. Late in the afternoon the light and the sky turned interesting so I captured this (a two frame panorama):
On this day one year ago: a truly uninteresting IR image of the World Trade Center construction site.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – So I find myself walking around New York with a battery in my inside coat pocket and a wire snaking down my sleeve. It connects to the digital back on my Alpa TC. It’s flexible and is highly compatible with my style of shooting but at some risk that I’ll be mistaken for a suicide bomber. I take a fair number of images like this at extreme angles, but this is one of my favorites.
Here’s another take on the sunrise out our dining room window with my Alpa Max:
On this day one year ago: Another cold day in Connecticut.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – Another day with film. I’m mastering the mechanics of the Linhof film back so I had fewer ruined double exposures. Here’s a view of 23rd Street taken with my Alpa TC, a 36mm Schneider APO lens on Ilford XP-2 film. I’ve always considered the gray scale rendering of chromogenic films to be slightly odd for landscape – there is a slight infrared quality to it. This image illustrates this effect.
Take a look back at the post for February 9. The vertical line up the middle of the picture is actually a scratch on the negative. Very irritating. Another issue with film. I’m reposting the image here with the scratch repaired and minor edits. Film helps make this image appealing because its response curve has a “shoulder” that prevents the windows from blowing out entirely, and “halation” (light diffusing through the film’s base) add a glow around the windows. On the other hand the scratch illustrates one of the key hazards with film. Overall I spent 20 minutes or so spotting the scanned negative in Photoshop.
On this day one year ago: Lexington Avenue at night. Not one of my more popular images – probably because the reflections (which was the appeal of the situation for me) are confusing.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I had lunch with a friend, Bill Hoar, at Blue Smoke, Danny Meyer’s BBQ joint. We had very good burgers but the service was poor, uncharacteristic for a Danny Meyer restaurant. After lunch I stepped out onto Lexington Avenue and was amazed: the light was spectacular. Golden, slightly filtered sunlight from the southwest, just illuminating the west side of the avenue, with a very dark sky to the north as a backdrop. The key feature in this urban landscape was the Chrysler Building, a long-time favorite subject of mine. I hadn’t planned on walking, but I ended up walking from 27th Street to Grand Central, dodging traffic and snapping all the way. I’ve been dreading this post for several days now – I can’t possibly edit the images down to one for today without a bit more perspective so I’ve included four images of the Chrysler Building.
No fewer than three passers by commented to me about the light (this is New York – people don’t talk to strangers on the street); one commented that I was lucky to have a camera to be able to shoot this. I’ve thought a lot about this. It wasn’t luck that I had a camera with me – I actually carry a camera everywhere. But I’m lucky to live where I do at this time; I’m lucky to be able to make the time to pursue photography and this daily photo blog; and I’m lucky to be able to shoot with brilliant and exotic equipment.
Anyway, here are the images, all shot with my Leica M9 and a 90mm Elmarit lens.
On this day last year: Empire State Building. An odd coincidence; stalking the Chrysler Building this year and the Empire State Building on this day last year.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – The Waldorf Astoria. Here’s a Wikipedia article on this deco landmark. The photograph is taken with my Leica M9 and my new 36mm Summilux II lens, with a neutral density filter to permit shooting at f 1.4 in daylight. More work on out of focus images. The overexposed area in the lower right is intentional – dramatic overexposure can result in a banding artifact with some digital cameras – I removed some banding in this image in Photoshop.
On this day one year ago: Brooklyn Bridge
