Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

Outside the boat house at Central Park on a sunny winter day. The film was Ektachrome 100 that I developed in Unicolor equivalent chemistry. The lens was the phenomenal Nikkor 105mm F2.5.

Shot in Scopello in the summer of 1972.

Two quaint street scenes from San Gemignano in Tuscany.

The Planting Fields Arboretum is splendid and on a winter's day it is phenomenal. I have spring fever all year long so this place is ideal. The Nikkor 60mm F 2.8 micro was used.

Another trip to the Rose Garden of the Brooklyn Botanic today. The roses were at peak beauty. Please forgive the plethora of flower photos but I just love them.

The term Macedonia in Italian cuisine does not refer to that Greek region with the same name but to a fruit salad. Here we made it with fresh berries in season and we naturally added water melon, fresh orange pieces and mint. Whipped cream can also be added to the salad once it is served. Delicious and refreshing on a hot day.

I cannt state it to many times that the im age quality of the D1-X was outstanding. These shots were taken with the Nikkor 17-55 F2.8G.

The megapixel race seems to go on unabated and now Hasselblad has announced a camera capable of producing 200MP images based on shifting its 50MP sensor. The H4D-200MS uses an extension of the company's sensor-shift, multi-shot (MS) technology to create a 200 megapixel file from six images taken at slight offsets. It can also use the four-shot mode used by the H4D-50MS that shifts the sensor by one pixel in each direction to capture all colors at each position. The latest approach adds 1/2pixel offsets to increase the captured resolution to 200MP. The H4D-200MS is available for €32,000 or as a €7,000 factory-return upgrade for H4D-50MS owners. Sorry but that's a bit too pricey for my taste or budget. I can almost still buy a summer home for this amount. I can take many trips and vacations also. But to each his own. I still think that the sooner this insane race ends the better. Each photo file if shot RAW will require it's own external hard drive. Ridiculous. Did I mentio...

Another from the archives. A person of equivocal sexuality posed in front of my Leica with the 50mm Summicron F 2. The film was Tri-X developed in D-76 full strength.

This was my lunch today. It's the Sicilian "pasta cu l'aghia." Pasta with garlic. Of course there are other ingredients such as sea salt, garlic, tomatoes - peeled and seeded- and basil. All in abundant extra virgin olive oil. This is usually done in a mortar and pestle where coarse sea salt is placed at the base and the garlic is then mashed into a creamy substrate by the action of the salt. The tomatoes and basil follow and all are blended and allowed to stand until the pasta is al dente and after it is drained the mixture is added to it and it's all "riminata" or stirred. I could not find the pestle but managed. The tomatoes are a little too big. The flavpor is of course the thing. It's naturally, delicious and very good for you. A pecorino can be sprinkled atop if desired. Buon appetito.

Pennsylvania Dutch has always fscinated me. These are from one of my first and secont trips there. Needless to say I have been back many times more. These shots are with the Summicron 50mm and 35 mm add the tight one is with the Elmarit 90mm f 2.8. All extremely sharp Leitz lenses. The fuilm was all Kodadhrome II for the 1972 shots and Kodachrome 25 for the 1975 shots.