Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

PinPoint Camera-Mounted Focusing System Assists in Low-Light Situations Shooting in low light situations is something that's going to happen, much to the chagrin of many photographers. Whether you're using autofocus or handling the responsibility yourself, you're in for a tough time and a chance for photos to come out blurry or worse. PinPoint is a new device designed to assist your camera in these low-light situations. Pressing the activator button on the unit will cause a narrow green beam of light to shine, allowing your camera's auto-focus to find just the right spot. If you're focusing manually, simply focus on the light. "With PinPoint, photographers can be confident that they are capturing crisp, clear photos of those once-in-a-lifetime moments," says DeluxGear CEO Tom Nickell. "In fact, we purposely called it PinPoint because of its spot-on accuracy in making sure that the subject photographers want in focus, is in focus."

The Kodak Name is Pulled from the Oscars For 12 years now, the Kodak theater in Hollywood has been home to some major events, including the Oscars on a yearly basis. This year will be a bit different, not because the Oscars are moving, but the theater will don an unfamiliar name. "It will be live from the Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood, California," says Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences president Tom Sherak. "That's what the landlord has asked us to do and we're going to do it." The details of just who made the decision are a bit confusing, since they involve a landlord, a building owner, a bankrupt company and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The important thing is the end result - the removal of the Kodak name.

The Sicilian Cuisine Blog: The period of Carnival: costumes and sweets galore... : Do you know what the Italian Carnival is? The Carnival in Italy is the period of festivity dedicated to the children and it always comes be...

Finally some snow in NE Pennsylvania. It happened overnight and because of the not very cold temperature and moist air, it took on this lovely form that doesn't last very long.

Japanese national broadcaster NHK has said it is developing a sensor capable of shooting 8k video at 120fps. It will be able to support the company's Super Hi-Vision standard of 7680x4320 pixels (generically known as UHDTV) which, at 33MP, is 16x higher resolution than current 1080 HD technology. The high-speed chip is being developed with Shizuoka University and was reported at the IEEE Internation Solid-State Circuit Conference currently taking place in San Francisco. (via The Verge ) UHDTV is expected to arrive in homes some time around 2020 ( the first screens have been demoed ) and a 60fps version will be used to show high-quality footage from the 2012 Olympics on a series of large screens around the UK . NHK has a history of developing high-resolution broadcast technologies - having started producing HD content as far back as 1982. Previous 60fps 8K cameras developed by NHK have been based around multiple 4k chips from Aptina . Click here for a simplified v...

There's always Venice when you run out of ideas on what to post. Here are two out of the way  canals.

  Thank you for visiting

Really two more from the where did the time go file. I remember this Saturday afternoon at Washington Square Park in the fountain. These young people where having a good time. The lens was the Canon 50mm F 1.4 FL. The film was Tri-X developed in D-76 in a 1:1 dilution. I still remember the development time of 12 minutes at 68 degrees F or 20 degrees C.

Another photo that I love of the city that I love. I have posted this before but it's too nice a photo to keep hidden. The camera was the . Shot in June of 2007 with the Canon 30-D and the Canon 16-35 F 2.8 L lens.

No light, no photo. No interesting light, no interesting photo. Interesting light, even a so so photo can be interesting. What's interesting about these shots it that I used a Voigtlander Leica M mount 15mm F 4.5 using an adapter on the Olympus E PL-2. It's a phenomenally versatile camera. BTW, these are out of the camera JPEGs  with  no manipulation at all; only re sizing.

To celebrate the fact that the equinox is almost a month away is something to celebrate. This was shot with the Nikon D-300 with the 60mm F 2.8 micro Nikkor.

Below Photo of Oskar Barnack                                                         Leica's Oskar Barnack Award Deadline Approaches For the 33rd year in a row, Leica has launched the Oskar Barnack Award competition, giving photographers the chance to show what they can do and win some impressive cash and gear. Whether you're a professional or amateur photographer, you can submit your work for consideration. Those under the age of 25 that aren't professional photographers can enter in the newcomer category if they prefer. The winner of either category will take home a Leica M9-P and lens, but whoever takes the main award - not the newcomer award - will get 5,000 euros to boot. That's around $6,300. You have...

That old Nikon SP was a real jewel of a camera. Shot on the boardwalk in Coney Island with the Nikkor 50.mm F 1.4. Naturally the film was Tri-X developed in D-76 full strength.

The Sicilian Cuisine Blog: The stuffed rustic bread in Sicily is called "pane... : Do you know what "pane cunzato" is? And how can we make it? Pane cunzato in Sicilian dialect means literally stuffed bread. When we talk...

Located in the center of Sicily, this mountain top town is famous for it's ceramics and for it's amazing steps all adorned in different ceramic tiles. These appear to on forever and are difficult to photograph in a way to get their measure. This is an alley shot as I was going up the steps. The lens was the Canon 24-105 F 4 L.

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Shot with the Canon 10-D many springs ago .

I have grown increasingly enamored of mirror less cameras. Since the beginning of the SLR, the mirror has always been seen as an area that is problematic especially in long hand held exposures due to the inevitable vibration it causes. Canon's Pellix of the mid sixties was one early attempt at replacing the mirror with a reflecting glass that was stationary. It failed as it made lenses slower. Sony has tried a novel approach also. Yet the mirror less cameras with their interchangeable lenses capabilities offer a smaller smarter package that potentially offer faster shooting speeds, lighter weight and better low light capability.  As EVF's get better the reflex mechanism loses it's advantage.Pros still like to log their heavy DSLR's but I believe that many do so for psychological reasons if you get my drift. NOW THIS Mirrorless Camera Sales Increase Worldwide, Make Up Nearly Half of Sales in Japa n The Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) has just revealed ...

Shot at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Japanese Garden awaiting srping on a bright end of winter day. The lens was the Canon 16-35 F 2.8 L.

Inside a bookstore in Milford, PA with the 17-55 F 2.8 Nikkor. Just having some fun.