Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

Polaroid's Z2300 is an Instant Camera for the 21st Century   The POLAROID was part of life  not to long ago,   The traditional instant film camera is only a memory bu t Polaroid's new Instant Digital cameras introduce a new way of doing things. The Z2300   is the latest, and allows you to take a picture, edit it and then print a 2x3" version of it in less than a minute.  The Z2300 uses a technology called ZINK, which eliminates the need for ink and instead utilizes paper made of a composite material that responds to heat.  The camera creates the heat in a very specific way and your picture comes out from there. The Z2300 will launch soon, with preorders available now at a price of $159 . I was thinking about such a camera just the other day as it could be a great tool in street photography. Since I believe in asking permission and in engaging my subject instead of sniping with a telephoto, such a camera would allow the photographer to give a print o...

Nothing conjures the image of summer more than boats. And nothing is as beautiful on the water as a sailboat. These shots were taken in Greenport,  New York  with the Canon 5-D II.

This is what I just had for dinner here in Sicily. Pasta con pomodorini di Pachino . These are the famous cherry tomatoes grown exclusively in Pachino, on the southernmost point of Sicily. Of course calling these cherry tomatoes is like calling a bottle of 1961 Graves a bottle of wine or the 1927 Yankees a baseball team. These are absolutely exquisite. I bought them at the market that gets them as fresh as possible. The recipe is simple: saute some garlic, some anchovies, a little peperoncino, sea salt from nearby Trapani and cook. Then add the  al dente pasta to the tomatoes  and stir adding a few leaves of basil and a small clove of garlic cut up very small. Some prefer a good grated pecorino  on top. Here we have the best pecorino, the incanestrato  that has more flavor than the  very prosaic romano. Not surprising as everything is tastier and more intense in Sicily. As you can see, it was a large dish, perhaps for two people, but I had no problem putting it ...

Canon Adds many new improvements to the 7D in August  firmware update It's always good news when a new firmware is introduced especially on a camera as venerated and "old " as the Canon 7D. It  adds features not there to begin with. It's interesting that these improvements can be made at all. If you wanted edit and rate photos in the camera, you now can.  You can process RAW files, correct for artifacts and then save the new files as JPEGs, which you can re size on the spot. Incredible. There are also  extra control options for both photos and movies.  The update provides control over Auto ISO,allowing you to set a minimum and maximum exposure.  You can also set more options for audio when you're recording video, adding up to 16-bit 48kHz stereo sound. There are many more features that include 25 shot bursts or RAW images, GPS compatibility, and several customization options.  The firmware is set to launch in August. Wonderful.

Both of these photos, one in Venice and another in Lido D'Ostia were shot in late afternoon when the light becomes dramatic. At other times of day, these photos would be rather prosaic.

The image quality of this very portable camera continues to amaze me as I look at my many images shot with it. These are from last April in Baltimore, Maryland, on a sunny Saturday morning.

Aquatica Launches an Underwater Housing for the Canon 5D Mk III The Canon 5D Mk III is a very good camera, and it's  well suited as an underwater camera.  If you must get some shots of aquatic life, the new Aquatica A5D Mk III allows you to do that. At a price, of course. The casing costs $3,199 and is designed to be number one in it's class.  The housing was made to be compact and lightweight, but Aquatica it's  strength  not a weakness.  You'll get can dive to a 300ft depth with the Mk III, with the potential to upgrade to 425ft.

News From NOKIA  Nokia's 808 Pureview, the smartphone built around a 1/1.2" 41MP sensor can now be pre-ordered from Amazon in both the UK and US. This is despite Nokia originally saying it would not be launched in the US. In both instances the phone will be available unlocked and without a contract. As a result, the cost isn't subsidized by a carrier, meaning the handset will set you back £499 or $699 in the US (where it can be used on the AT&T or T-Mobile networks). Amazon says the phone will ship from the June 30th in the UK and July 8th in the US.  Very interesting indeed!

Same set up as yesterday's images.

These shots date from April, 2007 and were shot with the Sigma 12-24,  F 3.5-5.6 zoom lens. A tough lens to work with at it's widest but a fun lens nevertheless.This is the Duomo.

From Fellini's great movie. In the Romanesque language it means I remember. This is how i remember my dear New York. A Saturday in Washington Square park in June of 1969 with the Canon FT and Tri-X. It really seems as if it were only yesterday.