This very special cat, rescued from certain death three years ago, turned out to have feline HIV. We have been caring for her with much love and she is very active and healthy but most of all loving. I had posted a report on her some time ago, so I want to state that her progress is great and that we love her very much and get a great amount of love in return. Hang in there Gioia, we are all pulling for you.
Greetings, this blog is dedicated to my life in photography. I want to make this a place to stop and relax. In the hope that this will help in these trying times
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
East 28th street in he seventies
I had a photo studio at the corner of 26th Street and Lexington Ave across the hall from the Secret Life Studio, a massage parlor, a type of institution that flourished then. We actually shared the bathroom and I have fond memories. There I actually met Gay Talese, the writer, who was doing research on one of his books. A very interesting fellow.
I used to get off the IRT subway at Park and 28th and would walk to my place. The block of 28th between Park and Lexington was very colorful and I took many slides at many times. Here are a few that I recently uncovered. They date from 1973 and were digitally copied instead of scanned. The color held very well.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
La festa di San Gennaro di New York
The old baloon man |
The watcher of the money pinned on the statue |
The watermelon seller |
Waiting for the next player |
Players trying to beat the house |
When I come across such "old" images that for me were taken just yesterday, besides thinking of my rather advanced age, i wonder what has happened to the subjects. The magic of photography is that it freezes a moment in time and makes the subjects immortal, so to speak. The camera was the Leica M-4 with the Summicron 35mm F2 and I used my Weston Master V selenium light meter for the exposures. All manual and yet the results are wonderful. Photography has really become too easy these days and it's not as fun.
Please note that historically, San Gennaro probably never existed or if he did, the "saint" part is an exaggeration. At the last vatican Council, there was an attempt to sort of demote him but the Neapolitans, whose patron saint he is, made such a fuss that he was rehabilitated. The fact that it was implied that the pope could never put foot in Naples if he didn't desist may account for the change of heart on the part of the Holy father.
Each year the blood of San Gennaro, a holy relic, "miracuously" liquefies. Naturally, it is acclaimed as a miracle.To give this more mystery it doesn't occur every year. When it doesn't liquefy, it's a sign of bad fortune. How little has changed since the times when the Romans believed in the omens of the gods.
Another necessary religious element is the money on the statue. This usage is as canonically important as BINGO.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Looks like a beauty
Fujifilm, just love the corporate name, has added a new lens to their
very popular line of retro looking, small cameras, their X series. It's the XF 10-24mm F4. This constant aperture zoom is the equivalent of a 15 to 36 mm and is perfect for dramatic wide angle shots. Go to their website for more details.
Back to Erice
I keep finding nice images of Erice, that delightful medieval town above Trapani on the north western corner of Sicily. These three are of the Castello di Venere situated at the side of the mountain on which Erice lies. It is always hard to imagine how such a structure could have been erected years ago. These photos date from 2008. This past summer, the structure was surrounded scaffolding as it's being repaired after years of benign neglect. The camera was the Canon G-9, a very competent so called point and shoot.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
I love this city
Dig we must was the ancient motto of Con Edison. And so I must dig and as I do, I come across interesting photos that thanks to my system of backing up are still around after countless changes in computer systems with their concomitant crashes and other delights. Remember the three B's: backup, backup, backup...Well you get the picture. When we take a photo these days we are left with only a string of ones and zeros that have no physical reality. So take care not to lose these strings otherwise there are no pictures.
This shot dates from 2005 and was shot with the Canon 10 D and the 16-5 Canon F4 L lens.
This shot dates from 2005 and was shot with the Canon 10 D and the 16-5 Canon F4 L lens.
Good news for Micro Four Thirds fans
Based in Hong Kong, lens maker SLR Magic has just announced an addition to its
family of video-centric manual focus lenses. A fast primes for Micro Four Thirds.
The 17mm T1.6 offers an angle of view equivalent to 34mm on full frame,
and has geared focus and aperture rings. It will be available at the
end of December 2013. This does not preclude use as a still camera lens and with the fast aperture t will go far in making those neat out of focus background possible.
The Micro Four Thirds keeps on getting better and more important all the time. It's my favorite system for light and unobtrusive cameras. That do not get in the way of the picture; they do not call attention to themselves of to the photographer.
The Micro Four Thirds keeps on getting better and more important all the time. It's my favorite system for light and unobtrusive cameras. That do not get in the way of the picture; they do not call attention to themselves of to the photographer.
Great shots from Marcy
My dear and lovely wife of countless
years, Marcy, up for fast track canonization while still alive, is not
only a rare person but a very talented one. She sort of keeps her photos
secret and on her cards but whenever I find some I am amazed. Of course
I am not surprised as I ahve always known that she takes wonderful
photos and have always tried to encourage to keep on shooting. I have
posted many of her images.
These were shot in Burano, an island near Venice and on our last trip there in April of 2011. It's been too long and hopefully, this will be remedied this coming spring.
I just love these images that are not the so called "serious" ones that have more pretense than content. These are just plain nice images that are not as simple as they appear with a cursory look. Just great and I am very proud. Look at the composition, slowly.
These were shot in Burano, an island near Venice and on our last trip there in April of 2011. It's been too long and hopefully, this will be remedied this coming spring.
I just love these images that are not the so called "serious" ones that have more pretense than content. These are just plain nice images that are not as simple as they appear with a cursory look. Just great and I am very proud. Look at the composition, slowly.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Available soon
Tamron has just announced the availability of the SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD tele -
zoom that will go on sale on December 19th in Japan, and January 17th 2014 in
the USA. The lens sports optical image stabilization and an
Ultrasonic Silent Drive auto focus motor, and can be used with both
full frame and APS-C SLRs. Initially it will be available in Canon mount,
with Nikon and Sony versions to follow. The irice is still up in the air. It looks like a nice lens and the range is really useful.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Noto then and now
Noto in 1972, Kodachrome II scan |
This superb town in Eastern Sicily has had it's ups and downs. Totally destroyed in a massive earthquake in 1600, it was rebuilt in the then fashionable Baroque style. As time passed, the area lost it's splendor and up to the mid seventies it was almost uninhibited. We passed through there in the summer of 1972 on our way to Siracusa and took very few photos. The place was spooky. We returned in the summer of 2011 to find one of the most vibrant places anywhere. Totally renovated to it's glorious style, it is now one of Sicily's premiere tourist attractions. A must visit. The restaurants are considered among Italy's best.
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These shots were As I go through my old cd's to re burn them, I keep fingid many great shots with the S1. It always amazes me what that ...
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There was something right about the skin tones of the D 1-X. Only the Fuji S2-Pro did better. The Nikkor 35-135 F 3.5-4.5 was used.
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Yes indeed, old photos from Sicily. I will be posting new ones very soon. The above photos were shot with Tri-X and with the Canon Ft and...