Saturday, May 14, 2016

Something for your Saturday

Some scenes call for black and white. This is especially true of woods with birch trees. This image was shot 0n  Tri-X Pan 120 film with a Rolleiflex.


Friday, May 13, 2016

Try this one for size

The SAMSUNG EVO Plus 256 GB Micro SD card is here.

Below is the Samsung press release:
evo 256_706

Samsung Electronics, an expert provider of advanced memory solutions, today unveiled its newest memory card globally – the EVO Plus 256GB microSD card. The EVO Plus 256GB offers the highest capacity for a microSD card in its class, delivering fast speeds and an expanded memory storage for use in premium smartphones and tablets, 360-degree video recorders, action cameras, and drones. Consumers can now record up to 12 hours of 4K UHD video or 33 hours of Full HD video on their mobile device or action camera without needing to change or replace the memory card, allowing them to experience more and worry less about running out of memory.

The EVO Plus 256GB raises the bar for capacity and performance of microSD cards thanks to Samsung’s advanced V-NAND technology, offering high read and write speeds of up to 95MB/s and 90MB/s, respectively. This level of performance will provide general consumers and professionals with superb user convenience for storing heavy-loaded, high-resolution photography and 4K video recording, as well as graphic intensive multimedia like virtual reality (VR) and gaming.

“With the upward trend of consumers using high-performance, high-capacity mobile devices, our new, V-NAND-based 256GB microSD card solution allows us to deliver the memory card consumers have been craving,” said Un-Soo Kim, Senior Vice President of Brand Product Marketing, Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our EVO Plus 256GB microSD card, will provide consumers with large capacity, and high read and write speeds. We are excited to offer our customers convenient and seamless multimedia experiences when they access, store and share all of the content they create and capture.”

The EVO Plus 256GB microSD card provides advanced protection, capacity, and performance with long-term reliability needed to get the most out of today’s electronics, making it an ideal companion for high-end smartphones and tablets with a microSD slot, even in the most extreme conditions.

Samsung will offer the EVO Plus 256GB microSD card with a limited 10-year warranty in more than 50 countries, including the USA, Europe, China, and other regions starting in June 2016 for $249.99 (Manufacturer’s suggested retail price.

It is interesting to note that I paid this much to buy a 256 MB card once and that my first PC with a hard drive had a mere 40 MG that I thought was  immense storage capacity. But that was then.

Have a pleasant weekend


A room with a view

This is the view we had from our room at the Palazzo Ravizza Hotel in Siena. These were shot in late afternoon. After a brief shower, the sun came out. These photos were shot from an iPhone and it can be painfully clear that the digital zoom features kills resolution. Nevertheless, the image was pleasant.




Thursday, May 12, 2016

I just love this building

There's no building in this amazing city that is more New York that the Flat Iron Building. I cannot stop photographing it. These are some scans from slides I shot in 1975.




Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Late spring foliage

These two images were made at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and they depict the way foliage is at this time of the year- I used the soft focus filter to enhance this feeling of rebirth.



.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Coming in November 2016

Like many of you, I have become fascinated with what smart phones can do photographically. Many gadgets especially the selfie stick come to mind when thinking of accessories. What Pictar is trying to do is a game changer. I will state that so far, the smart phones lag behind in image quality even to a decent point and shoot but they are so handy that they are beginning to replace cameras in many areas. I find the iPhone perfect when traveling and the HD feature although detail sacrificing is  great when contrast is very high. BTW, this item is available for the  Apple 6S and  the large 6S phones.

I cannot wait for this item to become available.


Bicycle town

Bicycles are very popular in Cremona as they are in Ravenna. The fact that these cities are flat helps make bikes so popular and useful. These images are from Cremona, the birthplace of string instruments. The Museo del Violino is a phenomenal place to visit. It has a collection of Stradivari, Amati, Guarnieri and other famous makers. Cremona is full of violin makers who basically work independently. It must be mentioned that this place is famous for it's risotti. The food is incredibly good and the people super friendly. What did you expect; it's Italy after all.





Monday, May 9, 2016

A milestone of sorts

The blog just passed 200,000 page views. When I started this blog I would never have imagined this. I am delighted and very thankful. This remains a place where one can stop, relax and not be confronted with controversial issues that populate the web. Please keep on visiting, I promise not to disappoint you.

Assisi, narrow streets

Most streets in this amazing place are narrow and ancient. There are a few piazze but the rest are small and in many cases with steps. It is, after all, a hilltop town. These photos were shot with the Nikon P 7000 a so called point and shoot camera. I have no need for the bulky cameras of yore. They are really show off pieces these days. Too heavy and too intrusive, they are not worth the bother anymore.




Sunday, May 8, 2016

Buon appetito

Here's something for your Sunday brunch. Caprese done surprisingly without basil in Genoa, the basil/pesto capital of the world and stuffed cuttlefish. The location was the Naval League restaurant in the port of Genoa. Very nice.



Fall splendor