Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

I love this photo of these two ladies resting and watching the goings on in the town's villa or park. 

I have shot with many formats and the view camera, large format, was always a delight. I still have a Burke and James 4X5 view camera with 22 inch bellows and an Ektar 105 mm F 5.6 lens. I loved to fool around with the tilt and shift and other features of the camera. A plate held only two negatives and you saw the image up side down. It was slow and each shot had to count. I'm not going to comment on the complicated developing aspects. Those were happy days indeed.

In Italy you do not say espresso, you simply say caffè; it's understood that you want an espresso. Also a macchiato is not a big deal. It's an espresso with a little steamed milk. It actually costs se same as a plain espresso. The idea of a double espresso is typically American. The bigger the better. The land of the super sized. As you can see, the espresso is usually corto or lungo meaning short or long. I prefer it as corto as possible. The design on the macchiato was a sign of affection on the part of the barista. After all the cucécé caffè is owned by distant relatives but very close friends. I really miss my Castellammare del Golfo.

I photographed Vincent Gardenia back in 1992 in his home in Bensonhurst Brooklyn.. It was for an Italian magazine. I was shooting while the writer interviewed him. The man was very attached to his neighborhood in Brooklyn. He said that he could live anywhere but he loved his home where people looked out for him. A  wonderful person and a very fine actor.

Time to enjoy nature's bounty as represented in the varied farmers' markets so the fresh local produce can be acquired. There's nothing like the fresh stuff.