Modified canazzo siciliano

Olympus EPL-2

This delightful vegetarian or dare I say vegan is a modified version published a few weeks ago. I replaced zucchini for eggplants because  at my favorite vegetable store the zucchini looked great while the eggplants had seen better days. The ingredients must be of the highest caliber in order to create tasty meals. Remember that eating well is the best revenge on life's many problems.

Sicilian block party

Sometimes the best events are almost unplanned and spontaneous.  Last August one of my neighbors said, " tomorrow I will bake bread in the country, I can make a couple of trays of sfincione, the  typical Sicilian pizza," while another said, "I can bake some cakes." to wich I added, "I will get all the paper goods and bottled water." Well others got the beer and soda. wine,  pro secco and fruit. etc. etc. The following day tables were put outside and all neighbors were invited. A British family, tourists, had never experienced such a warm and spontaneous feast. They  also had never tasted such delicious pizza. We had a great time and Marcy took some photos and I can be seen, in my dark blue T shirt toasting and having a ball. We will have to  do this again this summer.

Have a wonderful weekend

Olympus E-300

Vintage archival shot

This photograph was shot in Coney Island. It's the old Tornado roller coaster. Now Keyspan Park, a minor league base ball field has replaced it. The camera was the Leica M-4 with the 90mm Tele Elmar F2.8 lens. As usual. the film was Tri-X.

Back to Murano, on a rainy day

Believe it or not it does rain in sunny Italy especially in April. These are exterior shots of the lovely island of Murano very close to Venice.

One from Marcy

As I have posted and stated before, my wife Marcy can take great photos. This is one that she is proud of and I agree totally. Again, she used her Canon G-9.

Francesca

This truly beautiful young woman is my son's partner. She is not only gorgeous and wonderful. and kind but she is also an accomplished musician. BTW she takes a hell of a picture.

Murano

This small island near Venice is the undisputed center of excellence for glass making.  It has lost many ateliers because of cheap competition and the ever increasing lack of taste on the part of the public. Yet if you want the real stuff you must get it there. These shots are from a museum about glass and glass making.

Your 4K video camera is here

It amazing but the real progress in videography is coming from so called still cameras. Sony has just introduced the Full Frame Alpha 7S.

Sony have unveiled the Alpha 7S, a 12MP full-frame mirrorless camera designed for both stills and video. The camera reads out its entire sensor so fast that it can output 8-bit 4:2:2 4k video over HDMI at up to 30p, and there's  no line skipping nor pixel binning. This also produces much higher quality for the now normal 1080p video (at up to 60p) it can record internally. Unlike the a7 and a7R, the latest model is not constrained by the AVCHD standard, also offering the XAVC S system, with bitrates of up to 50Mbps. It can also record low quality 720p video simultaneously with the 1080p video to quickly monitor the shoot. Where are the monitors that can use this super HD video? They should be out soon in mass. The "mere" 12 megapixel capture means larger photo sites and very low noise at very high ISO settings.

There's always Venice

Yes indeed, there's always Venice when I run out of ideas as to what to post. I always keep finding nice images that I'm not ashamed to post. These were shot with the Olympus EPL-2.

Have a beautiful new week

Compassionate care

This was a photo for a brochure published by Catholic Charities for their nursing home. The theme was the compassionate care that the institution offered their patients. I just love the interaction between the resident and the therapist.

Living statues

It seems that living statues are all the rage these days. These were shot in Venice in front of a museum's entrance. The only thing I can say is what a way to make a living.