President with Parrots
10/31/2005
Standing by Markus
Standing by Markus - we both noticed the woman behind us. He did much better with it than I did: check his blog.
10/30/2005
The Cowboy Way
The Cowboy Way
I'm cobbling together a gallery of street events (Political Protest, Mermaid Day, all sorts of parades, Halloween from last year) and came across this shot which I had forgotten about.
Rainy Day Cab 7
Rainy Day Cab, #1
In the cab going down to the ICP. This is the only shot that I like from that day. I've found - over and over - that I don't get decent shots when I'm with other photographers. Shooting takes your full concentration or at least a channel to some inner musings and you can't be chatting (as much as I like to) or worrying about the little social stuff that is always being worked out.
Cab drivers these days are almost all on cell-phones, or chatting with dispatchers. I don't think they know much about what is going on in the back. So - they're no different than the rest of us. I had the iPod stuck in my ears and was blasting Dylan so that I didn't have to listen to the driver talking to someone.
Film to Digital and Back Again
I added a new article entitled, well you can see it above. I was going to entitle it My Year of Living Dangerously, but I settled for Film to Digital Capture and back.
The article is a draft and I'll probably at least spell check it, but I'm interested in what you think in terms of accuracy. Is it my experience only - or is there really some movement back to film for certain types of shooting.
I don't want to disparage digital capture - or get into the "which is better" vein which runs pretty deep. But for black and white prints - using digital capture - as we say in the south, How y'all doin'?
The article is a draft and I'll probably at least spell check it, but I'm interested in what you think in terms of accuracy. Is it my experience only - or is there really some movement back to film for certain types of shooting.
I don't want to disparage digital capture - or get into the "which is better" vein which runs pretty deep. But for black and white prints - using digital capture - as we say in the south, How y'all doin'?
10/29/2005
Halloween Parade
It does seem odd, almost scary - how the various pagan rites co-exist with the modern one-God does it all world. At any rate, philosophy aside - I plan to be at what is probably the most poorly photographed event in New York on Monday.
Went last year - for the first time - and did okay - but what a crush on 6th avenue. Someone passed out in a Blimpies. Two women with baby carriages got into a bumper car rumble. That night, I came home with nightmares. I never liked this so-called holiday. Don't really want to see everyone's dark fantasy on parade. But I go anyway. I stop to gawk at car crashes also. Can you remember when this was a kid's holiday. Not in New York it ain't.
So you've got yer Mermaids Day Parade - fertility and life-affirming (beautiful women) and your Halloween Parade where the dead spirits get their chance to prance about. Boo! The real world is still scarier.
That was one of the main reasons for trying to nail down the ASA 1600 film / developer combo.
I'm going to spend this weekend getting the rest of the orders packaged and ready to ship; and try and clear the decks. Look out below - there's a whole lot of weird gents approaching.
Went last year - for the first time - and did okay - but what a crush on 6th avenue. Someone passed out in a Blimpies. Two women with baby carriages got into a bumper car rumble. That night, I came home with nightmares. I never liked this so-called holiday. Don't really want to see everyone's dark fantasy on parade. But I go anyway. I stop to gawk at car crashes also. Can you remember when this was a kid's holiday. Not in New York it ain't.
So you've got yer Mermaids Day Parade - fertility and life-affirming (beautiful women) and your Halloween Parade where the dead spirits get their chance to prance about. Boo! The real world is still scarier.
That was one of the main reasons for trying to nail down the ASA 1600 film / developer combo.
I'm going to spend this weekend getting the rest of the orders packaged and ready to ship; and try and clear the decks. Look out below - there's a whole lot of weird gents approaching.
10/28/2005
Matt Weber - Shot of Dave
Matt Weber photographs me as I photograph the woman across the way. One of the few recent pictures of myself that I like. One thing I'll tell you - watching Matt shoot - he is damn quick. Thanks Matt.
* * *
I was accepted into a number of affiliate ad programs. The question I pose to you is: what kind of things are photogaphers interested in. Does it all have to be photography related? How boring. Would you like to see ads for iPods? Or gift flowers? Teddy Bears from Vermont? I think that Tylenol would be a big hit.
Blown Apart
I was waiting for my buttered bagel and coffee in the local deli and chatting with the owner who is from Mexico. The conversation had started innocently enough with my complaint that baseball was over and there was nothing left to watch. It took a turn when Rojo told me that I could start watching more political stuff instead. That what was going on in D.C. was like the World Series and he had his radio on all day listening for indictments. And that led to the war in Iraq and he became angry. "What the hell are we doing over there anyway? It doesn't make sense."
He talked about kids he knew who came from Mexico and joined the army to make a better life for themselves. And he insisted, "it was not only for themselves - but they wanted to give something back to their new country. Some of the came with forged green cards just to get in. " Then a long pause, and he continues, "and some of them ended up giving an arm or a leg." He looked angry when he said it.
It was at that point - thinking of this kid from Mexico who had traveled from their home to serve America and who was mutilated - that I had to leave the store because I felt like crying. Very unusual feeling for me. I'm not even sure I cried at my own mothers funeral. And here I am in the deli with tears welling up.
Something in the look he had in his eyes that gave me an overpowering feeling of grief. I took my coffee and bagel and wished him and his wife a good day. I could tell that they saw how sad I was becoming and I had to get out of there.
He talked about kids he knew who came from Mexico and joined the army to make a better life for themselves. And he insisted, "it was not only for themselves - but they wanted to give something back to their new country. Some of the came with forged green cards just to get in. " Then a long pause, and he continues, "and some of them ended up giving an arm or a leg." He looked angry when he said it.
It was at that point - thinking of this kid from Mexico who had traveled from their home to serve America and who was mutilated - that I had to leave the store because I felt like crying. Very unusual feeling for me. I'm not even sure I cried at my own mothers funeral. And here I am in the deli with tears welling up.
Something in the look he had in his eyes that gave me an overpowering feeling of grief. I took my coffee and bagel and wished him and his wife a good day. I could tell that they saw how sad I was becoming and I had to get out of there.
10/27/2005
WTC VIEWING
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
I spent an hour or so photographing visitors to where the WTC once stood on October, 22, 2002. I'm going to post a few of them in this section.
Moon Over 2nd Avenue
Moon Over 2nd Avenue
Tri-X @ 1600
* * *
Finally got through printing the first 30 separate 5 x 7 images for orders. Should go out tomorrow. I still have some other ideas for the forum - but will let it stand on its own two feet for a while. I think the last name I came up with was Cafe Photography or something like that - but that's pretty lame. Very open to suggestions. Very.
10/26/2005
Untitled, New York 2003
What would be a cute and silly title for this: SEE FORUM FOR MORE
I was going to call it either Asleep at the Switch or Gatekeeper
Forum Additions
I enabled e-mail notification, either for specific posts, or for particular categories to the forum.
You can find the instructions in the FAQ section of the forum.
You can find the instructions in the FAQ section of the forum.
10/25/2005
Kertesz Exhibit
Went with two photographers to the Andre Kertesz exhibit at the International Center for Photography (ICP) and there they were - prints I had seen in my Kertesz book, only many of them were contact printed from what looked like a film that was only slightly larger than 35mm.
And how they were mounted, with at least 8-ply overmats, on what appeared to be 11 x 14 mat. In other words, you approached the postage-sized image, bent at the waist - and looked.
I mean - I like small images, say 5 x 7 inches, even some nice contact from a 4 x 5 inch negative, but this was teeny-tiny.
On top of that - I seem to have some juvenile streak in me that finds all these people gaping at images in this (to me sterile) environment - silly. Large museum and gallery space always does that to me.
How I would like to see people walking by with their pets; maybe cotton candy given out to the kids. I confess that this is my own fatal flaw and it takes a lot in a photograph to grab my attention. I did have that experience once at a Brett Weston exhibit - a sense of awe. But it is rare for me.
Possibly it's some sort of "class" thing since I get the giggles quite often if I go to the opera, or eat in a fancy restaurant. I always wish the Marx Brothers would come traipsing through knocking over plates nouveau cuisine on them. They should have made a movie called, A Night at the Museum, although they came close in an early movie where a famous painting is stolen in a mansion.
This inability to be appreciative at the gallery is part of the same impulse that draws me to photograph in such places.
I do not have the same problem with viewing paintings in such a space; though it does crop up once in a while and I can't help myself:
Afterwards we sat at a coffee shop and chatted, mostly about things photographic - and that was more fun. A woman across the way fascinated me and I probably took about ten shots of her sitting alone at a small table - but very animated expressive face.
There must be something mildly absurb about a photographer who doesn't really enjoy looking at photographs. My own house is pretty bare as far as photographs on the wall go. The part that I like is "the capture." That is what interests me and what is the most fun. And - I've said this ad nauseum in the blog but I believe that is a hunting instinct that has no other outlet. Even the word that is used in digital: capture suggests a hunting experience.
So now here you are where the other side of the hunt has been completed. The big institution has collected these trophies and hung them like lifeless heads on a bare white wall in the modern version of gilded frames which is to say non-obtrusive. I'd like to see some of these images in big ornate, carved wooden frames (see painting above).
And how they were mounted, with at least 8-ply overmats, on what appeared to be 11 x 14 mat. In other words, you approached the postage-sized image, bent at the waist - and looked.
I mean - I like small images, say 5 x 7 inches, even some nice contact from a 4 x 5 inch negative, but this was teeny-tiny.
On top of that - I seem to have some juvenile streak in me that finds all these people gaping at images in this (to me sterile) environment - silly. Large museum and gallery space always does that to me.
How I would like to see people walking by with their pets; maybe cotton candy given out to the kids. I confess that this is my own fatal flaw and it takes a lot in a photograph to grab my attention. I did have that experience once at a Brett Weston exhibit - a sense of awe. But it is rare for me.
Possibly it's some sort of "class" thing since I get the giggles quite often if I go to the opera, or eat in a fancy restaurant. I always wish the Marx Brothers would come traipsing through knocking over plates nouveau cuisine on them. They should have made a movie called, A Night at the Museum, although they came close in an early movie where a famous painting is stolen in a mansion.
This inability to be appreciative at the gallery is part of the same impulse that draws me to photograph in such places.
I do not have the same problem with viewing paintings in such a space; though it does crop up once in a while and I can't help myself:
Afterwards we sat at a coffee shop and chatted, mostly about things photographic - and that was more fun. A woman across the way fascinated me and I probably took about ten shots of her sitting alone at a small table - but very animated expressive face.
There must be something mildly absurb about a photographer who doesn't really enjoy looking at photographs. My own house is pretty bare as far as photographs on the wall go. The part that I like is "the capture." That is what interests me and what is the most fun. And - I've said this ad nauseum in the blog but I believe that is a hunting instinct that has no other outlet. Even the word that is used in digital: capture suggests a hunting experience.
So now here you are where the other side of the hunt has been completed. The big institution has collected these trophies and hung them like lifeless heads on a bare white wall in the modern version of gilded frames which is to say non-obtrusive. I'd like to see some of these images in big ornate, carved wooden frames (see painting above).
Live Well
Ouch. I don't like this. I'm starting to get mail from Senior Villages.
The brochures are filled with happy-looking old people. Is that me in one of the pictures?
Some of the copy scares me:
"Each spacious, private apartment is designed for the safety, ease and enjoyment of our residents. We feature senior-friendly bathrooms..."
"Our affiliation with H*** Hospital can make the transition from independent living to our continuum of care should your needs increase..."
And then I turn to another piece of junk mail - and lo and behold - it's from a cemetery.
Man - I think I'm a goner.
I have not minded getting old - but I certainly don't want to be surrounded by other old folks. I think I need a mix of kids and very ancient people around me. Certainly not my contemporaries.
Anyway - I need to check on when the crazy New York Halloween parade is. That was one of the reasons I was experimenting with pushing Tri-x.
The brochures are filled with happy-looking old people. Is that me in one of the pictures?
Some of the copy scares me:
"Each spacious, private apartment is designed for the safety, ease and enjoyment of our residents. We feature senior-friendly bathrooms..."
"Our affiliation with H*** Hospital can make the transition from independent living to our continuum of care should your needs increase..."
And then I turn to another piece of junk mail - and lo and behold - it's from a cemetery.
Man - I think I'm a goner.
I have not minded getting old - but I certainly don't want to be surrounded by other old folks. I think I need a mix of kids and very ancient people around me. Certainly not my contemporaries.
Anyway - I need to check on when the crazy New York Halloween parade is. That was one of the reasons I was experimenting with pushing Tri-x.
10/24/2005
Forum Credit
I would just like to give credit to Bruce Corkhill in England who wrote the Web Wiz Forum software that I'm using. I was able to load it on the Windows Server (yes Windows) and have the barebones running in about an hour. I already had a SQL database on the server that I use for my lame - but functional - cart.
To run it on one server without ads (the one ad that appears on the home page is mine) - can cost as little as $50 or if you want a whole bunch of other functionality: $190. I went for the whole package, but haven't added any of them yet.
I think it is in good enough shape that I can leave it alone for a while and see what happens. I just got the CDs of the Best of the Allman Brothers Band and have loaded it up on the Nano. I haven't heard Whippin' Post in a long time.
Well - there I go again - digressing. Start with a programmer in England and move to the Allman Brothers.
That should make for fascinating reading. Allman Brothers were really big in my dorm room at college. My roommate - Ricky - would get good and stoned and turn on Whippin' Post real loud, play slide air guitar and grimace like mad. I get an alumni news thing once a year and the last time I looked he was a lawyer practicing in Utah.
To run it on one server without ads (the one ad that appears on the home page is mine) - can cost as little as $50 or if you want a whole bunch of other functionality: $190. I went for the whole package, but haven't added any of them yet.
I think it is in good enough shape that I can leave it alone for a while and see what happens. I just got the CDs of the Best of the Allman Brothers Band and have loaded it up on the Nano. I haven't heard Whippin' Post in a long time.
Well - there I go again - digressing. Start with a programmer in England and move to the Allman Brothers.
That should make for fascinating reading. Allman Brothers were really big in my dorm room at college. My roommate - Ricky - would get good and stoned and turn on Whippin' Post real loud, play slide air guitar and grimace like mad. I get an alumni news thing once a year and the last time I looked he was a lawyer practicing in Utah.
More About the Forum
My biggest issue with photography forums - or what I'm concerned with - is that they tend to deteriorate into flame wars, back and forth crap about who's equipment is better, rumors, trolls, and just generally weird stuff (unless they're moderated).
Problem with moderating is that it is time consuming.
I'm thinking of some sort of approval threshold for being able to post. There would be a section where you'd fill out a post that has a link to your b&w images. I don't think they have to be particularly good - but they have to show some degree of sophistication in order to post.
Personally, I don't care about cursing - I curse all the time - but I don't want members calling each other names either - unless it's done with some wit. In other words, if you want to call yourself an idiot - I'm fine with that. If you want to grumble - fine.
But before you call another member a &^!* - you would need to take a deep breath, imagine that you are sitting in a bar with the other member who is bigger and stronger than you - and that you've both only had one or two beers. Now you need to look the other guy in the face and before your invective - ask yourself: Do you feel lucky? Well do you ya, punk.
At any rate - I'll spend a day working on it today and see how it goes.
I'm completely open to other ideas about how to manage the content of the forum.
THE BETA FORUM
Problem with moderating is that it is time consuming.
I'm thinking of some sort of approval threshold for being able to post. There would be a section where you'd fill out a post that has a link to your b&w images. I don't think they have to be particularly good - but they have to show some degree of sophistication in order to post.
Personally, I don't care about cursing - I curse all the time - but I don't want members calling each other names either - unless it's done with some wit. In other words, if you want to call yourself an idiot - I'm fine with that. If you want to grumble - fine.
But before you call another member a &^!* - you would need to take a deep breath, imagine that you are sitting in a bar with the other member who is bigger and stronger than you - and that you've both only had one or two beers. Now you need to look the other guy in the face and before your invective - ask yourself: Do you feel lucky? Well do you ya, punk.
At any rate - I'll spend a day working on it today and see how it goes.
I'm completely open to other ideas about how to manage the content of the forum.
THE BETA FORUM
10/23/2005
Motorcycle and Tri-x
Results of Tri-x @ 1600 (above) / Microphen / 16 minutes / stock / 68F are fascinating. The film seems great for night city shots and low-light situations. More contrasty (not all like this shot), but grain much less pronounced (much less!) than with TMZ and any formula I've used with it.
During the day, the tri-x @1600 / Microphen combination is just okay - or to put it another way too contrasty.
But - I really wanted the speed for low-light situations - so thank you Markus - DigitalTruth.com and anyone else who wants thanks.
I've got my two film speeds from the same film - though with two different developers.
Oh - the shot above - without the headlights of a passing car - would have been pure black. So I stood in the rain waiting for the right beams of light - and pre-focused - and pre-metered - and took this one shot with the 50mm at f2.0.
10/22/2005
New York Park Gallery
I starting to expand the site again by adding galleries grouped by subject.
First one I came up with is: New York Parks (brilliant eh?) I did include shots from some of the graveyards since those were the parks I played in as a kid. Actually, when I was a kid - any place that had a tree was considered a park.
First one I came up with is: New York Parks (brilliant eh?) I did include shots from some of the graveyards since those were the parks I played in as a kid. Actually, when I was a kid - any place that had a tree was considered a park.
10/21/2005
Ads
Sorry about the flashing banner on the home page and some of the other adverts that I'm experimenting with - but you know - I'm convinced that 90% of the people who stumble into this place really want a big poster. Let's see how it goes.
And here I was - just the other day complaining about all the ads on the tube. I'll try not to clutter the place up much more.
And here I was - just the other day complaining about all the ads on the tube. I'll try not to clutter the place up much more.
Portrait in Corridor
Portrait in Corridor
TMZ @ 1600 in Microphen - not the magic solution for me. In other words - grain size appearance is only every so slightly reduced compared to other developers I've used with TMZ Shots certainly weren't ruined but the developer / film combination is really your palette and what you want on that palette is very subjective. I like it better than the fast delta film - but it's just so-so in this solution.
I'll have time over the weekend to try the Tri-X @ 1600 in Microphen.
TMZ and Hospital
What happened was that on Thursday I was on my way out to spend some time (thought it would be a few hours) with my father at University Hospital (he's fine). But it turned into a monumental wait. Anyway - before I left at 8 a.m. I had a bit of Tri-X in the M3 which I had started at @400 and I knew that wasn't going to do it for shooting in the hospital and I wanted the quietness of the M3 so I pulled the Tri-X out and switched to the TMZ.
All day, and it was all day - I thought I was shooting Tri-X a@ 1600 but was surprised this morning to find it was TMZ @ 1600. I just developed it in Microphen: 10.5 minutes / stock / 68F / 3 inversions per minute. It's washing. Can't wait to see it. It was one of the combinations I wanted to try anyway.
Well, I have a roll in the other camera with Tri-X @ 1600 which I'm halfway through. There's at least one shot on that roll that I think is good, maybe. So I hope I didn't blow it.
All day, and it was all day - I thought I was shooting Tri-X a@ 1600 but was surprised this morning to find it was TMZ @ 1600. I just developed it in Microphen: 10.5 minutes / stock / 68F / 3 inversions per minute. It's washing. Can't wait to see it. It was one of the combinations I wanted to try anyway.
Well, I have a roll in the other camera with Tri-X @ 1600 which I'm halfway through. There's at least one shot on that roll that I think is good, maybe. So I hope I didn't blow it.
Justice, Black Eye
This is from a few years ago at the "old" Bronx Courthouse. When I was there last, there were plans to turn it into an urban mall. Don't know if that happened yet or not.
When my father was a teenager, he was arrested for climbing over the fence at the Bronx Zoo (on an off day) and brought here and held for a few hours. He tells me that when he came out - he was greeted by his friends who considered him a hero - first one to be arrested in their group. He went on from this to fight in WWII and become a professor - but his eyes still light up when he tells the story of his "day in the Bronx pen."
10/20/2005
Ozymandias
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
--Percy Bysshe Shelley
1792-1822
2880 ppi & 5 x 7
I'm beginning to work on the 5 x 7 prints (yesterday was a lost day with personal stuff) - and the surprising thing - is that although I never noticed much difference with the larger prints between 1440 ppi and 2880 - I do notice it with the smaller prints (since you're looking closer). Subtle but there. So I'm printing the smaller prints at 2880 ppi.
Also noticed that they've got to be a little "lighter." Again - not sure why that is but they are mostly too dark at this size. Again - not a big deal since everything is done with adjustment layers including the sharpening.
I have orders now for about 30 of these small prints. The other little unfortunate thing is that they've mostly got to be cropped here and there. Oh well, I'm not going to make custom mats at this size.
So that is odd. The giant printer I got is getting it's workout churning out small prints and the occassional large print. Still - can't say enough good things about the giant (for me) Epson 4800.
One of these days I'm going to have to do a write-up on the workflow from negative to final print. Just don't have the time or patience to do it yet.
One other question: why does Photoshop ask me whether I want to save a file after it's been printed? In other words - the file is saved before printing - but after printing it wants to save it again? How come? What does it need to remember?
Also noticed that they've got to be a little "lighter." Again - not sure why that is but they are mostly too dark at this size. Again - not a big deal since everything is done with adjustment layers including the sharpening.
I have orders now for about 30 of these small prints. The other little unfortunate thing is that they've mostly got to be cropped here and there. Oh well, I'm not going to make custom mats at this size.
So that is odd. The giant printer I got is getting it's workout churning out small prints and the occassional large print. Still - can't say enough good things about the giant (for me) Epson 4800.
One of these days I'm going to have to do a write-up on the workflow from negative to final print. Just don't have the time or patience to do it yet.
One other question: why does Photoshop ask me whether I want to save a file after it's been printed? In other words - the file is saved before printing - but after printing it wants to save it again? How come? What does it need to remember?
10/19/2005
Makeup
While searching for two "scenic" negatives for a clien (found one so far), this negative poked it's head up and demanded attention.
10/18/2005
1600 TRI-X & filing
I've been struggling to get through a roll of Tri-X @ 1600 so I can try it in Microphen but I've been too busy. Orders began picking up again. And I realized something else - that the price is the single most important factor in sales - other than that so-and-so likes the image.
In other words, when I increased prices about 20% - sales of those prints dropped off as if they were the Roadrunner falling off the cliff. Zoooooom! Small cloud of smoke.
At the same time, the smaller $20 prints are beginning to take off - zooooom.
So there you go. There is an invisible and mystical price point hiding in your business. And the only way to find it is through trial and error.
Now I'm busy hunting for two negatives for an order that are playing hide and seek. I spent two days a few months ago organizing the negs. and now the two I need have disappeared. On the other hand - every time I look for them - some other negative that I never printed surfaces like a dirty mole coming up for air. "I've been down here so long - I thought you'd never dig me up!"
Someone with a photographic divining rod or an archeologist would be useful.
And I'm not completely inept at filing. I swear I'm not. I have boxes organized by year. From these boxes which might contain a thousand images in the original sleeves - I pull images that are for sale and put those in a separate box organized by title.
However - sometimes someone asks (usually a design firm) for a print of something that isn't in the Photography Store section, but which they've found by googling the site. That's when the game of hide and seek begins. What year was this done? Last year? Year before?
I can't organize them by subject because there are always diverse subjects on any one 6 image strip.
That's where I'm at. I've got to find the negs. and then I've got to lower the prices for the larger pieces. Then I should be sitting pretty.
In other words, when I increased prices about 20% - sales of those prints dropped off as if they were the Roadrunner falling off the cliff. Zoooooom! Small cloud of smoke.
At the same time, the smaller $20 prints are beginning to take off - zooooom.
So there you go. There is an invisible and mystical price point hiding in your business. And the only way to find it is through trial and error.
Now I'm busy hunting for two negatives for an order that are playing hide and seek. I spent two days a few months ago organizing the negs. and now the two I need have disappeared. On the other hand - every time I look for them - some other negative that I never printed surfaces like a dirty mole coming up for air. "I've been down here so long - I thought you'd never dig me up!"
Someone with a photographic divining rod or an archeologist would be useful.
And I'm not completely inept at filing. I swear I'm not. I have boxes organized by year. From these boxes which might contain a thousand images in the original sleeves - I pull images that are for sale and put those in a separate box organized by title.
However - sometimes someone asks (usually a design firm) for a print of something that isn't in the Photography Store section, but which they've found by googling the site. That's when the game of hide and seek begins. What year was this done? Last year? Year before?
I can't organize them by subject because there are always diverse subjects on any one 6 image strip.
That's where I'm at. I've got to find the negs. and then I've got to lower the prices for the larger pieces. Then I should be sitting pretty.
Take Me Out to the Ad Game
I'm finding it more and more difficult to watch a baseball game on t.v. with the sound on. Last night - during the Astros v. Cards - I decided ahead of time that I was going to time the ads and include all the little crap that flashes across the screen:
WATCH BONES THE NEW HIT T.V. SERIES FROM FOX
SLEEP GOOD WITH LUMESTRA
WATCH PRISON BREAK
THIS TRIVIA MOMENT BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE HISTORY CHANNEL
THE DEFENSIVE LINE UP BROUGHT TO YOU BY INSURANCE COMPANY
THE OFFENSIVE LINE UP BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ARMY
THE FIRST HIT BROUGHT TO YOU BY ONLINE POKER
THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY PORK, THE OTHER WHITE MEAT.
I also began to write down how many replays of a hit or catch were replayed (with the FOX LOGO before and after). Average - 4 times. Peak: 8 times.
I also counted any ads for the World Series (on Fox) but lost count.
Why are all these companies bringing me things? It didn't used to be like that.
Along with the normal spate of commercials between innings. I decided not to count the signage behind home plate that changes every inning since that would mean the entire game was an ad.
Anyway - the results from last night's game:
TOTAL TIME OF GAME: ABOUT 3.5 HOURS.
TOTAL COMMERCIAL TIME: 57 MINUTES.
That doesn't include the pre-game or the post-game show. In other words - close to 1/3rd of your baseball game is advertising.
If you get a game with lot's of pitching changes - the ratio is even worse since every change means at least another two minutes of commercials. So the game where the pitchers are changed on both sides as early as possible are the most lucrative for the network.
During the previous series on ESPN - they would actually cut to a commerical at the end of an inning while the announcer was still talking. I don't mean once in a while - but every inning.
So the conspiracy theory of the day is: what is the relationship between the modern use as many pitchers in a game as you can, and television. Is there a dark sinister force at work which has changed the game of baseball? We already know that t.v. has pretty much eliminated the day game. If it can do that - what else can it do?
Final score: baseball game 3
Network 1
WATCH BONES THE NEW HIT T.V. SERIES FROM FOX
SLEEP GOOD WITH LUMESTRA
WATCH PRISON BREAK
THIS TRIVIA MOMENT BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE HISTORY CHANNEL
THE DEFENSIVE LINE UP BROUGHT TO YOU BY INSURANCE COMPANY
THE OFFENSIVE LINE UP BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ARMY
THE FIRST HIT BROUGHT TO YOU BY ONLINE POKER
THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY PORK, THE OTHER WHITE MEAT.
I also began to write down how many replays of a hit or catch were replayed (with the FOX LOGO before and after). Average - 4 times. Peak: 8 times.
I also counted any ads for the World Series (on Fox) but lost count.
Why are all these companies bringing me things? It didn't used to be like that.
Along with the normal spate of commercials between innings. I decided not to count the signage behind home plate that changes every inning since that would mean the entire game was an ad.
Anyway - the results from last night's game:
TOTAL TIME OF GAME: ABOUT 3.5 HOURS.
TOTAL COMMERCIAL TIME: 57 MINUTES.
That doesn't include the pre-game or the post-game show. In other words - close to 1/3rd of your baseball game is advertising.
If you get a game with lot's of pitching changes - the ratio is even worse since every change means at least another two minutes of commercials. So the game where the pitchers are changed on both sides as early as possible are the most lucrative for the network.
During the previous series on ESPN - they would actually cut to a commerical at the end of an inning while the announcer was still talking. I don't mean once in a while - but every inning.
So the conspiracy theory of the day is: what is the relationship between the modern use as many pitchers in a game as you can, and television. Is there a dark sinister force at work which has changed the game of baseball? We already know that t.v. has pretty much eliminated the day game. If it can do that - what else can it do?
Final score: baseball game 3
Network 1
10/17/2005
Back Home Again
Yeah. I had to move the photo blog back to it's own directory. Too confusing mixing commerce and random images / thoughts. Given that the main purpose of the site is to sell pictures - having the blog as the home page was too inhibiting for me, i.e. what if I write or say something that will turn off a potential customer.
I have similar misgivings in the blog itself wherever it is - but at least here you need to click once to get to it. Oh well. I knew when I did it that it would be easy to get back to the way things were and that was true.
I have similar misgivings in the blog itself wherever it is - but at least here you need to click once to get to it. Oh well. I knew when I did it that it would be easy to get back to the way things were and that was true.
10/16/2005
B&H Shopping List
Today's my chance to get to B&H before they close for another week.
SHOPPING LIST:
- Ink. I need ink. Many of the original cartridges for the 4800 are low. Real low. I think I will stick with the 110 ml size. I can save money by going to 220 ml. but they stick out of the printer and I'm afraid I won't use them fast enough.
- Letter size Ilford Smooth Pearl for the rush of 5 x 7 prints that are going to come pouring in (yeah right). I might pick up a pack of Epson Lustre again as well. Not even sure why.
- Microphen. Mark has gotten good results with Tri-x @ 1600 and I have been meaning to try it. Early morning and I don't remember if it was Microphen or Ilfophen - I'd better check but it's a powder so I need a jug to store it in.
- Should I go hog-wild and buy a funnel or just keep using a rolled up piece of paper as I've done for the last few decades?
- More Tri-x. I've gone through that film like water.
- Canned air. Mostly for negatives before they're scanned.
- Leica 75mm f1.4 lens (just kidding folks. How many 5 x 7 prints would I need to sell to buy that lens? A lot.)
Anyway - I do need to thank my cat. He has been waking me up at about 6 a.m. - as opposed to 3 a.m. - so I should stop off at the pet store and buy him something special for his effort. I would like to get him another cat - maybe somewhat puny - that he can boss around. Oh well Buddy - it'll have to be some catnip treat.
SHOPPING LIST:
- Ink. I need ink. Many of the original cartridges for the 4800 are low. Real low. I think I will stick with the 110 ml size. I can save money by going to 220 ml. but they stick out of the printer and I'm afraid I won't use them fast enough.
- Letter size Ilford Smooth Pearl for the rush of 5 x 7 prints that are going to come pouring in (yeah right). I might pick up a pack of Epson Lustre again as well. Not even sure why.
- Microphen. Mark has gotten good results with Tri-x @ 1600 and I have been meaning to try it. Early morning and I don't remember if it was Microphen or Ilfophen - I'd better check but it's a powder so I need a jug to store it in.
- Should I go hog-wild and buy a funnel or just keep using a rolled up piece of paper as I've done for the last few decades?
- More Tri-x. I've gone through that film like water.
- Canned air. Mostly for negatives before they're scanned.
- Leica 75mm f1.4 lens (just kidding folks. How many 5 x 7 prints would I need to sell to buy that lens? A lot.)
Anyway - I do need to thank my cat. He has been waking me up at about 6 a.m. - as opposed to 3 a.m. - so I should stop off at the pet store and buy him something special for his effort. I would like to get him another cat - maybe somewhat puny - that he can boss around. Oh well Buddy - it'll have to be some catnip treat.
10/15/2005
Park Avenue (Photo of the Week)
Christmas, Park Avenue - 1993
As I remember it - I kept rushing out into the street with the Pentax 6x7 on a tripod and I kept thinking I was going to be hit by a car from behind - (raining heavily at the time) - and I never printed it because the shot is a touch crooked - but when I saw the "lit cross" today in the Met Life Building (which is why I bothered taking it in the first place) I decided it was worth working on.
Hot 97
Hot 97 - Lexington Avenue Line - Waiting for the #6 train which is voted the worst line in the city year after year by straphangers union.
Yom Kippur & Ansel
Once a year I go out to Great Neck and celebrate Yom Kippur at the home of my octogenarian dad and companion. I generally hang out with my niece and newphew who are teenagers - and we're sort of the bad ones in the room - laughing and giggling about something or other.
My niece is always amazed to find out that I'm the oldest of the three kids. "You act like the youngest." And I say to her and my 12 year old nephew: It's true that in actual years I am the eldest. You should respect me for that - even if I am mentally challenged!"
More laughter from them.
Being the elder, I tell stories about how bad I was as a kid - in fact all the awful things I did to other kids. And they are in stitches because they are so used to adults being serious - especially at such somber gatherings.
I tell the story of how my father bought me a chemistry set so that I COULD BE SMART (Jerry Lewis face). How I discovered that if you burnt sulphur you could bottle the vapor - and how I got it into a bottle and wrote "perfume" on it when I was ten years old and went around to everyone asking them to smell it. And as we're laughing about it - several of the senior citizens move closer: "I want to sit here - where you are having so much fun!"
One thing leads to another and eventually everyone - those in their 90's and 80's are telling about the bad things they did a long time ago.
We're seated in a circle. The memories and tears of laughter flow. The kids - teenagers really - are still too inhibited to tell their own stories - after all their parents are around. But hearing how their grandparents and parents acted - is very freeing.
Now this is Yom Kippur - which is a very holy Jewish holiday - and eventually the discussion turns to the meaning of the holiday - and the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - and how the Jews believe that this is a time for contemplation of your sins and that religious Jews believe it is a time when your name is written or not written in the book of life for the next year. In other words - if God doesn't write your name in the book for next year - you don't have much of a chance.
Onwards into a discussion about the nature of God and man and the trauma in the world; free-will and the mystery of God's intentions and how is it that babies are killed in natural disasters before they've even had a chance to do anything wrong.
We're not all Jewish in my family circle. My extended family: Moslems, Christians, Jews, and I think one Hindu (though I'm not sure about him as he never talks). But onto original sin (which I don't think Jews believe in) but we all talk it to death and then my father says: The main thing is that we all try to do some good in the New Year. He brings up politics. Groups. Working together for good.
Political groups, I say. Do you really think that political groups are helpful? The real problem, I continue (jaws are dropping) is that man is basically a sort of hybrid between animal and something slightly higher - but more dangerous - and that when you stick him in a group his dark nature only gets magnified and intensified. I go on to mention Stalin, Hitler, the Inquisition and some other instances where people submerge their better nature in groupthink.
My sister is very political - a progressive - involved in various left wing movements.
And I say - do you remember, sis - many years ago - when you said that if you ever got into power - you'd have me rehabilitated!
I never said that, she screams.
Yes, you did. We were sitting around in the coffee shop - you remember. I was trying to get a date with that friend of yours - what was here name? and you said that if your group got into power you'd have me rehabilitated. You know what that means: Ye olde Mental Hospital!
Don't listen to him - she screams. Did you know he was a philosophy major in college!!! Yes - he was. He's just trying to 'cause trouble. And you know what, she continues - after hearing how this discussion has gone - I think you are in need of some mental therapy! You need to get your mind right! (Shades of Cool Hand Luke). More laughter.
To which I turn to my nieces and say - (making a funny face) you see - I told you - MENTALLY CHALLENGED AM I.
Someone says that cake and coffee are being served - and I would say that a good time was had by all - and I was glad I went.
Footnote:
I've been reading the history of the Gnostic movement after Christ's death - the origin of the Catholic Church and the feuding between the Jews who were following various sects of Christianity in the first two centuries (several books by Elaine Pagel). Reading about how religions started up - it makes it difficult for me to become a believer in anything except the basic nature of mankind which doesn't seem to change.
Oh - and if you are wondering about the title for this post. Turns out that one of the women from across the hall - her husband was a photographer in the 40's and once gave a lecture on Ansel and has an original signed print of Moonrise which she bought for something like $75 way back when.
My niece is always amazed to find out that I'm the oldest of the three kids. "You act like the youngest." And I say to her and my 12 year old nephew: It's true that in actual years I am the eldest. You should respect me for that - even if I am mentally challenged!"
More laughter from them.
Being the elder, I tell stories about how bad I was as a kid - in fact all the awful things I did to other kids. And they are in stitches because they are so used to adults being serious - especially at such somber gatherings.
I tell the story of how my father bought me a chemistry set so that I COULD BE SMART (Jerry Lewis face). How I discovered that if you burnt sulphur you could bottle the vapor - and how I got it into a bottle and wrote "perfume" on it when I was ten years old and went around to everyone asking them to smell it. And as we're laughing about it - several of the senior citizens move closer: "I want to sit here - where you are having so much fun!"
One thing leads to another and eventually everyone - those in their 90's and 80's are telling about the bad things they did a long time ago.
We're seated in a circle. The memories and tears of laughter flow. The kids - teenagers really - are still too inhibited to tell their own stories - after all their parents are around. But hearing how their grandparents and parents acted - is very freeing.
Now this is Yom Kippur - which is a very holy Jewish holiday - and eventually the discussion turns to the meaning of the holiday - and the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - and how the Jews believe that this is a time for contemplation of your sins and that religious Jews believe it is a time when your name is written or not written in the book of life for the next year. In other words - if God doesn't write your name in the book for next year - you don't have much of a chance.
Onwards into a discussion about the nature of God and man and the trauma in the world; free-will and the mystery of God's intentions and how is it that babies are killed in natural disasters before they've even had a chance to do anything wrong.
We're not all Jewish in my family circle. My extended family: Moslems, Christians, Jews, and I think one Hindu (though I'm not sure about him as he never talks). But onto original sin (which I don't think Jews believe in) but we all talk it to death and then my father says: The main thing is that we all try to do some good in the New Year. He brings up politics. Groups. Working together for good.
Political groups, I say. Do you really think that political groups are helpful? The real problem, I continue (jaws are dropping) is that man is basically a sort of hybrid between animal and something slightly higher - but more dangerous - and that when you stick him in a group his dark nature only gets magnified and intensified. I go on to mention Stalin, Hitler, the Inquisition and some other instances where people submerge their better nature in groupthink.
My sister is very political - a progressive - involved in various left wing movements.
And I say - do you remember, sis - many years ago - when you said that if you ever got into power - you'd have me rehabilitated!
I never said that, she screams.
Yes, you did. We were sitting around in the coffee shop - you remember. I was trying to get a date with that friend of yours - what was here name? and you said that if your group got into power you'd have me rehabilitated. You know what that means: Ye olde Mental Hospital!
Don't listen to him - she screams. Did you know he was a philosophy major in college!!! Yes - he was. He's just trying to 'cause trouble. And you know what, she continues - after hearing how this discussion has gone - I think you are in need of some mental therapy! You need to get your mind right! (Shades of Cool Hand Luke). More laughter.
To which I turn to my nieces and say - (making a funny face) you see - I told you - MENTALLY CHALLENGED AM I.
Someone says that cake and coffee are being served - and I would say that a good time was had by all - and I was glad I went.
Footnote:
I've been reading the history of the Gnostic movement after Christ's death - the origin of the Catholic Church and the feuding between the Jews who were following various sects of Christianity in the first two centuries (several books by Elaine Pagel). Reading about how religions started up - it makes it difficult for me to become a believer in anything except the basic nature of mankind which doesn't seem to change.
Oh - and if you are wondering about the title for this post. Turns out that one of the women from across the hall - her husband was a photographer in the 40's and once gave a lecture on Ansel and has an original signed print of Moonrise which she bought for something like $75 way back when.
10/14/2005
5 X 7 Prints Added
I added the 5 x 7 prints; still need to put it into some of the dropdown menus. If someone goes crazy and orders a lot of these at first it will be a fair amount of work since I don't have them in this size. On the other hand - what's nice about the SharpKit is that at least those files where I used it can be resized without a problem since SharpKit is mask based and non-destructive. I sent e-mails to a bunch of folks who had been asking for smaller prints.
Also - a couple of large orders came through today - all practically at the same time. There is just no figuring the web but I'm not complaining.
Also - a couple of large orders came through today - all practically at the same time. There is just no figuring the web but I'm not complaining.
10/13/2005
5 x 7 Prints
I used to sell notecards, and they were often matted by people and framed. The problem for me was that they weren't worth the effort or the time. Now I'm getting requests for small prints that can be matted and framed. So here's what I'm thinking - a line of 5 x 7 prints that are matted on 8 x 10. I could print two on a letter-size sheet and cut it in half and mat them on pre-cut mats.
I have a lot of these mats leftover from days of selling in front of the Met. Something like $20 a print (which is really where the market on the web is at). Same paper, same profiles etc. that I use for the larger prints.
It might be worth trying - because frankly I'm still barely scraping by here and I'm seriously contemplating a part-time job of some kind next year unless there is a dramatic improvement in that thing they call cashflow, i.e. money.
Since matting is still the time consuming aspect of this - though for small prints it isn't that bad - I wonder whether they should be matted or not. I wonder. I could put up a large selection of smaller prints in a day or two so it's in time for the holidays for sure. Hmmm... What do you think?
* * *
On a tech. note, I'm going to need some sort of cheap RIP just to layout two prints on a page since the 4800 won't print on anything smaller than letter size paper.
I have a lot of these mats leftover from days of selling in front of the Met. Something like $20 a print (which is really where the market on the web is at). Same paper, same profiles etc. that I use for the larger prints.
It might be worth trying - because frankly I'm still barely scraping by here and I'm seriously contemplating a part-time job of some kind next year unless there is a dramatic improvement in that thing they call cashflow, i.e. money.
Since matting is still the time consuming aspect of this - though for small prints it isn't that bad - I wonder whether they should be matted or not. I wonder. I could put up a large selection of smaller prints in a day or two so it's in time for the holidays for sure. Hmmm... What do you think?
* * *
On a tech. note, I'm going to need some sort of cheap RIP just to layout two prints on a page since the 4800 won't print on anything smaller than letter size paper.
10/12/2005
10/11/2005
Sedona Revisited
"I close my eyes and wonder
If everything is as hollow as it seems"
"I been been walkin' through the middle of nowhere
Tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door."
When you think that you've lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more
I been walkin' through the middle of nowhere
Tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door - Dylan, Tryin' to Get To Heaven
If everything is as hollow as it seems"
"I been been walkin' through the middle of nowhere
Tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door."
When you think that you've lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more
I been walkin' through the middle of nowhere
Tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door - Dylan, Tryin' to Get To Heaven
Umbrella Tests
"You Verizon guys are geniuses. Yes! I'm using the umbrella as an antenna. You were right! It works! "
10/09/2005
Central Park in Rain
Woman through Railing
Jogger, Bridle Path - Central Park
As soon as I get some other prints done for orders, I can't wait to take a crack at printing these two - large. I want to try the jogger shot at 16 x 20. The detail from the lens is wonderful. You can easily read the tee-shirt: St. Bonaventure and see that his mouth is open for air.
I just did Birch Trees for an order redoing it with the SharpKit tool. There's stuff in there that I never saw before. Almost every tree has carvings on it.
Cobblestones in Park
RSS Feed & Podcast
I changed the link for my RSS/Atom feed to Feedburner. I've been thinking of doing a PodCast and they make it pretty easy (I think) to create the RSS for the PodCast. (The old Atom link works as well though).
What is my PodCast going to be about?
Hello and welcome to Beckerman's Shoot Like the Pros PodCast. In order to shoot like the Pros - the first thing you need is a truly professional camera. Features are important. The more you have - the more professional you will be. This PodCast is sponsored by Canon and Nikon - and I would suggest that either of these superb manufacturers makes a camera that will fit your needs.
(Sound of rapid gunfire).
Remember - the more frames your camera can fire per second - the better chance you have to capture that once in a lifetime moment.
Canon and Nikon jingles are then played back to back - or maybe on top of each other.
By listening to this PodCast you will learn the secret tricks of the professionals. Click your iPod to listen to the next chapter.
What is my PodCast going to be about?
Hello and welcome to Beckerman's Shoot Like the Pros PodCast. In order to shoot like the Pros - the first thing you need is a truly professional camera. Features are important. The more you have - the more professional you will be. This PodCast is sponsored by Canon and Nikon - and I would suggest that either of these superb manufacturers makes a camera that will fit your needs.
(Sound of rapid gunfire).
Remember - the more frames your camera can fire per second - the better chance you have to capture that once in a lifetime moment.
Canon and Nikon jingles are then played back to back - or maybe on top of each other.
By listening to this PodCast you will learn the secret tricks of the professionals. Click your iPod to listen to the next chapter.
Joe's Sermon
"Yeah, yeah. Sure the artist is tortured. They should be tortured and you wanna know why? You do? Okay, I'll tell you: because they're spoiled. The world owes 'em a living? The world don't owe anyone a living. Take me for example.
"How many years did I go to school for this job? You got twelve years just to get through high school. Twelve stinkin' years. Then another four in college which is just about required for any kindof job. So there you go. 16 years and that's just to get a foot in the door of some stinkin' company.
"We're the ones who are tortured - not them. We're the ones that gotta get up every morning and put on chains and blinders and one day wake up middle-aged and wonder where our life went. Not them.
"Tortured artist. Give me a break. Okay. I'll admit. A lot of 'em don't make much money. But that was their own decision. I had a lot of talent with the french horn. Ask my music teacher Mr. M. But how'm I gonna take care of my family playin' the french horn? Tell me that? Okay - so I wind up as an office manager for the Cosmo Ladder Corp. It's not that bad. But can you tell me why I needed 16 years of school to get this?
"And don't tell me they're all poor. Poor? They don't know the meaning of the word until they're sendin' a couple of kids through college so those kids can get out and find some job which hopefully will be better than mine - though I doubt it. And anyway - some of them get rich - those actors I mean. Yeah. Especially those actors.
"Look at those movie stars driving around in their big fancy cars getting into accidents every day like they ran the world. I'll be honest with you. I love to sit back on the couch and watch them being carted off to jail for drugs or shoplifting. I mean - I'll see them in the movies but they ain't gods. You watch that idol show on t.v. You wait and see what happens to them when they get crowned.
"Don't get me wrong - I like what some of the artists do - though most of it is crap. But the world don't owe them a damned thing. In fact - I'd trade places with them in a minute if I could. The rich ones I mean.
"No. I say they should be glad for what they've got. Even the poor ones. 'Cause no one told them to do what they do - and if they have to suffer a little for that sort of freedom - then let them suffer. Anyway, that's just my two-cents on it since you asked.
"How many years did I go to school for this job? You got twelve years just to get through high school. Twelve stinkin' years. Then another four in college which is just about required for any kindof job. So there you go. 16 years and that's just to get a foot in the door of some stinkin' company.
"We're the ones who are tortured - not them. We're the ones that gotta get up every morning and put on chains and blinders and one day wake up middle-aged and wonder where our life went. Not them.
"Tortured artist. Give me a break. Okay. I'll admit. A lot of 'em don't make much money. But that was their own decision. I had a lot of talent with the french horn. Ask my music teacher Mr. M. But how'm I gonna take care of my family playin' the french horn? Tell me that? Okay - so I wind up as an office manager for the Cosmo Ladder Corp. It's not that bad. But can you tell me why I needed 16 years of school to get this?
"And don't tell me they're all poor. Poor? They don't know the meaning of the word until they're sendin' a couple of kids through college so those kids can get out and find some job which hopefully will be better than mine - though I doubt it. And anyway - some of them get rich - those actors I mean. Yeah. Especially those actors.
"Look at those movie stars driving around in their big fancy cars getting into accidents every day like they ran the world. I'll be honest with you. I love to sit back on the couch and watch them being carted off to jail for drugs or shoplifting. I mean - I'll see them in the movies but they ain't gods. You watch that idol show on t.v. You wait and see what happens to them when they get crowned.
"Don't get me wrong - I like what some of the artists do - though most of it is crap. But the world don't owe them a damned thing. In fact - I'd trade places with them in a minute if I could. The rich ones I mean.
"No. I say they should be glad for what they've got. Even the poor ones. 'Cause no one told them to do what they do - and if they have to suffer a little for that sort of freedom - then let them suffer. Anyway, that's just my two-cents on it since you asked.
10/08/2005
misc
A lot of rain in New York and I've been in it all morning with the M3. The only quibble I have with the C/V 28mm external viewfinder - when it got wet - man it got fogged up (inside) and I couldn't unfog it until I got home. Of course the Leica viewfinder was fine all morning. And I came back completely soaked. I'm still doing this thing with runners at the track - practically lying down in the mud to try and get unusual angles.
* * *
I added blog listing to the sidebar that I like with something called BlogRolling which is somewhat useful in terms of managing blog lists. If you have a photoblog to suggest - let me know.
* * *
I added blog listing to the sidebar that I like with something called BlogRolling which is somewhat useful in terms of managing blog lists. If you have a photoblog to suggest - let me know.
10/07/2005
Head in Hands
Head in Hands, Lexington Line - 2005
I think photographers have been fascinated wtih New York's subway forever because everything happens down here - the good, the bad and the ugly. You are alone here - and you are surrounded with a crush of people. You are going somewhere - and going nowhere at the same time. No matter what camera I'm using - it always finds its' way into the underground.
Directly behind me - at the same moment - two couples were kidding around with each other. A man was watching me take this photograph. Two policemen were a few yards away on walkie talkies.
A few minutes after I took this picture - the woman was helped onto a train by a young man at the other end of the bench.
Turtle Pond & Subway
Today in New York.
It was a cloudy day in the park. The turtles were out in turtle pond. When I got home there was a big story about a potential bomb threat to the subways.
Turtle Pond
"It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of shop windows
The bomb in the baby carriage
Was wired to the radio" - Paul Simon
"specific yet noncredible,"
"information was of doubtful credibility."
"This is the first time we have had a threat with this level of specificity."
So what we have here is a specific yet noncredible threat of doubtful credibility with a level of specificity we haven't seen before.
It's a tricky business. Homeland security at the federal level and city officials had different messages - but frankly - I'd put my money on the city officials in this case.
It was a cloudy day in the park. The turtles were out in turtle pond. When I got home there was a big story about a potential bomb threat to the subways.
Turtle Pond
"It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of shop windows
The bomb in the baby carriage
Was wired to the radio" - Paul Simon
"specific yet noncredible,"
"information was of doubtful credibility."
"This is the first time we have had a threat with this level of specificity."
So what we have here is a specific yet noncredible threat of doubtful credibility with a level of specificity we haven't seen before.
It's a tricky business. Homeland security at the federal level and city officials had different messages - but frankly - I'd put my money on the city officials in this case.
10/06/2005
Runners, Central Park
Part accident - part planned. I watched five or six runners circling the park and planted myself to take a wider shot of them with the park in the background - but all of a sudden they changed their route and sped past me.
The Home Page
Not sure if anyone likes the homepage changes - blog / store combo. But I like it a lot. Think I'll stick with it at least through the end of the year and see how it goes. Tomorrow is print day. I have two orders to get out.
And if I'm going to stick with doing all this PS sharpening stuff in 16-bit mode I'm going to need a new PC for sure. My friend Eugene keeps sending me specs from Dell, Gateway etc. I'd like to hire him to set up the new system and deal with the headaches but I don't think I'll be able to afford a new setup until the new year.
I'm not prone to depression - but the mini-depression I was going through the last few weeks seems to be fading. I went out and was happy as a lark shooting in Central Park. Felt very creative again. Can't wait to see a couple of shots on the last roll. An empty field with with high-school runners - and wide angle - and I definitely was thinking of the opening shots from - Chariots of Fire... I was actually lying in the grass shooting up and -- well we'll see...
And if I'm going to stick with doing all this PS sharpening stuff in 16-bit mode I'm going to need a new PC for sure. My friend Eugene keeps sending me specs from Dell, Gateway etc. I'd like to hire him to set up the new system and deal with the headaches but I don't think I'll be able to afford a new setup until the new year.
I'm not prone to depression - but the mini-depression I was going through the last few weeks seems to be fading. I went out and was happy as a lark shooting in Central Park. Felt very creative again. Can't wait to see a couple of shots on the last roll. An empty field with with high-school runners - and wide angle - and I definitely was thinking of the opening shots from - Chariots of Fire... I was actually lying in the grass shooting up and -- well we'll see...
Street of Dreams
I was watching one of the ballgames last night - and had an epiphany about the why of photography.
Each time a batter come to the plate - the circumstances in the game have changed. Even the very best hitter is going to fail 2/3rds of the time. Sometimes the pressure is on and their time in the box means something to the team. Sometimes it's a blowout. But it's the personal challenge. You anticipate the pitch. You anticipate it correctly this time and get a hit. Maybe a game-winning homer. You don't retire after that. You want another chance to do it again.
Photography - for me - is like that.
Photography is mostly about failure in the sense that very few of your images are grand-slams. Ansel talked about being happy if he got 12 good images in a year.
It's this very rarity of the good image (as you define it) that keeps you going. Whether it is street photography or nature shots - the world - and your feeling about the world is different every time you step out of the house. The fact that you define the success is the main difference between art and baseball. Still - the similarities remain. You feel - at these great moments - like you were doing what you were created to do.
You caught light in a bottle. You anticipated the unexpected. You were born in the right place at the right time and your senses are up to the task. Time has slowed down for you - enough to capture some photons as they were meant to be captured.
You move through a constantly changing stream of possibilities. You're on the lookout - and you are plodding through life at the same time. You are walking to pick up your laundry and you are buying breakfast and chatting with friends - and you are somewhere else at the same time.
Work on your technique. Keep your shoulder in. Level swing. Press the shutter gently. You anticipate the pitch. He's thrown a slider to you last time up - I'll be he's going to go inside with a fastball this time. Ah - he fooled me again. Damn. There's always next time.
You become comfortable with uncertainty. To paraphrase MLB - you live for that uncertainty. The audience - they're far away in the stands - staring out windows - passing you by as you stoop to conquer.
You're in the zone. You're bored. It doesn't matter. You're going to take your cut at the ball because that's why you're here. If they don't let you play in the "bigs" - you'll play in triple A. Your moment will come. And if it doesn't - so what? How many people get to play the game they want to play - at any level?
The wind-up. The pitch. It's a long fly ball. The image flies through the air - as if it had wings - going. Going! It's over the wall! It's landed on the street outside the park! It's landed on the street of dreams...
Each time a batter come to the plate - the circumstances in the game have changed. Even the very best hitter is going to fail 2/3rds of the time. Sometimes the pressure is on and their time in the box means something to the team. Sometimes it's a blowout. But it's the personal challenge. You anticipate the pitch. You anticipate it correctly this time and get a hit. Maybe a game-winning homer. You don't retire after that. You want another chance to do it again.
Photography - for me - is like that.
Photography is mostly about failure in the sense that very few of your images are grand-slams. Ansel talked about being happy if he got 12 good images in a year.
It's this very rarity of the good image (as you define it) that keeps you going. Whether it is street photography or nature shots - the world - and your feeling about the world is different every time you step out of the house. The fact that you define the success is the main difference between art and baseball. Still - the similarities remain. You feel - at these great moments - like you were doing what you were created to do.
You caught light in a bottle. You anticipated the unexpected. You were born in the right place at the right time and your senses are up to the task. Time has slowed down for you - enough to capture some photons as they were meant to be captured.
You move through a constantly changing stream of possibilities. You're on the lookout - and you are plodding through life at the same time. You are walking to pick up your laundry and you are buying breakfast and chatting with friends - and you are somewhere else at the same time.
Work on your technique. Keep your shoulder in. Level swing. Press the shutter gently. You anticipate the pitch. He's thrown a slider to you last time up - I'll be he's going to go inside with a fastball this time. Ah - he fooled me again. Damn. There's always next time.
You become comfortable with uncertainty. To paraphrase MLB - you live for that uncertainty. The audience - they're far away in the stands - staring out windows - passing you by as you stoop to conquer.
You're in the zone. You're bored. It doesn't matter. You're going to take your cut at the ball because that's why you're here. If they don't let you play in the "bigs" - you'll play in triple A. Your moment will come. And if it doesn't - so what? How many people get to play the game they want to play - at any level?
The wind-up. The pitch. It's a long fly ball. The image flies through the air - as if it had wings - going. Going! It's over the wall! It's landed on the street outside the park! It's landed on the street of dreams...
10/05/2005
Going to Work
I'm still going through older images - trying to pair them up with new shots. It is sort of a weird city in that way. Cliche I guess but I can't get over the contrasts and contradictions. That might just be because Manhattan always felt like a foreign place to me - growing up in the Bronx. I don't remember - nor when I went back - did I see the same sort of visual clashes. Manhattan is not so much a mixing bowl as a blender operating at high speed.
Man, Marathon Bars
Blue-eyes has taken to selling candy; in this case - Marathon Bars. I bought one from him and then tossed it in the garbage since it was soggy. God only knows where they'd had come from.
Chrysler Reflection
I added this print to the NEW PRINTS section.
Trying to get out of the rain, I stepped into the Chrysler Building lobby. It was cool - dark - like a beautiful tomb. I approached one of the lobby guards and asked if they had any tours - that it would be great to go up to the top of the building.
He told me: no tours. And nothing to see up there anyway.
Was he blind. Even the lobby was a pre-modern masterpiece like the Sistine Chapel. Walk in there sometimes and just look at how it is softly lit - as if a chapel to what was once modern. A chapel to progress.
When I stepped back out - I saw the reflection of the Chrysler building in the new-fangled (probably 1960-ish) building and snapped this shot. I mean - just that - snapped this and walked out grumbling about the "no tours" business. How blind can people be?
10/04/2005
Blog & Store
I've moved the blog to the home page. I'm trying to make a connection between the journal and the store. Could be a mistake that will backfire... but I can always go back to the way it was. I've made plenty of marketing mistakes - but in this world - I don't think anyone has really figured out the connection between selling photographs and bringing forth what the photographer is up to. So I'll try it. Think it's a big mistake - let me know.
Salad Threat
It was Saturday morning; or Sunday morning - and I was standing outside Grand Central Station watching as 42nd street was closed off by the authorities. A bomb truck arrived. A fire truck arrived. We were standing on the other side of 42nd - tourists - a couple of press people - everyone wondering what was going on. One guy heard a cop say "bomb" on the walkie-talkie.
So I just stood around waiting to see if there would be an explosion and then I could get the scoop. After about a half hour - the machinery disappeared and they began to let people down into Grand Central.
As I came down the steps - there was a reporter interviewing someone. The train was coming to a halt. I couldn't hear what it was about. But I got on the train with the woman who had just been interviewed and asked her what it was all about.
She told me that some council - I don't know if it was the MTA or the city council - but something along those lines were voting or had voted to ban food on the subway and how did she feel about it. I realized afterwards that she must have been chosen since she had that small container of salad in her hand.
We laughed about it. What were they going to do - have "food police" on the trains? The woman told me that even if the drink or the container had a top on it - THEY were proposing to ban it.
I asked her if she knew that there had just been a bomb scare upstairs? Did she hear any announcements or anything?
No, that was news to her.
Well anyway - I'm happy to hear that someone in New York is keeping their eye on the ball. One of the things that has been most scary to me are those plastic containers with salad. Especially the ones from the Korean places with fresh fruit. You know - once you cut fruit it can go bad and make you sick. Could start a whole epidemic in the city that way.
The container ban was not passed. I think this is my favorite line from the MTA's rules:
"The singular shall mean and include the plural; the masculine gender shall mean the feminine and the neuter genders; and vice versa." Keep that in mind folks.
So I just stood around waiting to see if there would be an explosion and then I could get the scoop. After about a half hour - the machinery disappeared and they began to let people down into Grand Central.
As I came down the steps - there was a reporter interviewing someone. The train was coming to a halt. I couldn't hear what it was about. But I got on the train with the woman who had just been interviewed and asked her what it was all about.
She told me that some council - I don't know if it was the MTA or the city council - but something along those lines were voting or had voted to ban food on the subway and how did she feel about it. I realized afterwards that she must have been chosen since she had that small container of salad in her hand.
We laughed about it. What were they going to do - have "food police" on the trains? The woman told me that even if the drink or the container had a top on it - THEY were proposing to ban it.
I asked her if she knew that there had just been a bomb scare upstairs? Did she hear any announcements or anything?
No, that was news to her.
Well anyway - I'm happy to hear that someone in New York is keeping their eye on the ball. One of the things that has been most scary to me are those plastic containers with salad. Especially the ones from the Korean places with fresh fruit. You know - once you cut fruit it can go bad and make you sick. Could start a whole epidemic in the city that way.
The container ban was not passed. I think this is my favorite line from the MTA's rules:
"The singular shall mean and include the plural; the masculine gender shall mean the feminine and the neuter genders; and vice versa." Keep that in mind folks.
10/03/2005
Ready, Willing & Able
Personally, I think that "street photography" is going to make a comeback, if it hasn't already. I can't see how it can't. The world is in a flux of modernity. It doesn't need to be about people and technology - though that is often what fascinates me. But store windows, buildings - the so-called clash of cultures - it's all there to see. It's waiting for you on every corner of the "new world." And in some ways - it's easier than ever since people are more oblivious to their surroundings than ever because of all the plugs going into their cavities. And it is only going to get more and more pronounced. Someday - cross and don't cross lights will be beamed into your brain to tell you when it's okay to cross the street. The photographer will become more and more invisible - at least in the brave new techno-world we've created. Ah - how productive we've become. Stop and smell the roses? Why stop when you can hit a button and smell them when it's convenient.
Back in Harness
Shoeshine, Grand Central
I'm back from my "month" vacation after a week.
I'll start up again slowly... As you can see I left to get my shoes repaired. And now I've gotten them shined. I think I'll concentrate on just photographs of shoes from now on... These two shots were done about three years apart. This has obviously been the niche I've been looking for.
Actually - here's what happened on my mini-vacation: almost as soon as I signed off - I ran out to Best Buy and bought a Nano iPod (2K) version. As soon as the thing was set up and plugged into my ears I felt all my cares and woes slipping away... The phone, the doorbell - all went unanswered. I began walking around town with the buds in - camera getting tangled in the wires - but everything becoming distant - pure visual. You do have to be careful not to get run over by cars and bikes - but it was worth it to walk around in my own world for a while.
It was on while I went to sleep. On while I scanned negatives. On while I sat on the can. The only time it was off was to charge or when a shower was needed.
After two days like this I began the quest for more songs. My neighbor John has a million CDs. And good taste as well. It reminded me of the lending album record library on Macombs road that I'd visit as a kid. It reminded me of the reel-to-reel tape recorder I had. I made a tape of the Beatles movie A Hard Days Night. It must have been on t.v. a million years ago. Just played the tape over and over day and night. My friend George came by and we'd listen to the quips, trying to mimic John - he always had the best delivery.
"He's just a dirty old man!"
And then when the iPod went off - I slept for a day.
The next day I went out for a walk - with iPod on and after walking for a long time I began to notice objects that were in cars. I started photographing the interiors of parked cars (and yes that got me some strange stares). From objects in cars I graduated to reflections in car windows...
Car Window Reflection #1
As I was arriving back at my apartment the super was cleaning the mop and I asked him if I could take a picture - which he thought would include him. He shook his head - but I explained that it wasn't of him - just the mop. Why you wanna take a picture of that?
It could be beautiful, I said. He looked at me as if I had gone completely mad.
Cleaning Mop
And I wandered on... John Prine playing his heart out and...
[to be continued]
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