SEVEN PILLARS

SEVEN PILLARS (CONTAX SLR)

Balustrade, Church - Park Avenue and 83rd street. I should find out the name of the church - it was where Jackie Kennedy was buried.

"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible."

T. E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

How's that for your daily inspirational message? Gives me chills.

PRICE INCREASE ON THE WAY

The $25 5 x 7's are going up. I'm doing them all on the Silver Rag which is expensive enough. But the price increase is just based on what the market seems to want to bear, so they'll either be $30 or $35. Either today or tomorrow.

* * *

UPDATE: THEY'RE RAISED

Smile!

It's never really night in the subway. It's not day either. There is time, but you don't get days. There are hours of waiting, but no morning or afternoons. I think of this because you can't tell what time of day this is - can you? Do you think it's a weekday or a weekend?

Although it is hard to discern the time - you can deduce the time, even in this picture.

Catching Bus, Fifth Avenue

Dedicated to M. Weber and his undying devotion to the blurry image.
[ whole lot of shakin' goin on in this shot; Leica M6 ]

BENCHES ON EBAY

It doesn't look like much of anything is happening on eBay with Boy On Bench (I think it is one of my best shots, and a #1 at that - but I also don't see it as sellable according to Dave's Rules of what sells - which I'll have to enumerate at some point) so I am adding Benches, which - according to my rules should sell. Well, I'd buy it.



ON EBAY: BENCHES, ATLANTIC CITY 6/100

Ooh, la la - casseurs

"In France, we always imagine violence to be political because of our revolutions, but this isn't the case," said Sebastian Roche, a political scientist who specializes in delinquency in the suburbs. "The casseurs are people who are apart from the political protests. Their movement is apolitical. It is about banal violence, — thefts, muggings, aggression." - New York Times

Ah - le casseurs! (The smashers!) Speaking of imagination - le cassuers has a romantic je ne sais quoi.

Visit Paree and see le cassuers at work. Ooh, la la.

Oh, I guess it's really serious. But what is this big strike about? You should not be able to get fired if you are young? I must be missing something. In my country you can get fired exactly because you are the low man on zee totem pole - so to speak. We have a little thing we like to call it: seniority.

As I walked along the busy Parisian streets and saw the amount of fresh buttered croissants and freshly made coffee being consumed around 10 a.m. - I always had the guilty thought - ah - these people know how to live! And then the nice long lunch break where you go back and read some Sartre and make love to your mistress or is it make love to Sartre and read to your mistress - ah - this was the life. But now the pressures moderne - they are galloping forward - is zat how you zay it? My English is not so good. Galloping?

Ah well. We will give them another century to catch up and learn how to speed through our fast food cafe express. Oh - I know there are McDonalds here and there - with le grande mac. But these are mostly for the tourist dogs. N'est pas?

Stat Me

Last Week's Stats: Hits and Page Views




"ah! if only one was getting paid a penny per hit. life would be grand, aspheric Leica lenses in all directions. but no, we are minimum wage art mongers, we do what we do for a season, then we die, cached for another season by google, then gone w/o a trace, never, in life, gaining entrance to MoMA, ICP or even Howard Greenbergs" - Bill Emory

"Perhaps we could take printouts of our stat pages to a non-tech-savvy venture capitalist and get funding? I'll leave out the stats on how many of my note card sales have been to my mother's friends...." - Jeff Kelley

Selling Photographs on the Web

Hello Mr. Beckerman,
First, I would like to say I love your work. It's phenomenal! My name is Stacie A. an I am a Junior in high school who is aspering to be a photographer and I just wondering with out getting to personal, what kind of income do you make off of your web site? And how did you get started? Any other information or advise that you could give me I would truly appreciate it, especially advice comming from a talent such as your self. I can use what ever information I can get.

Respectfully,
Stacie A.

* * * * * * * * *

Hi Stacie,

Take a look at this:

http://www.davebeckerman.com/PhotoTechBlog/2006/03/selling-photographs-on-web.html

It pretty much goes into what it's like to sell on the web. (In one word: horrible).

Best,

Dave

[I believe that Dave is getting worse and worse as far as his answers to bright-eyed would-be photographers go. At this rate, give him a few more years, and he'll become truly acerbic with beginners.

I have attempted to help Dave remember what it was like for him when he first began selling photographs - how romantic and how exciting the whole thing was - but he's told me to bugger off. In fact - if you must know - I'm beginning to fear for my own personal safety. I think the best thing is to just let Dave march around the place mumbling to himself. I was hired to be his editor, not his keeper. Ed.]

220 ml cartridges & Mets

I stuck my first 220 ML cartridge (gray, gray black) in the 4800. My plan is to use these larger cartridges for the grays and black. It is sort of unsightly - the way it juts out - but saves me money on ink.

THIS IS A NOTE TO MYSELF SO THAT I CAN GO BACK LATER AND SEE WHEN I PUT THE FIRST 220ML GRAY GRAY BLACK CARTRIDGE IN. IT SAYS THAT YOU SHOULD USE IT WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF OPENING; AND I WONDER WHETHER I WILL OR WON'T USE THE CARTRIDGE IN THAT TIME.

I'm also using the non-beta Silver Rag for new prints. I've had a couple of orders at the new prices.

I did prints of both Steelworker pictures. #2 is better by far. Maybe you can judge these things on the screen.

Could this be the year of the Mets? They've got the closer. They've got the lineup. They've got the starting pitching. Where are they weak? Could this be their year?

leica etc.

I do think I lucked out in terms of when I got back into Leica. If you are happy to go with some pre-aspherical lens, then savings are tremendous. Example: the modern 90mm summicron - is in the $2K range. The earlier version - used - is around $450.

Same ratio goes for the earlier 35mm summicrons. Man - I don't know but the 35mm pre-aspherical summicron I have looks plenty sharp and beautiful to me. $675.

I suppose that $675 even sounds like a lot for a 35mm lens - but for a Leica? Take my word for it - that is inexpensive. The prints I've been doing with that lens are - well - they're no slouches.

Ah - that MP body would be nice - but I would need to hit a lottery for that. In the meantime, if I wanted a second body - I'd go with a second M3 double-stroke. Great stuff that.

* * *
Ooh. And my nice 39mm summicron vented lens hood $16 arrived today. Good deal. I think I'm going to call my next website: www.39mm.com

Cigs, Times Square

Cigs, Times Square - 2006

Dave,

Come on mate!

Where's the shots from Times Sqr you where telling me about?!

You said you were standing and watching the world pass by clicking
off some good stuff with
the new 35mm?!

Pappy III

Dear Pappy,

The thing is - I was saying that I was clicking away and that I felt invisible. But unfortunately for me the crowd wasn't cooperating. They brought out the boring - do nothing interesting - crowd that night. The best I could find were this couple exchanging a cigarette. Sorry matey.

DB

STEELWORKER SCULPTURE

STEELWORKERS, #2, UNION SQUARE



STEELWORKERS, #1, UNION SQUARE

Which one do you like better. I like #2 better because of the trees in the background and I think having a better sense of the entire sculpture. In case you can't tell, or haven't seen this before - it is actually sitting atop a truck, and I suppose can be moved around the city. Whether it is an exact reproduction in sculpture of the famous photograph (was that one done while building the Empire State Building?) I don't know. But I haven't seen this before in Union Square and my initial reaction was: only in New York.

Dad's Birthday in Tarrytown

Back from two days at the Marriot Tarrytown Hotel. It was the annual family reunion for the patriarchs birthday. I used to think that I could find something to shoot anywhere - but as I stood on the 10th floor balcony overlooking the parking lot with the highway in the background and some office building that looked like it has just landed and unfolded - I thought long and hard about pressing the shutter and concluded that as sterile as it was - it wasn't worth a 1/36th of a roll of film.

And I guess you got me there. Stick me in the suburbs and although I've seen work by artists about this tortured sterile land - I don't want to document it. I don't. You can't make me press the shutter.

And inside the hotel. A major dance contest - mostly ballroom. Little girls heavily made-up with their hair tied back. Bigger girls marching their little potential contest winners around.

Help me Ronda. They've taken me to another planet. I can leave any time I want - so long as the cake has been served and the presents for the octogenarian handed out.

Presents - my dad asks me if I'll buy him a CD changer (5-CDs) and then calls (after I've bought it) to declaim that he has thought better of it and that he doesn't have room for a CD changer. How would I like to have the CD changer for my birthday (in December) instead.

He has no room? He lives in a five room apartment in Long Island - each room as large as my entire apartment.

No - he has talked with his companion and there is no room. And he would just like to see me. That's all the present he wants.

Dang. Now what. I can return it. Maybe I'll find a spot for it.

But I only have one thing to say, "What a wasteland" out there. How do you do it? So happy to come back to my tiny apartment in what I will call a freakin' neighborhood. I need a neighborhood to be happy. Hey - Johnny! What's goin' on.

Noodle Shop

Noodle Shop, Times Square - 2006

Padlock

Padlock, 2006

Purple Haze

Before I soup my next two rolls of tri-x - question. Lately my tri-x has retained a slight purpleness - i.e. the film hasn't gone to clear.

Am I not giving it enough time / hypo?

Too much time in the hypo?

I'm using Ilford Rapid Fix for 5 minutes, shaking every 30 secs. This is pretty much what I've been doing forever. Then I wash it for about 30 minutes.

What've I done wrong? I have three rolls to soup.

* * *
Consensus is that the hypo isn't doing enough of it's thing (too cold, weak, not enough time). That's the easiest thing to fix (no pun intended) as I can take a piece of this film and put it through the fix again and see what happens.

I ended up down in Times Square around 11 p.m. (after seeing Spamalot) - and I was just having this great time with my new 35mm summicron buddy. I had been creeping through one roll of film over the last week or so - nursing it along - and then ZOOM!!! Times Square took over and neurons sped up; stuff was zipping around, and although I was shooting at f2, I could watch as people walked in and out of focus and just see it so clearly.

Oh - Spamalot is a great show if you like Monty Python humor (I'm a fan from way back). From even before - Beyond the Fringe - Peter Cooke et. al. Anyway - this was a tremendous production and frankly - when I left - I felt like I could sit through it again if someone would give me another ticket. Special kudos to the lady in the lake who stole my heart.

* * *

THANKS ALL. I doubled the hypo time to 10 minutes and negs. look the way they should.

Articles Blog

I'm moving the articles into a blog format so people can comment on them. I've just put the first one in. This I would expect, would be more of a repository than a fluid blog.

PHOTO TECH BLOG

Boy on Bench, Paris

Here's Boy on Bench 1/100 on eBay. I think it's pretty special. I know that a lot of readers of this blog liked it when I first posted it, but I'm not sure if this will sell or not since my own experience is that scenics, architecture etc. sell better than anonymous people.



Boy on Bench on eBay

d.u.m.b.o. on eBay

I put 1/100 up on eBay. dumbo on eBay doesn't sound appetizing but this is a good print. Yeah, there's a reserve - I'm not going to sell it for $25 or whatever but it's still a bargain.



Here's the link to the item on eBay.

SOLD. That went fast. Let me see what else I've still got a number one of.

So is knowing the actual edition number something that makes a difference - or only if it is the 1/100. Let me know. I never went through the trouble of integrating the print number with my cart so that it would bump up after a sale was made. Maybe I should. Maybe it only makes a difference if it is 1/100 or 100/100.

Going to St. Pat's Parade

Going to Parade

Top Twenty Selling Prints

Whether this should be the main entry point to the store with a link to All Prints or not - I don't know, but here are the top 20 on the Beckerman hit parade:

Top 20 Sellers

Fountain, Wall Street

Fountain, Wall Street, 2000

update 5

After raising - more than doubling print prices - orders started coming in again. Go figure.

I have my list of ten A-List galleries and I'm working on a portfolio so that I can visit and probably be rejected by same. In political parlance, rejection isn't a problem - it's a challenge.

Anyway - I've ordered several small portfolio boxes from Light Impressions and my plan is to print about twenty 6 x 9's on the good paper for each portfolio and then hand-deliver them to my A-List.

At the same time - I'm raising prices so that they will eventually be more in line with what gallery prices will be.

My neighbor asked for a print of D.U.M.B.O. (Manhattan Bridge) and he shall get one as he's given me lots and lots of free music.

Just as a bit of trivia - to date the highest priced print I've sold was an 8 x 12 Window of Met. print #1 for $750 at a soho gallery. And I did a show in Connecticut a few years ago where I sold an 16 x 20 print (low number) of Subway Car Empty for $700. That may sound like a lot - but on the Conn. trip I stayed at a hotel, rented a car - and did a lot of framing for prints that didn't sell. All in all - though I sold about six prints - that was a break-even show.

* * *
Anyway - my shooting is picking up again. I just grab the M3 with the 35mm lens and goggles on and just take it with me while I do my errands. And I'm starting to go through film again. I do carry a handheld meter, but I'm using it less and less.

One other point - I was using the M3 with goggles on subway this morning - and I was very out in the open about aiming and taking pictures. People didn't seem to mind at all - and I think it's that the camera looks so ancient that they just see it (and me) as a curiosity rather than a danger.

Have a sectarian day

The latest word is: sectarian, as in "sectarian violence."

Can you say, sectarian?

The word made its debut when the idea that Iraq was on the brink of civil war took hold; or it had plunged over the brink into the abyss.

Sectarian is used to differentiate the two sides from the terrorists, I think. The sectarians are not dead-enders, and they are not terrorists. They are just misguided.

The terrorists are trying, we are told, to create civil war between the Shiites and the Sunnis - and these are the two sects that are plunging into sectarian violence.

1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a sect.
2. Adhering or confined to the dogmatic limits of a sect or denomination; partisan.
3. Narrow-minded; parochial.

Sectarian is a useful word. It sounds better than: Islamic civil war. It almost sounds like a bunch of stenographers are having at it.

The word pops up as our President (who some would say is himself the head of a sectarian administration) has started a new PR swing to tell us that things aren't as bad as they seem in Iraq - and who are you going to believe: me or your own eyes. But our own eyes - he says - can't be trusted because the media is so bad. They are so awful.

"So today I'd like to share a concrete example of progress in Iraq that most Americans do not see every day in their newspapers or on their television screens. I'm going to tell you the story of a northern Iraqi city called Tal Afar, which was once a key base of operations for al Qaeda and is today a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq." - Today, President speaking in Ohio.

You should read this speech carefully. Not so much for the content - but for the tone. The tone is that we are children and big daddy is going to tell us a bedtime story that will take away our nightmares. It is written like a fairy tale or a fable.

"So today I'd like to share a concrete example of progress in Iraq"

I'm going to use the power of my office to dominate all the media and tell you what I think you should know and which isn't being seen in your media. [Now it is time for someone from our media to visit Tal Afar and let us know if anything that follows is true. Also - remember - the media won't show any of this, but they will let you tell us about it. If what is told is true, and you haven't seen pictures or read nice stories - there are two reasons for this: media are interested in dog bites man stories. They have never been interested in a story about how peaceful things are. But more to the point - odds are that journalists can't travel to that city without being kidnapped or killed.]

I'm going to tell you the story of a northern Iraqi city called Tal Afar, which was once a key base of operations for al Qaeda and is today a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq.

This sentence is packed. I'm going to tell you the story of a northern Iraqi city called Tal Afar --

I'm not going to jump on the fact that the president didn't pronounce the city the same way twice and this looks like a simple one to pronounce for a westerner - but the phrase, "I'm going to tell you a story..." Yeah, a story - as in a piece of fiction. I wouldn't have let that phrase stay.

"Tal Afar which was once a key base of operations for al Qaeda"

Uh - when was that - before or after the Americans arrived?

"...is today a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq."

In other words, and I take the president at his word - because Tal Afar is now "free" - we have reason to believe the rest of the country will one day be free.

These are false analogies. What you would need to do is give me some statistics regarding free and non-free cities in Iraq. If you tell me that this one city is free - does this say anything about what is going on in the rest of the country?

Picture the confederate president during the civil war saying that things were going well for the south - and that as an example - (fill in your southern town here) was in the hands of the confederates.

What the president believes - what he doesn't believe - those are things of no importance. What is important is that he be able to give realistic appraisals of what is going on - not what he wishes was going on.

USAGE (all from today's speech)
"I believe that as Iraqis continue to see the benefits of liberty, they will gain confidence in their future and they will work to ensure that common purpose trumps narrow sectarianism."

"One of the biggest complaints was the police force, which rarely ventured out of its headquarters. When it did venture, it was mostly to carry out sectarian reprisals."

"Unlike other parts of Iraq, in Tal Afar, the reaction was subdued, with few reports of sectarian violence. "

"The terrorists have not given up in Tal Afar. And they may yet succeed in exploding bombs or provoking acts of sectarian violence."

"A recent television report followed a guy named Captain Jesse Sellers on patrol and described him as a pied piper with crowds of Iraqi children happily chanting his name as he greets locals with the words "Salam alaikim" which means, "Peace be with you."

And - as if speaking in fairytale voice wasn't enough - there is an actual quote from a fairytale: the pied piper.

I expect more fairytales in the following speeches.

Have A Leitz Day

Yesterday it was the very pre-aspherical 35mm summicron. It's a sweet lens. Now I'm vintage all the way (except for the film - tri-x - which is modern).




Kiss on Fifth Avenue

This almost looks setup. Flags. Parade. Kiss. But it wasn't. If it had been I would have had the people around the couple doing something interesting. And oh, the lighting is the usual St. Patrick's Day harsh light in New York - with the sun shooting up 5th Avenue and the crowd in shadow. And me without my lens hood yet for the new lens. O my God - just realized - how much will a Leica hood cost for this thing?




Wolf (St. Patty's Day)


I like the wolf kid. I just crammed up against the fence and waited for different people to contrast with the wolf kid. The 35mm just wants two things in the frame. It begs for two. The 50mm lens wants one. The 21mm wants it all baby.




Father & Sons

But don't tell anyone - I began to adore the old-time Summicron lens with its heavy lidded goggles. I began to feel like the old timer wandering through foreign streets with the single best formation of metal and gears in the world. I did. Now, I'm not saying that this was as bad as a Lenny Dykstra who still slept with his bat (so he tells us) when he made it to the bigs - but I like having the M3 near my bed. Maybe the end of the world will happen and by God - I'll be ready! I know how everyone else will be ready - with prayers - and living right - but I'll have my circa 1965 image grabbing Leitz lens - on its M3 launching platform locked and loaded. That's right - don't forget - this summicron 35mm has an actual infinity lock.

summicron 35mm

Ended up at Adorama this morning. Looked at a couple of 35mm f/2.0 lenses. But I ended up with the older "goggles" version (f/2.0). Price: $675. (B&H has the same lens - maybe in better condition - listed for $1500). The lens is from 1964 according to the serial number.

And from what I can see, very clean. I don't see the big deal with the goggles, i.e. they're attached to the lens, and they do what they're supposed to do. The viewfinder is still bright and easy to focus. Are these also called bugeyes? If so, I can see why.

The chrome lens even has "an infinity lock" on it. I've never seen a lens with that before, sort of a little detent that you press to release; and I don't expect that I'd ever use it - but the whole setup feels very vintage.

Shot two rolls at the St. Pat's day parade. The camera, even though it looks a little odd - great fun to use with the goggles. Hope the lens is good because I took some good shots and I like this combination. Would hate to have to return it on Sun.

* * *
Update: Developed the first roll. The lens *is* great. Absolutely beautiful.

Anna

Anna interviewed me for her photography class and said it was okay if I posted this if it came out okay.

Black Bread for the Soul

Crawled into bed last night and slept like a log. I raised the print prices substantially - and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling - similar to cognac.

When I awakened - there was a confirmation for a large order from an art buyer that had been in the works for the last two months. No fuss, no muss. No quibbling about prices. Yes - I still gave a substantial discount, but they ordered 18 prints and didn't even want them matted.

Then there were more questions from cyber-drones which I decided to stop answering. That gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling too. Sometimes, you need to protect your ego.

It has been a black couple of months since the start of the new year. Black toxins erupted from my lungs in the form of bronchitis and seemed symbolic of some deeper blackness in my soul.

You know I have a Russian Jewish background and the soul is very big in our thinking. Every culture has its own idea of the soul. The Russian / Jewish soul is made of a rich, black bread with fresh butter. Heavy and yet light at the same time. But when it goes stale - it needs to be tossed out - and replaced with fresh black bread.

A friend that I loaned $4000 to - materialized from my distant past and paid me back with interest. His wife did well in the antique business . He said he was clearning up old debts and let's just say that he arrived just in time to chase whatever bits of stale black soul needed to be sent to the soul vacuum cleaner (sorry but that's what happens if you drag a metaphor around too much).

I should note - for the record - that when I had money - I often gave it away with a grand melodramatic flourish. Nothing like it. Of course, when the money was gone - I could beg with the best of them.

It really is much more gratifying to give than to receive - if you can swing it and if you find the right recipient. These days - my grand gesture is limited to purchasing CDs for John - the neighborhood savant - that uses his body to reserve parking spots for the local garage, and uses his eyes to spot meter maids.

I've been getting him CDs for years now - but with the advent of the iPod - it's a great system. I buy 'em but before I give them to him I transfer the songs (if I like them) to the iPod.

It's always exciting to see what John is going to request next (and his requests never end). He is the perfect person to give to because he expresses no thanks whatsover. When you give him something he immediately asks for something else. I like that.

Anyway - I gave him the Miles Davis CD he wanted and then he asked for - are you ready for this: Tommy James and the Shondells (sp?) - and I can't think of the name. Not, "I think we're alone now." But hooky pooky or something. He says its there first album.

The conversation goes like this. John is walking back and forth reserving an empty parking spot. He spies me and shouts:

JOHN
Dave! Dave! Did you get my CDs yet?

DAVE
I got 'em, John.

I approach him with one CD in my hand. He grabs it. Turns it over several times. A smile flickers - and I mean flickers - across his face.

DAVE
Is that the right one?

JOHN
That's it, Dave. That's it! Can you get me Tommy James for Easter?

DAVE
Tommy James?

JOHN
Tommy James and the Shondells. Can you get that for me, Dave? For Easter.

DAVE
Jeez. When is Easter?

JOHN
April 16th. Easter Sunday. April 16th. I won't be here on Sunday. Could you get it for me on Friday? Friday, April 14th. April 14th.

DAVE
Man. That's only a month away. I don't know.

JOHN
That's okay, Dave. That's okay. Don't get mad. (He smacks himself in the forehead - hard).

When he gets upset - which is often - words won't help. You need to touch him lightly on the arm, which I do.

JOHN
You're a good guy, Dave.

DAVE
But you want Tommy James and the Shondells. Which one?

JOHN
First album. First album. Can you get that for me, Dave. I grew up with that album. I had it on tape but it broke.

DAVE
Okay - maybe not for Easter. Maybe for the next holiday.

JOHN
Cinco de Mayo.

DAVE
Is that okay? May 5th?

JOHN
Cinco de Mayo. That's a Friday. I'll be here on Friday.

DAVE
Okay. You got it.

John shouts as I walk away:
Cinco de Mayo! Tommy James! That's a Friday, Dave.

He does have a calendar in his head. Knows every holiday and what day of the week it falls on.

And he's not a bad guy. And definitely not stupid. The neighborhood is filled with an assortment of what I'd call borderliners. Yes, they live in this upscale, expensive neighborhood - but some of 'em are going to soup kitchens for lunch.

I haven't been to any of the soup kitchens around here, though I've been invited by one of the bottle cleaners for lunch. I wonder if they've got black bread there?

LEITZ AND LEITZ

Read a couple more reviews - the most in-depth one on luminous Landscape - comparing 35mm fast lenses. Here's what is fascinating:

The Leica M 35mm Asp. f1.4 costs ~ $3000 at b&h
The new Zeiss Biogon 35mm f2/0 ~$1000
The Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f1.7 ~ $390

And in terms of quality - that's how you'd rate them. The Biogon and the Ultron are very close wide open. But the Leica stuff is still out of reach.

Anyway - that's for new stuff.

I'm going to hunt around for a used pre-aspherical f2/0 Leica lens and see what they're priced at. If I don't find any of those around, I'll probably go with the Ultron, although my heart is bit partial to the Biogon. I think I still have some fetish about the Zeiss glass in my blood.

Some day - I will write the script for a movie - based on the cameras I've had and loved - sort of a 8 1/2 Fellini type of thing - but instead of women - they'll just be cameras dancing around.

* * *

Exc++++

Mint ----

There are plenty of Leitz 35mm f2.0 pre-aspherical lenses around. Going price "in-store" is somewhere between $700 ~ $950

I'll use the lens on the R2A if it's too much of a pain with goggles on the M3. Or the other way around - just dedicate the M3 with goggles for the 35mm. Since I haven't even looked through goggles - I don't really know what the big deal is with them - unless it's that they cut down on the light and make it more difficult to focus / and see what you're shooting - and ruin that nice bright M3 finder. Should know more today as I'm going to hit a couple of stores.

Would like to finish this lens business up today in time for ST. PATRICKS DAILY PARADE

representation

After my interview for a students school paper (A. I can't believe you travelled four hours to get here!) - I came back to apartment and I've been collecting a list of galleries that I might approach for representation. I'm starting with the "A" list, i.e. agents or galleries that represent the rich and famous and I'll work my way down the "B" and then the "F" list.

Eiffel Tower, Base

Physical Placement

Anyway - I raised the prices last night. I was beginning to feel like the hooker with a heart of gold. After raising the prices I felt better. Now there have been several comments about there being too many photographs in the main store. That, my friends is the easiest thing to solve. There are currently 140 prints. What number should I take it down to? 50? 75? 100? TEN? Are you kidding? Only show 10? egad. That can't be right. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE THE TOP TWENTY IN THE MAIN GALLERY. AND THEN HAVE A LINK THAT SAYS "MORE..."


Hi Dave,

I am coming to NY this weekend and would be interested in taking a look at your photography. Do you have a gallery? If so, what are the opening hours -Friday would be the most likely day I would visit.

Thanks,
C.G.

* * *
Mr. Beckerman,
I have been visiting your site for a long time and I am wondering if your prints are available in any stores or galleries in Atlanta? Please let me know.

Sincerely,
H.H.

* * *
Are you located in an apartment or a store? I couldn't tell from your site.

J.H.

(Just within the last two days).

fan mail

Hello,

I'm just emailing you to let you know how much I love your work. I really do love black and white photography and when I searched it on the internet, your site came up. I was looking through all of your photos and there really is something about them that makes you stop and think; every one has its own beauty. They seem to reflect a great deal of simplistic happiness that does still exist, yet many people seem not to see.

Simple things like children playing or walking with a loved one or even standing in the rain. These are the real pleasures that life brings to peoples' lives and I think your work really conveys this. I can see a great deal of my own happiness and of the things that make me happy too. Your photography has somewhat inspired me to search for these things in your own depiction of life.

Yours sincerely,

F.P.

* * *

Yikes. Still no sales. Maybe I should pass the hat as I seem to be so inspiring. Tomorrow a graduate student is coming by to interview me. When sales are slow, I think the best model is to sell (if you can) your prints for big bucks in galleries to people who've got lots of dough and forget about this nickel ante stuff.

You keep the web presence, but you're too big to sell directly over the web. You are now represented by so-and-so gallery.

Do you know that I got three phone calls this week asking if the address on my website was a store?

You can't sell in the galleries and on the web at the same time. Well, you can - but you can't sell at these web prices. Galleries prints - framed - are going to be at least $500 each, probably more. So how can you sell the same print online for $75? Can't do it. I don't know. May be time to do some rethinking.

A few minutes later. Yes. Re-thinking. I know what I'm going to do. (Another crossroads). I'm going to raise the prices on the web so that they are closer to what gallery prices would be - and pursue getting gallery representation. As much as I'm not crazy about the gallery world - I can't see any other way around this web impass. Rather than trying to sell a lot at $75 - I'll see what if anything I can sell at $200. Maybe $250 on the web and $500 in the gallery. Yes - that's what I'm going to go after for the rest of this year. Because frankly, I can't sell enough at $75 a piece to pay the rent. And so I am taking on other jobs: teaching, web design etc. But I would like the prints to pay the way.

FAT SNOW!

And then it snowed and we had those nice super fat flakes for about 10 minutes:


Fat Snow #1

Matt called me a little later to tell me about the snow - but even with bronchitis I had to at least go out and stand on the corner.

Swordplay

Swordplay - Paris

60,000

That is amazing. But last week I hit 60,000 page views, and one $25 sale. That is a new record in terms of popularity and dismal monetary conversion. As usual, a lot of these views are from hotlinks where one of my images is used as background material for a teenage blog. The web is the new teenage angst hangout. And angst needs an appropriate background. Enter Dave Beckerman - angst backgrounds incorporated. Okay, not incorporated - but dark and mysterious enough to put your stories about how so-and-so didn't look at you right - on.

In the old days - these were posters that you stuck up on your wall and drove your parents nuts with. Now those posters are in cyberworld. And your parents don't even have the password - do they?

Now you can stick anything you can find up - and it don't cost a dime. What I should do is hold a parasitic contest. It will be based on bandwidth usage and one of the categories will be "Best Use of a Hotlinked Photograph." Another category will be worst use of same.

Well, there you go boys and girls: 60,000 page views and one $25 print sale. You do the math.

Camera Info

I added which camera was in the Prints for Sale section. I can't discern any pattern. I seem to like different cameras at different times - but the amount of sellable prints (that just means that I liked them and thought others would too) - per hour used doesn't change much. I might have shot more with the 20D but you are only allowed (you'll need to talk with the creative fates here) - you are only alowed a definite number of good shots per year. That number is about the same no matter which camera I use. However - and this is a big however - the number might actually be less if I didn't switch cameras - as very often the swap gets me out shooting again. It's the change that is useful - but it has nothing to do with what I'm changing for. And - as things would have it - to confirm this theory - many times I've gone back to the same camera I traded in - and enjoyed it for the same amount of time again before my eye began to wander.

The only caveat in the camera usage statistics is that I didn't differentiate between digital cameras. If it says 20D, it could have been the: 20D, the Rebel, or one of the powershots.

Vault

Fifth Avenue - Vault

Hexar AF Classic

I pulled out the old Hexar to use as a walkin' around camera because I wanted to shoot with a 35mm length lens, and don't have one yet for the Leica / Voigtlander. I remember the Hexar fondly - but it has shortcomings: top speed of 1/250th.

(I thought that it went to 1/500th in Program mode, but I haven't been able to confirm that - and it might have been another one of the early designer cameras I was thinking of).

That is a serious drawback for walkin' around stuff. And, although the viewfinder is sharp and contrasty - the way the frame lines are shown (they move in a bit for parallex correction) doesn't give you that great sense of what exactly is in the frame that you have with a manual focus rangefinder.

On the plus side: the camera is very easy and comfortable to hand-hold at your side. You don't need (nor do they make) any sort of grip for it. And in "silent mode" (which was removed from the camera at some point for legal reasons) - in "silent mode" it is the quiestest of any (including Leica) rangefinder - and that's saying something.

The quality of the lens is also excellent. But all in all the camera isn't a substitute for a nice manual rangefinder.

D.U.M.B.O.

Down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass

The Rollei TLR. The 4990 scanner. The Empire State Building (dead ahead). And my eyes and fingers.

Quadograph Flags

P.S. I do find this kaleidoscope effect interesting. Recipe, begin with the shot in upper left corner. Flip horizontal and place upper right corner. Flip this one vertical and place lower right corner. Flip the original and place in lower left corner. You do have to schmear (I'll take a schmear of creamcheese please) the jointings a little. But almost any image that has something halfway geometric along the right and lower edges will give you this kaleidoscope effect.

I think I'll name these: Quadographs.

[Camera: Canon 20D / Post-processing effects by Beckerman Light & Magic]

27 Years Later Part 2

The things they say sound pretty cold
Hope I die before I get old...

And sure enough - that's what happened. Just about all the great ones died before they got old, at least in the wonderful world o' music. Mostly drugs - though disease and murder played their parts as well. Except for Dylan - my generation won't have to sit around and watch their idols perish.

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Phil Ochs, Janis Joplin, Momma Cass, (Richard Manuel, Rick Danko - The Band), John Lennon (my favorite Beatle), George Harrison (the youngest Beatle).

Oh and there were the politicians as well - and that whole Camelot thing which I was too young to buy into and probably wouldn't have bought into it even if I were older. And the other brother slain - who I thought was an opportunist the way he tossed his hat into the ring only after seeing which way the wind was blowing.

But whatever. All gone. And so as I say - we won't have to sit around on our rockers and commiserate with each other about how so-and-so died at 89 (how young he was).

But - we haven't been entirely spared - because the actors - and I mean the male actors - of our generation - now they have survived and prospered.

Attica! Attica! We get to see the big trio: Pacino, DeNiro, and Hoffman - age and as I say - prosper. What we do have to look forward to is the day when DeNiro (and he isn't far from this yet in terms of film choices) will be pitchman for adult diapers. (You talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?). Sorry - my hearings been going lately and I didn't hear you. Oh, you are talkin' to me.

For some reason (less drugs?) the major stars of my generation (even Clint Eastwood) are still going strong. Who would've thunk - that when you saw Dustin Hoffman step onto the scene in his scuba suit - that he'd still be a major star 40 years later?

I mean - even Bill Shatner is still going strong. Now the actresses haven't fared as well in terms of work - but they've not kicked off.

That's all. There might be some point to all this - but I forgot what it was. Oh yes, bejesus - that we would be spared witnessing the aging of most of my generations idols because they had all split so damned soon. That was the idea. And how they did change the world in their three decades!

Not tryin' to 'cause a big -- s-s-s-ensation.
Just talkin' 'bout my generation. (the Who)

Girl with Pail

Sales?

It's always deadly this time of year - no big holidays. No holidays at all.

I haven't had a sale for over a week now. My first reaction - which I will admit is perverse - is to raise prices.

But I'm thinkin' if they don't buy it for $75 might as well have 'em not buy it at $100.

Then I was thinking - do a one-of-a-kind print. One print numbered 1/1. The buyer gets the original negative cut into pieces with one part missing (in case they want to glue it together and make more prints). I like that idea. Instead of $75 for that print, I would do a bidding on eBay and start the bidding off at $1000.

Matt Weber (New Work)

Friends - go to Matt Weber's NEW WORK

Wait for the page to load.

Besides the great opening shot which is the Times Square that I remember, scroll down to the shot of the three guys with coffee cups (about the 12th photograph). Are the first and last guys twins, brothers, or am I seeing things. I was walking with Matt when he snapped that - and as he'll tell you a chuckled.

I'm not sure why I laughed. Recognition that this was a Matt shot. It all happened so fast. We had just seen the Gordon Parks exhibit (he died yesterday or the day before at 93) and were going for coffee.

I was on Matt's left. As we crossed the street the trio approached. I recognized a repeating pattern of cups and similarity of dress. But I didn't want it and besides wasn't quick enough and had the wrong lens on anyway.

Matt snapped and we continued. Then he berated himself that he should have tilted the camera down more. I think - and he can correct me on this, that he said, "I should've tilted down another 3 degrees. I think I missed their feet. "

I thought I knew what the shot would look like, but I was wrong. Matt had a wider lens than usual for him - and I didn't even notice the guy on the right at all. I also didn't have a sense of the distance between the trio. I did see that the third guy gave Matt the old why'ya takin' a picture of me and I'm on to you, eye. That I saw.

Anyway, we continued on to the coffee shop and juggling for the seat with the best view. Although in street shooting, no one knows where the seat with the best view will be. Can you imagine a bar called, The Street Shooter? Lot's of windows looking out onto the street. Revolving chairs. And the best street shots taken from those chairs on the wall?

Promenade Redeux

Hi Dave

I thought I'd let you know that my 'Promenade' print arrived this morning.
Its amazing! You're right about the grey tones; there's a goregous three
dimensional quality as the trees fade in the distance; I could just take a
stroll down there! Its going next to Nightstorm on my wall so when I wake
in the morning I can see something that inspires me.

Print arrived in superb condition with no creases, bumps or bangs; you
have packaging down to an art too!

I'll have to start thinking about what I want next, 'Brooklyn Bridge
Crossing' or 'Roosevelt Island Tram' are high on the list. Hope you've
recovered from the trauma of international posting for Promenade!

Thanks again Dave, pleasure doing business with you!
Allan

* * *

One of the ironies of living through the switch from darkroom to inkjet is that an inkjet print still doesn't have the - je ne sais quoi - of a darkroom print. For the regular Joe out there - an inkjet print is still related to that junk that comes out of their home printer.

That will change someday just as I have pencils all over the house but can't draw a lick.

The irony, as you can see from yesterday's price list, is that the cost of producing the fine art inkjet print is probably double the cost of the same darkroom print. In fact, thinking about it, I'm ballparking it - the quantity of ink used increase with the square (the area) of the final print and so ink costs zoom at that rate - rather than at a linear rate. You know what I mean.

This is a good subject for someone out there to investigate - the cost of producing an inkjet print compared to a fine-art darkroom print. Other expenses come to mind for the inkjet print that have no equivalent on the darkroom end: software upgrades, cleaning cycles, storage for the digital files.

The major difference is in the time to reproduce the next one. It may take as long or longer to produce your first version of the inkjet print. Maybe you'll spend days making test prints and corrections in Photoshop. Maybe not. But once you feel you've got it - and if you've got your process down - then you leap ahead - as the amount of labor to make inkjet reproductions is minimal compared to the darkroom experience.

silver rag

My two rolls of Museo Silver Rag are on the way. Should be here tomorrow. Phew, I only had about three sheets of the Luster left.

Here are the prices:

sheets:

09904 300 8.5 x 11 sheets, 25 sheets/box 41.60
09905 300 13 x 19 sheets, 25 sheets/box 105.60
09906 300 17 x 22 sheets, 25 sheets/box 144.00
09907 300 24 x 36 sheets, 25 sheets/box 320.00
09908 300 35 x 47 sheets, 25 sheets/box 528.00

$/roll

09909 300 17" x 50 ft roll 144.00
09910 300 24" x 50 ft roll 192.00
09911 300 44" x 50 ft roll 336.00
09912 300 50" x 50 ft roll 368.00

* * *

Paper arrived today (3/8/06)

Here's my original post about the Silver Rag Paper.

on the mend w hcb

Yes - the signs of being mended abound. First off I found myself looking to pick up a new rangefinder lens - which means that my attention is starting to wander to things besides my health and age. I was surprised to find out that the Leica lenses, at least the new ones - had actually gone up in price since the last time I looked. Remember, I still only have the 28 Voigtlander and the 50 f2.0 Leica and that's it. I'm in the mood for a nice 35mm to nibble on. For example, here was that luscious 35mm f/2.8 Summaron with "goggles" made for the M3 (which is my main camera) for only $650. Wouldn't that be a nice addition to my family?

I could put the goggles on that one and keep it that way and then use my nifty R2A with other lenses. Or buy a second M3 at some point. Or that nice Hexar RF - they have new bodies at B&H. Once the mind goes off in these directions - then I know that spring is on the way and a young man's fancy turns to glass (I said glass).

Then all I have to do is find a roll or two of 40-year old b&w film; hire some extras that I can dress up in 50's or 60's garb; and take some shots that HCB might have taken; make the contact sheet; age it; and tell Sotheby's that I discovered this contact sheet in a little store near the Seine - on my last trip to Paris. That should take care of my money problems for a while.

Actually, I did go out twice today and stomp shoot some film with my Hexar (two rolls) - and came back for a nap. I sort of forgot just how hard street shooting is.

And the Mets are playing. I actually watched an exhibition game yesterday! I tuned in late so they were playing the new guys by then and I didn't recognize many from last year. But it was fun to watch a Cleveland player drop a ball in the sun. Ah - here comes the sun. I can feel it.

27 Years Later

It happened to me while I was rummaging through my desk drawer looking for my weekly pill container - one of those plastic things with a separate sealed cube for each day's worth of pills. I stumble across the flotsam from past lives: a transcript from NYU Graduate Film School (entered Fall 1979). It is a musty xerox. Grades for film production, directing, acting. I was 27 years old when I went there. I remember being embarrassed to let anyone know how old I was since just about everyone else had just emerged from college and it had taken me until my 27th birthday to get out of college. It is now 27 years later.

Other bits from the past surface. Here's a business card from the software company I started: Tigercub Software, Inc: Delivering Lotus Notes to All PCs in Your Company. You don't even know what Lotus Notes is - and if you do - probably hate it.

That was my slogan. I remember sitting with my partners in the Indian restaurant telling them how I had come up with the name: Tigercub. It was based on an old saying: If you want tiger cubs, you need to go into the tiger's cave. Similar to the New York lotto slogan: you need to be in it to win it.

That was another two years of mostly wasted energy. (Though I put up my first web site for Tigercub so you might think of this site as a tiger cub - now grown up.)

Here's the small album with pictures of the old girlfriend. She must be retired to Florida by now.

Here are all the empty pill bottles from years with the chronic disease. With memos about doctor's appointments. With keys from an old car. Keys from the old summer house - long gone.

You're only as old as you feel.

My nose is running and my back is sprained. I'll be sixty in 6 years. These are facts, my friend. You can't argue with facts. If all goes as it is supposed to you get about 7 decades in this country. So much of it wasted.

Those first two decades are almost entirely a waste. You don't control your own destiny. Everything is about the future. They're gonna make sure you feel guilty about something or other and try and get you ready for the rest of your life. Be careful because you may find that the so-called rest of your life that you've been preparing for doesn't arrive. You're always preparing for the next decade.

I'm supposed to be preparing now for the last two decades, 6 and 7. Screw that. That's about all I've learned. What am I going to do - retire at 62.5? Retire from what? I'm already retired, I just don't have the retirement program to prove it.

Well, the cat jumped up and is sitting on my lap purring away, so I guess this confession must come to an end. Besides, there's still more flotsam to wade through.

At least I'm not alone. This has got to be the largest aging population in American history right now. Remember how old "64" sounded, when you heard the Beatles sing, "When I'm 64?" I remember learning that song on the guitar. How quaint it all sounded. Now it sounds damned close.

Photography Lessons

I continue to get requests to do some lessons. So thinking out loud - here's what I've come up with:

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPY LESSONS

$100 PER LESSON. 1.5 HOUR LESSON.

MINIMUM 4 LESSONS. during the course of a month.

The reason for the 4 lesson minimum is - let's only take serious people. You can't expect to get what you need in an hour-and-a-half and there's going to be some sort of assignment for each session so you can do things on your own. I can if you like combine two lessons into a 3-hour lesson.

First half hour is an evaluation (let's try and figure out what you need).

The concentration is black and white output, but there are so many possible areas: digital capture, film development, inkjet printing techniques, photoshop techniques (uh, that is vague but geared towards the b&w print), useful photoshop plug-ins for b&w, street shooting, urban landscape (composition - bring a tripod), rangefinder shooting technique - in other words, anything that I know something about is fair game.

I'm guessing that every person is going to arrive with different goals and different expertise so I would like, as much as possible to tailor it to the individual.

Note: All of this in my state-of-the-art, fully equiped, smoke-free studio (studio can fit two comfortably). Have I left anything out? Let me know.

Academy Relics

" I live in Edinburgh, Scotland (a beautiful city, visit it one day!) and use a mixture of Contax G2 and Pentax 67 for different stuff. It was snowy here yesterday and I was working in the Old Town using the 67, looking for patterns on the roofs of the old buildings. Camera was mounted on tripod when a tourist (American) looked at me in wonder, and asked was I using 'a new type of digital camera', and looked totally bemused when I told him that no, it was film, and black and white too! He kept looking at me as if he'd just seen a relic...! "

It's pretty easy in this country to check whether you're a relic or not. There is a simple test this time of year:

How many of the films nominated for best picture at the Oscars have you seen?

ZERO = relic! Total relic. You're still using glass plates.
ONE = you're not a relic yet, but you will be one next year.
TWO = you're just old. But if you don't get out more you will be a relic all too soon.
THREE = You're no relic. You're swingin' baby. You just got the latest powershot.
FOUR = You just picked up the latest Canon digital SLR and you don't even take pictures.
FIVE = You are the lastest in digital. Not even available yet.

Oh - I've seen zero (total relic). I don't want to see I Walk the Line. I'm not even such a big Johnny Cash fan and that guy who's playing him reminds me of the bad guy from Gladiator.

Truman Capote and cold blood. I'll see it on DVD.

Where's the big blockbuster?

Cab Window in Rain

2006, Cab Window in Rain

Silver Rag not Yet

In case you're wondering - I still haven't received the museo silver rag paper. My supplier doesn't have it yet but they expect it tomorrow. I have enough left to do one more 11 x 14 print. After that - unless someone specifically asks for the paper - I'll go back to the Epson lustre.

And even with the bronchitis - I ventured out with the Hexar this morning during the snow flurry and that was a good idea because I haven't seen much snow since.

Untitled

Late Edition

Dateline New York: January 16 - 17 1995

Two, Schurz Park

Two, Schurz Park 2001

advice

"hi. i just wanted to let you know how much i enjoy you're work. i read that you are using film and i believe that you're pictures are very remarkable. i looked at each one of them in the photography store.

i am in my freshman year at [xyz] college and i really want to study photography but they don't teach anything about film anymore and one of my teachers' mr. meadows who teaches digital photography said that i might contact you. is that okay?

do you think that a newbie is better off with film or digital? i'm not sure. film seems more beautiful to me.

also, could you advise about film and scanner combinations? there's so much to ask. what film camera would you use to start with? what do you think about the cost? is it expensive to develop film? i know this is a lot to ask but i am so impresed with you're work that i think you would be a good person to ask. " - norma

This is a composite of three e-mails from the last three days. But there is some weird confluence going on out there where students are getting interested in film again. Remember how black and white was dead once? Is it possible that there will always be an interest in film? That it will go in and out of fashion with say 10% of professionals? Letters like this make me feel ancient.

Stair Montage

Stair and Railing Montage


Here's the original shot:

Murder Machine

New York Post Headline: MURDER MACHINE CAUGHT

I can only make out the headline, not the date. I can remember creeping up because I could make out the headline (this was shot with a 21mm). Where else but Central Park, New York?

Lester

Lester - this one is for you. Now you can go back and read all your comments in the blog by just clicking here: all of Lester's comments.

As can anyone else with a distinctive name. Go to the advanced search by clicking the search button and then set the category to blog, fill in your own name and you should find a collection or your own writing. Good grief, what won't they think of next.

International Orders

The worst Post Office in New York City is on 85th street between 2nd and 3rd avenues. I use them when I need to ship international. I had a 16 x 20 going to England and it had been packaged and waiting to go but given my coughing and now my sore ribcage (muscle pulled from cough) I didn't have the energy or patience to do the Post Office thing. But I went today. It didn't look that bad when I got there. About 10 people on line, and three clerks.

It took over 45 minutes to get to a clerk. By the time I left, people on line were shouting at the clerks to hurry up. The line stretched to the very back of the post office.

What happened was that every single person who arrived in the clerk's presence had either filled out the wrong form, or complex transactions to perform such as getting a passport! So you had your three clerks. One was working on a passport for the whole time. And now the line has about thirty people on it.

But to make it worse - they've never gotten the heating system right - so as you are standing there in your overcoat - the ceiling vents begin spitting out hot air. So now people are taking their coats off and grumbling about the heat.

The manager pokes his nose out to take a look. Sees the line stretching back to the door and then disappears, never to be seen again.

The woman behind me sneezes in my face and then I start to cough. The sound of the deep chest cough backs people away.

And there - ahead of me - is the complete moron of a clerk who always tells me that I've filled out the wrong customs form and why. He's just finished telling someone else they've filled out the wrong form.

He looks at the package and says, "this isn't more than 36 inches around."

Ah, but now I've got him.

Yes - it's 40 inches! I tell him with a tired grin. It's 40 inches and that, I say, means it has to go parcel post air-mail. It also means that this is the correct customs form.

He stops in his tracks.

(Personally, I wish that it wasn't more than 36 inches around since it costs twice as much, but not much you can do with the packaging if the mat is 16 x 20 is there? You've hit 36 around right there unless people in Britain want to get folded mat boards.)

Really - he asks, staring down at the flat package. It doesn't look like it's more than 36 inches.

He has a tape measure and insists on measuring it anyway.

He looks up at me with watery defeated eyes.

You're right, he says. This is 40 inches around. Parcel post air-mail.

I hand him the multi-page form and he begins stamping each copy.

Anything else, he asks - just to annoy me. Any stamps, any envelopes?

He forces me to say, nothing else. If there was something else I would have told him - no?

And he puts the sticker on someone yells from the line: Hey! Put on more clerks! Put on more clerks!

Coat in hand, I turn and walk slowly past the snaking line. That's it for me. I'm coughing and sweaty - but I've done my bit for the day.

Try the Search Again

OK. I think it's going through the blog properly now. Try searching for Vuescan and see what you get (yeah, eventually this post will wind up in it too once it has been re-indexed).