retrofocus ramblings.

Such is the thing about Winter. It finds you. After such a nice pleasant day on Monday today in New York City was decidedly less so. I did make it over to the International Center of Photography gallery and bookstore. Was not open on Monday. So that was a plus. It was a very interesting show on the upstairs for a number of reasons, but the more historic show downstairs celebrating the life and work of legendary Conde-Nast photographer Edwards Steichen was the meat and potatoes of the gallery. Much was there that really explains what fashion photography was for a long time.

The work upstairs, far more current – so much so that most of it was tear-sheets glued to foam core – only served to amplify the power and elegance of Steichen. There was even a goofy 16-mm silent film made by Eastman Kodak I think that showed Steichen at work in his Conde-Nast studio. (Early multimedia!)

Walking around the city after my stop at the ICP was fairly frustrating. No matter what corner I took the snow was in my eyes. Ended up making a trip towards Chelsea with the idea of visiting the Adorama store that I spend a bit of cash at. Have been to B&H last time I was here. Never made it, however, as the snow was driving me bananas and I had the good fortune to get a call from a old friend to do lunch. Back to Times Square I went.

While in Chelsea I snapped this one with the PowerShot. Not a great day for golf.

Another pretty full day of walking around New York City. Had a total of four possible museum stops on the day’s agenda and had a 50% success rate. Seems Monday’s are a common day for some of these places to be closed. Two were. I found them all with little issue, but it did require some traveling. Had a mixture of walking and subway as my means of getting around. One thing I did do was take the subway to Brooklyn and then took the walking path back over the bridge back into Manhattan. That was unique. Not sure I’ve done that particular stroll before. Actually busted out my D200 for that. Figures the autofocus on my off-brand 12-24 would go kaput today. Given the range I went back to some old-school lens twisting. Not a real issue with that wide of angles.

In the end for today here’s a snapshot of good old 30 Rock – The GE Building.

Did a small sort of photo-walk today on the Upper West Side. Walked from Columbus Circle North and crossed Central Park to get to the Guggenheim Museum. Carried my D200 over my shoulder, but the only camera I pulled out all morning was the Canon SD750 happy snapper. Don’t know why, just felt like not looking like a photographer today. Even though I removed the grip from the D200, it’s still fairly big and black and intimidating. The tiny Canon, not so much.
Speaking of things to see I have no idea why I was so fascinated by shoes, boots and feet while I’m walking around. Maybe New Yorkers just wear more snarky footwear. Who knows. I’m normally not much of a foot person at all.

Here’s a picture I grabbed near the Museum of Natural History. LOVE the boots and contrast.

I got up today plenty early.
I did, I really did.
Then why O why did I just slide into the boarding line at gate 34 by the skin of my teeth?

Poor intel!

That’s what I get for ASSUMING that the Logan Express shuttle bus runs every 30 minutes. Nope. Not on weekends it doesn’t. “Next Bus at 8:00″ read the slightly worn paper sign taped to the window. This was obviously a ploy by the man in the booth to save his vocal cords. It worked. And so began the gnawing in my stomach that lasted until 8 minutes ago.

However, truth be told, I’m ‘blogging from seat 18c on an Airbus A320. Riding JetBlue to JFK for a couple of days.

See ya!

A view while working today:

I usually have my head on straight. Which is to say I very much value the contents of the bag I sling over my back when I head out and do what I do. However, on Tuesday afternoon I left something of significant value in a place that I completely forgot about for a solid 6 hours. That’s how long it took me to realize that I only had 2 Nikon Speedlights in my bag and my handy-dandy blue-handled clamp was missing. A panicked email to my contact for Tuesday’s shoot and I felt a bit better. After an early morning drive in the snow back to the scene of my stupidity for something completely different I pondered the probabilities. A few hours later I had what I had left in my hands. Safe and sound. Given where I left the SB-800 I’m not really surprised that this leaving was a total non-event. Good people surrounded it from the moment I placed it where I did. Just one person failed in his duties to retrieve his possessions. That would be me. I am very happy to get my gear back, and thank all involved.

All good people. A good karma day for sure.

Went flying again in the Skymaster Sunday morning. It was a cold day to fly, but the crew of the Norwood Aero Club are hearty souls. Three of us ventured to Westfield / Barnes Airport for a spot of breakfast.

Made a few winter-themed snaps with a point and shoot. A few are below.

Still plowing through my take from D.C. will have a few more, with the right year watermark, to share soon.

Greetings – I have returned from my D.C. adventure. It was quite the drive today as I left Washington a slight bit before noon. Arrived Dedham Mass. twenty after 9 p.m.

Apologies for not posting as much as I had hoped on this site. The total lack of laptop internet made posting more of a chore and the iPhone’s battery on lasts so long.

More to reflect on tomorrow. It was an amazing trip!

After 8 hours in the rental car I’ve arrived in Washington D.C. great spot to be right here, right now.

For most of the ride I listened to an audiobook. This audiobook was read by the author. The author will soon be the 44th President of The United States of America. It was quite interesting to listen to Barak Obama read his first book and later to hear him speak on the late news. If our next president is still, at least in part, the man who wrote that book I think we have elected one of the most interesting and competent people to come to Washington in a long time.

I am very curious about tomorrow.

Since I plan to blog my Sunday to Wednesday adventure in D.C. it’s probably best to test this.
Now, it’s fine for folks not to fall in love with the incoming president, but I do think Americans ought to give him a chance. Mr. Obama has a very full plate, he’ll need the country’s support to get us out of this mess and I think he deserves that to start with.

I am excited to see the pagentry and all for myself!

Photo in this post was from my nighttime trip to the gym. Was a cold trip.