retrofocus ramblings.

Here I am sitting at a terminal bar in JetBlue’s new home. ( Free Wi-Fi! ) The bartender seems ready to head home. Since I’m drinking juice I don’t blame her. She just spent the last 15 minutes dolling herself up for somebody – lipstick, eyeliner, and the whole gamut. Given the rock on her finger I’m guessing she’s heading home to Papi.

Since this is my last 20 minutes in greater New York City I have one last image to post here. I decided to really use my ‘real’ camera while out for a morning stroll around Midtown. In an effort to be somewhat creative I abandoned my Nikkors and shot only with my LensBaby. I have one of the older styles with the set screws and plastic lens. It’s fun to play with. Specially on the streets of Manhattan pushing, pulling and twisting the thing around. Photography with two hands, imagine that!

In honor of the new motion picture in the theaters “Hotel For Dogs” I now present my homage – Hotel For Cars:

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.

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.

There is a nifty super panorama photograph of the Inauguration floating around on the web. The technology used allows the viewer to zoom in and see amazing details. It’s definitely a very cool digital record of a moment. I invite you to check it out if you have not yet seen it. As an emotional image it kind of fails for me, but it is really neat.

* see it here *

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.

My feet are cold and sore. But this trip was amazing. Photos are nothing special, however never will I regret a millisecond of my time on the National Mall today. It was magical.

Okay I’m a sap. I admit it.

An afternoon of driving leads to iPhone snaphots…