Ocala Morning

Horse Show, Ocala, Florida

When my daughter was young she rode in horse shows. We were out there in Ocala one morning at sunrise with only a 110 camera. Shows that the best camera is truly the one you have with you...

Off to Durham, North Carolina (and warm weather)  today - gotta run - 

Where are They

Where are They

 'When someone walks out of your life, let them. There is no use in wasting your time on people that leave you. What you make of yourself and your future is no longer tied to them. Yeah, you might miss them, but remember, you were not the one that gave up'…..anonymous

from the series, Childhood and Other Neighborhoods......

Badwater Sunrise

Badwater Basin, Death Valley

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in"...............John Muir

Who_2

Pete Townsend - Keith Moon

Back in the day at concerts, meaning the late 60's and early 70's photographers were allowed to shoot the entire show - heck, you were even allowed you to shoot with flash. There was no 3 song and a cloud of dust rule.

I used to experiment with flash by shooting at various shutter speeds to get light trails using the tour lighting to paint on the image. It was impossible to see what you were doing but with some practice one could get a vague idea.

This capture of the Who was made just that way - probably one of many from that night.

Opera Singers

Opera Singers, New York City, circa 1975

Best I can remember this image was captured for Zoo World Magazine back in the 70's.  At the time I was living in New York and working on 28th street as a first assistant in  a commercial photography studio. Not quite sure if they were mother-son or husband-wife, but they were sure fun when they came by the studio.

During that time period I moonlighted in the music business, going to photograph concerts, and, doing some magazine work on the side. Back then you could spend the entire night shooting from the pit, unlike today where it is three songs from back of house with a long lens. Times have certainly changed.

I have posted this image before but not in Black and White. 

Van Halen

Van Halen, circa 2004

Just got home from Philadelphia. I was caught in a quick hitting snow storm dropping one inch per hour on the 'City of Brotherly Love' - had to spend the night in a hotel and drive back today.

Quick post from the archives today.....Van Halen with Sammy Hagar - end of show in Pennsylvania in 2004.... Hershey I believe

Now for a nap....

Who

The Who, Madison Square Garden, circa 1975

'We tried not to age, but time had its rage'...Pete Townsend

Today I found a gem - a classic 'WHO' image, circa, 1975 at Madison Square Garden, during, I believe, what was a 6 night residency.

The image was on life support, deteriorated almost beyond repair from moving from place to place for over 35 years. It felt like it would fall apart in my hands if i tightened my grip. When I got this one on the light-box I knew it had to be saved so I scanned it into the digital age, converted to black and white, added back some color and was able to breathe some life back into it.

Original image below just after scanning.......Don't you just love Photoshop....

Original Scan - The Who

Christmas in Maine

Maine - Christmas 2009

 'Sometimes I dream of at Last becoming a Child'.........Anonymous

Image was captured using the Phase One P65 with 75-150MM lens....

Rancho Taos 2

Rancho Taos, New Mexico

 'Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees'.........Paul Strand

Polaroid Type 55

Emilie, Brooklyn, circa 1995

 
"Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder".........Eberhard Arnold

What a marvelous film Polaroid Type 55 was. You shot, peeled off the negative and carried it around all day in an 18% Sodium-Sulfite solution. When you returned to the darkroom  you would clear with Kodak Hypo-Clear, dry and print using an  enlarger. One could also contact print if need be. Polaroid Type 55 gave a great look to the edge of the frame...always different from frame to frame.

I think I read somewhere that a group is trying to produce a new version of Type 55....Let's hope they succeed.

Thanks to my friend Lori in Chicago for today's quote.

Rancho De Taos

Rancho Taos Mission

My take on the often photographed 'San Francisco de Asis' Mission Church in Rancho Taos, New Mexico. 

My first knowledge of this Mission was a Georgia O'Keefe painting and two photographic images, one by Ansel Adams and the other by Paul Strand. I remember thinking, at first glance,  what an elegant almost 'great pyramid' type structure. Immediately this was on the bucket list.

I stood at this mission for the first time in May of 2009 and wanted to capture an image from a different angle then I previously saw in O'Keefe, Strand and Adams.

This image has been processed several times since capture. The goal was to isolate the Mission from the surrounding structures and this oddly cropped version is what finally worked for me.

Peter Frampton

Peter Frampton, 1976

Yesterday's post led me back into the music archives and a redux of a portrait I did of Peter Frampton, circa 1976 - this time in Black and White.

Background story is that I had this friend, Robyn, who worked for Peter's record label in New York. One night, very late, she came by the studio unannounced and brought Peter and his then girlfriend Penny over to do some photos. We shot several portraits and a few of Peter and Penny together in about 30 minutes and, poof, they were gone.

Video Still

Human Wheels Video Still, 1994

I spent a good many years as Touring Director in the music industry and always had a camera with me. This video still is from a John Mellencamp video, 'Human Wheels'.

The video shoot was in Nashville, Indiana, circa 1994. The church in the background is only about 12' tall, the model was 6' and the muscle man around 4' tall.

Captured with TRIX 400 speed film using a Leica M4. Scanned into the digital world with a Hasselblad/Imacon scanner.

New York, New York

'I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues".........Duke Ellington

Another Point and Shoot from circa 1996.

One day I sat on a stoop in Soho and made images of people walking by. This image perfectly sums up New York energy. I am still amazed at the shapes and patterns one can capture without looking through the lens.

Captured on TriX 400 speed film with a Canon Silver Anniversary camera.

Evolution

Evolution

'Each image has its own way of evolving - when the photograph is finished, the subject reveals itself'......Anonymous

Captured with a Pentax 67 using Kodak Tri-X film at ASA 400 - moved to the digital world using an Imacon/Hassleblad scanner. 

Chiaroscuro

'You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm'.....Colette

Working through my black and white Point and Shoot series has me thinking of the photographers who influenced me when I first got into photography. I clearly remember the first time I saw Ralph Gibson's book 'Chiaroscuro' and became immediately intoxicated with his high contrast, grainy images.

Ralph Gibson would pull you into his  images using grain, contrast and texture.  Starting out as a photojournalist, he claimed,  caused him to have a lifelong relationship with grain. Additionally, and unbeknown to me until today, he worked with Robert Frank (another early influence with his book, The Americans) on a film in 1969, Me and My Brother,  starring Allen Ginsburg.

It has been quite rewarding for me to look back on these early black and white days  - not sure what prompted this but happy that it happened. Opens yet another dialog in my head regarding the direction of my work.

The image in the header is a scan from an original 12X20 black and white negative. 

Only in New York

New York, NY

Another Point and Shoot image, circa 199, back in the days of pay phones...

Can't help but wonder what the story is.

Fire Island - July 4th

Fire Island Parade

'All the snow has turned to water,
Christmas days have come and gone.
Broken toys and faded colors are all that's left to linger on.
I hate graveyards and old pawn shops,
For they always bring me tears.
I can't forgive the way they robbed me of my childhood souvenirs'....Steve Goodman (Souvenirs)

 The Fire Island Parade is an annual event held on July 4th and officially marks the start of the summer season. All the children (and some adults) create Americana floats and costumes. They parade through the streets, some walking, some being pulled in decorative wagons (no cars allowed on Fire Island). Today's image is a slice of Fire Island life.

Cyclone, Coney Island

Coney Island Cyclone

Coney Island was always a favorite of mine....As a young kids we used to skip school and ride the subway to Coney Island with a couple of dollars in our pockets - made a full day of entertainment. And of course, there was always a stop at Nathan's....

This image was captured using my point and shoot with Tri-X 400 and scanned over to the digital medium.

Birthday Party

Birthday Party

 

 'Had the price of looking been blindness...I still would have looked'....Ralph Ellison

Coney Island

Coney Island 

Another no-look point and shoot, this time on a warm night in Coney Island. I really love the facial expressions when the subject is not aware of being a subject. Great eyes on the stuffed animals...

Point and Shoot

New York City Subway

  'Let the subject generate its own photographs. Become a camera'.......Minor White

Back in the mid-nineties I walked around NY with a point and shoot camera shooting from the hip. Never looked in the viewfinder - simply saw something that triggered my making an exposure (on film of course) and waited until processing to see the image.

Interesting as it may be I was always able to relate to the images - found it a great exercise to be relieved from the thought process involved in making a traditional exposure - hits you on some sub-conscious level - very much like the iPhone or early Polaroid....

Helicon Focus

Pescadaro Beach , California

There is only one way I am aware of (without using swings and tilts on a view camera) to handle depth of field issues like the image posted today. This image was blended from 6 separate high resolution (60MP) images in Helicon Focus Software. Each image had a different point of focus from near to far.

When capturing you would find the farthest and nearest point of focus and simply 'bracket' the focus from one to the other. Load these images in Helicon Focus and it resolves focus and returns an image sharp from front to back.

Give it a try - works well..

PS: Thanks to Dr. Mark Dubovoy for teaching me this workflow. 

Ireland Re-Visit

Garyvoe Beach, Ireland

'Sometimes I dream of at last becoming a child'....Anonymous

The Road to the Cliffs of Moher Ireland

Abandoned ireland

Abandoned Ireland

I was pleasantly surprised by the abandoned buildings still standing in Ireland. They seem to cherish these old structures, and, rather then take them down, these buildings, in many cases, are incorporated into much newer buildings. Most of them actually perform a function, whether it be to house a tractor or winter feed for the animals.

Driving down a road barely big enough for the car I noticed today's post set back on the right - of course I might have missed it had I not been driving on the wrong side of the car. Then, of course, there is the challenge to find someplace to park....Try as I might there was no way to get inside...
 

Mountain

Leslie West, Felix Pappalardi - Mountain

Never know what I might find in the archives.

This image was captured on film New Years Eve 1974 at The Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden. If my memory serves me well this might have been the last show with the original lineup of Leslie West, Felix Pappalardi and Corky Laing.

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite - Homage to Ansel Adams

There are times when you just have to do it......

I was in Yosemite last year  standing near the spot where Ansel Admas exposed the image 'Clearing Winter Storm', on film of course. Ansel's image was one of the primary reasons I started getting serious about making images.

Today's image was captured on February 2, 2010. This being the first anniversary of the image I decided it had to be posted. Of course my image is missing the clouds and the fog amongst a few other bits and pieces.

Thanks to Barbara Myriam Ventura for the new sharpening workflow.