La Giuria

We all know what a wonderful resource we have at out fingertips with this thing called the internet. It's expanded our lives and our world visions by proportions - not arithmetic or even geometric - but definitely logarithmic. Through the internet, by having a webpage, this blog, and the ability to post my work on various photo sharing sites and social media sites I've interacted with people all over the world who I would never have had the opportunity to get to know otherwise. I've developed fans of my photography, and become interested in others' photographic work. My social consciousness has grown dramatically. And I have reconnected with people from the dim recesses of my past who have very gratifyingly reached out to me. Today I had the opportunity to spend a few hours face to face with someone I met through my photographs and with whom I have corresponded for the past year or so. It was wonderful chatting with him as though we had been friends for years.

The day was way too hot (peaked at 95ºF, tomorrow 100º is expected) for any kind of extended photo walk, but I did get a few good shots to work with. Also to mention, Nik Software is about to release an upgraded version of its HDR Efex Pro software, this will be version 2. I had a brief look at it this afternoon after downloading. There's some definite changes in the interface and processing, but I haven't had any chance to really play with it yet, so I'll reserve judgement until I do. Given my past experience with the products of Nik, however, I am sure there will be plenty to like and enjoy learning to use.

Here's a shot I took last week (when it was a cool 89º) in Little Italy. As with all my images, it was processed in Lightroom 4, Nik's Dfine, Color Efex Pro 4, and Silver Efex Pro 2. These friends were passing judgement on something!

More Heat

The weather has been unbelievable in New York - the heat wave continues and most of us are stuck indoors (thankful for air conditioning). Being a bit claustrophobic, I've been getting antsy so tomorrow I'm getting out for a walk no matter how hot. As I write this blog post the prediction for tomorrow is a high of 93ºF. I'm not sure that there will be many folks out and about.

I visited with some friends to watch the July 4th fireworks. It was a great opportunity to try some low light photography and test the Fuji X Pro-1's capabilities. There were three charter members of the Future Heart Breakers Club in attendance. I would have done better to bump the ISO higher and use as smaller aperture (the camera was set with a shutter of 125th of a second, aperture of f1.4 and auto ISO - 640), but it was a quick grab shot because .... well, kids being kids the moment didn't last for more than a second.

Lower Manhattan

I took a walk in lower Manhattan last week, just before this current heat wave hit (it was only 90ºF that day). I go back to that area of New York sometimes to remind myself of how miserable I was when I worked in the financial industry as a systems analyst. I stuck it out for 10 years, then was 'downsized'. It's quite a boring area for a photographer, unless you're looking to capture the quiet desperation etched in so many faces. Most people wear the standard 'uniform', and it's difficult (but not impossible) to find character there. And most people are out only during their lunch hour - so if you miss that, there's few people out and about. There were, however, quite a few tourists visiting Ground Zero. 


I took this shot that afternoon. The poor kid was having a temper tantrum because he couldn't convince his mom how badly he needed something!