Mermaid Parade, Coney Island NY

Halloween in June. Exhibitionist heaven. What more need be said?

Uncle Sam (on stilts):

Mayor de Blasio (not on stilts, but plenty tall anyway) and the first lady (can you imagine Mr Bloomberg in a pirate outfit?):

Plenty of security (I felt sooooo safe):

But I don't wanna be ina parade!:

Not every spectator had a good time:

Just one color shot to spice things up a bit:

A Hot Day In Brooklyn

Summer scorchers are here, a bit early. I wonder what August has in store for us! I took a walk in Williamsburg yesterday and met some interesting people. I can't understand why anyone would wear black frock coats, vests, and hats in this heat. But to each his own .....

Kids are kids, no matter what.

Father's Day Special

Nothing to do with Father's day, this post. Well ok, maybe one or two pics. Beautiful spring weather in June cried out for a photo walk around midtown yesterday. Here's what I saw:

Who dat guy takin' a picha?

Incognito:

Too many hands!

And his wife behind him was carrying a newborn. Hope she's gettin' overtime!

Another New Torah

As I mentioned previously here, A Torah scroll doesn't become kosher until the last few letters are added and appropriate rituals are observed. Yesterday I was invited to the last remaining Yeshiva on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, for the finishing of a new torah. This time, however, the installation took place at the same time so I had the opportunity to photograph the ceremony and festivities attendant to it.

I shot over 600 exposures with both the X-T1, with the 10-24mm lens, and the X-Pro1, with the 18-55 lens. Lots of editing and processing work to do. Just for starters here's some images I processed in Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2. I have many more images to process, more to come.

The Torah scribe, referred to a Sofer:

With Rabbi David Feinstein, the head of the Yeshiva and a highly renown Talmud scholar:

With Rabbi Shmuel Spiegel, whose help has been invaluable in continuing the project which I began over twenty years ago with his father, Rabbi Jacob Spiegel:

The golden crown and breastplate of the Torah:

Children of the Yeshiva watching the sofer write in the final letters:

Cantor Joseph Malovaney:

Dancing with the new Torah scrolls:

More From Bushwick

A few more shots taken at the Bushwick Open House event on May 31st.

Bushwick Open House

I visited Bushwick, Brooklyn for the Artist Open House event on May 31st. That was the day that my Fuji X-T1 went haywire on me and reset itself every time I turned the camera off. I did, however, get some good shots. Bushwick is a neighborhood that is at the beginning of the process of gentrification. It's a mix of artists and blue collar workers. But the galleries, restaurants, and real estate development are not far behind.

There were some interesting performance artists plying their trade:

Some new residents hanging out on the street:

And some older residents wondering what the hell was happening to their neighborhood:

                                   
 

A Walk On The West Side

Manhattan's Upper West Side stretches from 59th street up to 125th street. It's bounded on the west by 11th avenue up to 72nd street and then Riverside Drive, and on the east by Central Park West. Within that area there are many different neighborhoods, beginning with Lincoln Center and ending with Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. The main artery through the center of the area is Broadway. I've known the area well for many years - all of my violin teachers lived in the area, my graduate school (Manhattan School of Music) was at the upper end, and I performed and rehearsed countless times at Lincoln Center. It's a pulsating area for street photography, especially in the ten blocks from 72nd street up to 82nd street were Fairway Market, Citarella's, and Zabars are located. And there are many used book vendors lining the sidewalk.

I've never really spent time there with a camera in hand, but yesterday evening I had the opportunity. As well as I know the area, it felt totally new to me when I was looking for images. Friday evening is a prime time to walk the streets. Broadway, Columbus avenue, and Amsterdam avenue are lined with restaurants with al fresco dining, and the bars are just beginning their weekend jangle. And the women, fuggedaboudit! It's a subject I plan to explore exhaustively.