Strange bedfellows

An unlikely combination of the XZ-1 dramatic filter and faux Polaroid 669 film.  Interesting...

And... the combo of the XZ-1, Eye-Fi, Sprint Overdrive and the iPad with ShutterSnitch is amazing.  Take snap with XZ-1, almost real time it appears on the iPad, edit it, save, mail it, socialize it, whatever. Très cool!

Art Filters and more: XZ-1

So the XZ-1 has these things called art filters.  Jpegs only — but I am beginning to think the XZ-1 may be the camera that spends most of its time taking jpegs.  I like the look of the Dramatic Filter in the classic Club 2223 snap below. 

So what maybe mostly happens is that jpegs go from the XZ-1 to the Eye-Fi card, through the Sprint Overdrive to the iPad.  Sorted, processed if at all, mailed, etc. right from the iPad.  Ultimately they find their way into Aperture for management.  That is kinda of the reason the camera was added to the portfolio, small, social and SO friendly.

The vision for the yet to come X100 is more planned photography when a smaller device is right, either because of the need or because of the reason for being there.  So... DSLRs when photos are the mission, 5D Mk II for fine art, the 7D for action, the X100 on the street or when photos are ancillary to the main mission and the XZ-1 when photos are completely tangential but complimentary to what ever is going on.  

XZ-1

First RAW from the new XZ-1.  Developed in Capture One, Tiff to Aperture, Exposure 3 in CS5.  A little clumsy for now until RAW converter support in Aperture.  Same thing next month when the X100 arrives.  Would have been nice if the sky was more appealing looking this AM.  This afternoon's goal is to get the Eye-Fi Pro X2 working with the XZ-1, the Sprint Overdrive and the iPad.  

Initial snaps here.  Not the 5D Mk II or the 7D, the shots look "thin" comparatively but looks quite credible for it intended use.  The Eye-Fi to ShutterSnitch on the iPad works great and makes it easy to eMail photos contemporaneously with them being taken.

The Strand - the final destination

A walk from the High Line southern end at 10th Avenue and Gansevoort Street to the Strand at 12th and Broadway.  Bunch of snaps along the way.  Lots more processing to do before they get to SmugMug.  In the mean time a peak at the destination and a snap of a couple of guys getting in a smoke before it is prohibited in NYC.

On Broadway

The Strand

Willie - Photographer

What follows below in italics is the original blog post, when I was under the impression that the guy with the camera was Louis Mendes. We asked the photographer for an eMail address and he said Louis Mendes via Facebook.  Looked it up, thought he didn't particularly look the same but... well the guy on Facebook was always wearing a hat and how many guys could be out and about with a Speed Graphic with a Polaroid back.   Well obviously at least two.   I sent a link to this blog post to Louis Mendes and he just volleyed that it wasn't him but his pal and protege Willie.  Apologies to Louis. It still was a ton of fun and all the rest still applies.  JEN 3/2/2011.

Louis Willie was outside Pastis when we finished dinner.  After a couple of Polaroid snaps from Louis's Willie's enormous Speed Graphic with a Polaroid back, I got to turn the tables on a New York photographic iconer with the 5D Mk II and a 35 f1.4L.  Louis Willie had the advantage of a flash (and talent), I was using what little light there was.  All my shots were taken at f1.4 at ISO 1600 with the shutter speed either just above or below 1/35.   B&W conversion was done with NIKSoftware's Silver Efex Pro asking for faux Ilford XP2 Super 400. Dodging and burning applied as needed to deal with the shadows and the lights and to make the Speed Graphic pop.

Click here for Louis's facebook page and here for a NYT photo essay and finally here for some scoop on Louis's tooling.  BTW, Louis is 70 and makes his living as result of hauling that huge camera around Manhattan.  Time to stop bellyaching about a DSLR and fast lenses. 

From the NYT piece:  “Most photographers don’t have a good picture of themselves,” he explained. “They think nobody can take as good a picture as they can. So, I prove them wrong. There’s good money there.”  

Here are the best of my attempts to get a good shot of Louis Willie, his of me is forsuredly better than mine of him. There assuredly is no photographic money, not good nor bad, to be found around or about here.  Hah!

 

Pastis

Acela from South Station to Penn Station, then dinner at Pastis at the bottom of 9th Avenue at the corner of Little West 12th Street in the Meatpacking District.

There wasn't any room at the bar, so uncharacteristically we sat at a table.  It was quite a cool table, stuck in the corner in the barroom.  The next table was relatively close by and after a while it was given to a couple of guys who just blew in for the weekend from the Netherlands.

Their names are on a business card somewhere around here.  That is a TBD, so for now just the photos.

The Maritime

Home base for the evening, in the center of the Meatpacking District, just down the street from the midpoint entrance to the High Line and the focus of this adventure.  Originally the HQ of the National Maritime Union. Nice, despite its beginnings as home to a bunch of lefties.

Top to bottom, the lobby, outside at night and morning looking west to the Hudson along 16th street.

Chinatown Snaps

Uploading to SmugMug now around 85 San Francisco Chinatown images from Monday afternoon.  Miscellaneous San Francisco and Presido images to follow tomorrow.  The most interesting snaps pretty much come from the Chinatown alleys.  They are located here.

"Alleyways in Chinatown were created during the early settlement of the Chinese in the late 1870's. During that period, the rapidly-growing community was restricted by anti-Chinese sentiment to a six block area behind the back streets of the Barbary Coast. To maximize space within the confines of its boundary, the community created a maze of secondary streets and pedestrian walkways. Ross Alley is located in the center of this maze. the alley is a narrow passage running between Washington and Jackson Streets. Ross is actually an extension of Spottard Alley in many ways. In the past, both alleyways were infamous as a place for gambling and prostitution. Ross is known as Gau Leuie Sung Hon (Old Spanish Alley) because of the many latins that patronized the area. Today, there are both residences and commercial establishments in http://jnash.smugmug.com/Joe/Travels/Chinatown-San-Francisco/15427360_Q7uLz#1154914392_NZ7buthe densely built-up alleyway which continues to function as a major artery for pedestrians." From the historic marker at the end of Ross Alley

"Ross Alley is the oldest alley in San Francisco. It was known for brothels and gambling." from www.sanfranciscochinatown.com

The rest of the snaps are here on SmugMug.