Vapertureearly fishing
Posted on July 2, 2014
There is a wonderful energy and light in the early mornings in New York, especially in the summer. The city is at it’s quietest, and there are usually only a few other people around who all appreciate this feeling. I came across this gentleman waiting for a bite on his series of fishing poles under the Queensborough Bridge while enjoying the view of Manhattan. The rising sunlight silhouetted the whole scene, and allowed this image to feel warm and quiet, just like it actually did at the time I was standing there. Taken with a Zeiss 21mm f2.8 wide angle manual focus lens at f/2.8.
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morning run
Posted on June 16, 2014
This is one of my favorite photos, not because of the lovely colors or the wonderful city backdrop, but because of the motion. I find motion in still photography to be one of the most challenging techniques, especially when the motion has to do with people. Traditionally, long exposure photography that captures motion is in a nature setting where the photographer places his camera on a tripod and then exposes the shot for 15-30 seconds so that water and clouds will take on that lovely smooth appearance we’ve all seen in those beautiful landscape images. Capturing motion with people requires a completely different skill set. You have a use a neutral density filter on your lens so that you can increase the exposure time without letting too much light in. You have to have your focus just right, which is quite difficult with moving subjects and manual focus lenses. You have to have the exposure just right or your subject will end up so blurry that you can tell it’s a person, or not blurry enough so that it only looks like the image is out of focus rather than in motion. You have to keep your camera VERY steady so as not to blur the background, which is quite difficult when you’re not using a tripod and shooting at f 1/10 or 1/20. And you have to do all of this in less than a second before your subject runs away and makes your shot impossible. The whole thing sounds like a big hassle, and while it does lead to quite a few messy photos, when you get it right the results make for really interesting and original photographs. Taken with a Zeiss 21mm f2.8 Distagon manual focus lens with a B+W XSPro ND Vario Filter, handheld at 1/30, Shutter Priority mode with vario filter adjustments to ensure an aperture of at least f/8.
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perfect rose
Posted on June 4, 2014
The lovely soft, muted colors of a perfect pink rose with it mesmerizing swirls of petals. I love the off-center composition and the subtle transition to an out of focus foreground and background. This would make a beautiful display as a medium sized floating canvas print. Taken with a Zeiss 28mm f2.0 Distagon manual focus lens.
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blue on black
Posted on May 30, 2014
This image turned out so much more interesting than I thought it would thanks to the use of a red filter that turned the clear blue sky into a dramatic cloud-free black backdrop for Midtown Manhattan. The details of these buildings and their spatial relationships to each other often go unnoticed in color, especially on a clear sunny day like this when the sunshine itself tends to wash out most of the detail. The simple foreground lawn also makes for a very interesting composition against the complexity of the city. Taken with a Zeiss 28mm f2.0 Distagon manual focus lens at f/11.
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four freedoms
Posted on May 27, 2014
Stunning and dramatic B&W photograph of the most southern section of Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island taken on Memorial Day 2014. The militaristic attention to detail in this park is a site to behold, as is the incredible amount of white marble used in the park’s construction. The precise angles and lines are a photographer’s dream, and the scene here is quite peaceful, especially early in the morning before the crowds come out to play. The floating statue of FDR is a fantastic centerpiece for this photograph, but if you walk down this walkway past the statue, you’ll find one of the most impressive views in all of New York at the southernmost tip of Roosevelt Island. Keep reading to take a look at a few other photos that capture this view and complete the Four Freedoms Collection; all photos are available as archival pigment prints for anyone looking to bring a piece of New York into their home.
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tulip city
Posted on May 11, 2014
It’s not the tulips that make this photo so original… it’s the barely noticeable, out-of-focus, city skyline in the background. Using a wide angle lens incredibly close to the subject allowed this shot to come together just the way I wanted it, and I’m continually astounded at the vibrant colors, the sharp detail, and the 3-dimensionality that the Zeiss 21mm f2.8 lens produces, even wide open at f/2.8 for this photograph.
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the wait
Posted on May 10, 2014
wondering, what if?
something surfaced from the deep
could be worth the wait
-haiku by k.a.r.-
simplicity
Posted on May 9, 2014
Incredible detail with a very simple composition. The straight horizon… the simple dotted clouds… and the most perfect blues my eyes have ever seen. This would make a stunning large size 20×30 print to preserve the expansiveness of the scene mounted in an all white gallery frame and wide mat. Taken in Noank, CT with a Carl Zeiss 25mm f2 Distagon manual focus lens that is known for it’s incredible blue/grey rendering.
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bending beauty
Posted on April 26, 2014
Lovely color photograph of the elbow of a cherry tree decorated with it’s spring blossoms against a soft blue sky in the background. This image proves that the tree itself can be just as beautiful as the blossoms, something that it commonly forgotten within the myriad of cherry blossom photos the flood the internet every year at this time. Taken with a Zeiss 100mm f2 Makro Planar manual focus lens at f/2.
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sunshine shelter
Posted on April 25, 2014
There’s something special about cherry blossoms, and even though I’ve seen them bloom year after year in NYC, it somehow never gets old. If you look closely, nothing is in focus except the most distance part of this beautifully sheltered path under these blooming cherry trees. This creates an illusion of motion and the sensation of knowing where you would be headed if you were the one who had the pleasure of taking this walk. The morning sunshine illuminated this scene just perfectly, and the muted, alternating pinks, purples, and whites in the ceiling of this this blossom tunnel are just stunning. Taken with a Carl Zeiss 135mm f2 Apo Sonnar lens at f/2.
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soaring
Posted on April 8, 2014
Lovely B&W image of a seagull soaring over the East River during a spring sunset. The wide angle view minimized the backdrop of the city just enough to allow the bird’s silhouette to be the centerpiece of the photograph, and also allowed a touch of foreground shore to become a part of the overall composition. This would make a wonderful medium-sized piece in any New York apartment. Taken with a Zeiss 21mm f2.8 Distagon lens which absolutely cannot be beat for this kind of shot.
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sunrise series. sky high.
Posted on March 12, 2014
Stunning B&W of an enormous morning sun blaring through the clouds as a distant bird flies by in silhouette. The dreamy lines of this image would make a wonderful canvas piece, and especially so with it’s two sister images in the sunrise series collection. All four photos were taken with a Zeiss 135mm f2 Apo Sonnar lens in the very early morning.
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flowerball
Posted on September 8, 2013
Vaperture 