Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Already for another year. Perhaps in January after the Christmas shutdown I'll snag a SL2 to bring to the January Meet-Up.
Cal
EDITED 8 January 2020: The Meet-Up will be at Sharlene's on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Pretty much a short walk from the Barclay's Center, on Sunday January 19th, 1:00 PM.
Sharlene's is a very cool old Brooklyn bar that seems to be timeless. Mucho laid back. Although they don't serve food its cool to bring food in.
AVOID THE CONFUSION: THE JANUARY MEET-UP IS JANUARY 19th
Cal
EDITED 8 January 2020: The Meet-Up will be at Sharlene's on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Pretty much a short walk from the Barclay's Center, on Sunday January 19th, 1:00 PM.
Sharlene's is a very cool old Brooklyn bar that seems to be timeless. Mucho laid back. Although they don't serve food its cool to bring food in.
AVOID THE CONFUSION: THE JANUARY MEET-UP IS JANUARY 19th
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Leica has their Christmas to New Year's break till January second or third. No use expecting any SL2 shipments until the new year.
The 2020 SL2 purchase is likely better for tax purposes since I bought the APO 35 Cron this year. Bonus is I saved about $600.00 avoiding a recent price increase that happened after a E.U. Tariff announcement.
I wonder if there will be an additional 10% price increase on my APO 35 Cron in January where there is suppose to be a 10% increase in all Leica lenses according to one report. If there is a secondary price increase in January of 10% then I would have saved $1.2K.
I suspect that the APO 35 Cron WILL have a secondary increase in January because the full tariff is 25% and more or less Leica's share of this tariff is a 15% "haircut."
The Q2 and SL2 are excluded from these price increases according to the reports.
Off-topic: Gold futures again are over $1.5K an ounce. The FED since September has been buying bonds again (QE4) to prevent a liquidity crisis, but they are trying to keep all this quiet and under the radar.
I suspect that there is an underlying reason for this, and some speculation says that some banks might be in trouble. How do you run a Casino into bankruptcy? Also how do banks fail?
The smut is that Central Banks around the world have been buying and accumulating gold for a while.
Cal
The 2020 SL2 purchase is likely better for tax purposes since I bought the APO 35 Cron this year. Bonus is I saved about $600.00 avoiding a recent price increase that happened after a E.U. Tariff announcement.
I wonder if there will be an additional 10% price increase on my APO 35 Cron in January where there is suppose to be a 10% increase in all Leica lenses according to one report. If there is a secondary price increase in January of 10% then I would have saved $1.2K.
I suspect that the APO 35 Cron WILL have a secondary increase in January because the full tariff is 25% and more or less Leica's share of this tariff is a 15% "haircut."
The Q2 and SL2 are excluded from these price increases according to the reports.
Off-topic: Gold futures again are over $1.5K an ounce. The FED since September has been buying bonds again (QE4) to prevent a liquidity crisis, but they are trying to keep all this quiet and under the radar.
I suspect that there is an underlying reason for this, and some speculation says that some banks might be in trouble. How do you run a Casino into bankruptcy? Also how do banks fail?
The smut is that Central Banks around the world have been buying and accumulating gold for a while.
Cal
dshfoto
Well-known
Just wanted to pass this along --
National Press Photographers Association
NPPA is offering a $20 discount to join or renew memberships of all levels through Dec. 31, 2019.
Three days left for discount !
Use this code upon check-out: NPPAGive.
To join or renew membership, go to nppa.org/join.
Membership Benefits
Annual subscription to News Photographer magazine, the leading publication of the visual journalism profession, plus the annual Best of Photojournalism issue
Guidance through NPPA's Mentoring and Critique Program
Listing on NPPA's Find a Visual Journalist service
Discounts on equipment and liability insurance, products and services
Discounts on registration fees for NPPA's workshops and seminars
Support NPPA's legal advocacy team at the forefront of fighting for your press freedoms and the rights of visual journalists
Lean on NPPA's Advocacy and Business Practices committees for support and advice when problems arise
Participate in NPPA's monthly, quarterly and annual contests
Exclusive access to NPPA's Job Information Bank to find internships and work
Demonstrate your professionalism and integrity by signing and adhering to NPPA's Code of Ethics
Exclusive access to online education resources
Access to NPPA's self-employment Cost of Doing Business Calculator
Ability to purchase NPPA's Photo ID Card.
Steve Harris
National Press Photographers Association
NPPA is offering a $20 discount to join or renew memberships of all levels through Dec. 31, 2019.
Three days left for discount !
Use this code upon check-out: NPPAGive.
To join or renew membership, go to nppa.org/join.
Membership Benefits
Annual subscription to News Photographer magazine, the leading publication of the visual journalism profession, plus the annual Best of Photojournalism issue
Guidance through NPPA's Mentoring and Critique Program
Listing on NPPA's Find a Visual Journalist service
Discounts on equipment and liability insurance, products and services
Discounts on registration fees for NPPA's workshops and seminars
Support NPPA's legal advocacy team at the forefront of fighting for your press freedoms and the rights of visual journalists
Lean on NPPA's Advocacy and Business Practices committees for support and advice when problems arise
Participate in NPPA's monthly, quarterly and annual contests
Exclusive access to NPPA's Job Information Bank to find internships and work
Demonstrate your professionalism and integrity by signing and adhering to NPPA's Code of Ethics
Exclusive access to online education resources
Access to NPPA's self-employment Cost of Doing Business Calculator
Ability to purchase NPPA's Photo ID Card.
Steve Harris
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Interesting to note that the lazy-slacker in me is starting to want to print again. The idea is to create first a limited edition of 6 prints plus an artist proof and one spare print to make a "Book of Proofs."
Unlike the 12x18 image size on 17x22 sheets that comprise my "Monster Workbook" I have a new image size of 13.3x20 on 17x24 due to the use of my "Jersey Barrier" (Epson 7800) and the use of rolled papers over 17x22 sheets.
The slight increase in print size is notable because the amount of detail and the tonality opens up where the mids predominate like in medium and large format. I actually had to add back some contrast to make the shadows stand out more.
So I have some work prints to show. These date back to when I tried to start up printing again only to discover that my dampers need changing. I have a full set of OEM dampers (not the cheap Chinese ones) to still install.
My goal is to print up at least 24 images into full limited editions of 6 prints. That's 144 prints alone, but add on top of that 24 Artist Proofs and 24 pages of my even bigger "Book of Proofs." That's a total of 192 prints.
The idea here is to have enough work to exhibit and have a show. Also somehow I need to set up a website to build out a "platform."
These are my 2020 goals. Mucho crazy. I already have the paper and ink. I figure I can print out 8 prints in a week, so the timeline is to have the printing done by June.
Time to get my work out there.
Cal
Unlike the 12x18 image size on 17x22 sheets that comprise my "Monster Workbook" I have a new image size of 13.3x20 on 17x24 due to the use of my "Jersey Barrier" (Epson 7800) and the use of rolled papers over 17x22 sheets.
The slight increase in print size is notable because the amount of detail and the tonality opens up where the mids predominate like in medium and large format. I actually had to add back some contrast to make the shadows stand out more.
So I have some work prints to show. These date back to when I tried to start up printing again only to discover that my dampers need changing. I have a full set of OEM dampers (not the cheap Chinese ones) to still install.
My goal is to print up at least 24 images into full limited editions of 6 prints. That's 144 prints alone, but add on top of that 24 Artist Proofs and 24 pages of my even bigger "Book of Proofs." That's a total of 192 prints.
The idea here is to have enough work to exhibit and have a show. Also somehow I need to set up a website to build out a "platform."
These are my 2020 goals. Mucho crazy. I already have the paper and ink. I figure I can print out 8 prints in a week, so the timeline is to have the printing done by June.
Time to get my work out there.
Cal
Nokton48
Mentor
Nice! Go for it! Happy New Year Cal!
-Dan & Leann
-Dan & Leann
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
BTW in the Gallery Workshop I learned to keep good records, about "stepped-pricing," and to retain Artist Proofs to always have work on hand and to build out an "Estate."
The notion of creating a one-off book like my "Workbook" and the "Book of Proofs" are really for my "Estate." They also create a legacy of sorts and are valuable because they document a history and my process.
So initially 6 prints to make a limited edition, an Artist Proof for my estate, and an extra print to create a "Book of Proofs:" all 13.3x20 inches image size on 17x24 sheet.
Phase 2 is to print these same images into a new limited edition of only four with 2 Artist Proofs, but the image size will be 20x30 on 24x36 sheet. The idea here with 2 Artist Proofs is to have one for my estate, and to have a second Artist Proof on hand as a reserve just in case something wonderful happens (perhaps a miracle like I make it to the big-time). The idea here is to make it easy to assemble a big show if approached by a curator, art dealer, or gallerist.
A total of only 10 prints are for sale, and four remain in my possession.
Of course this business model is for digital image capture and Piezography B&W prints. For analog I intend on wet printing as open editions with steep price increases to limit supply.
I don't have a darkroom yet, so this is somewhere in the future.
Cal
The notion of creating a one-off book like my "Workbook" and the "Book of Proofs" are really for my "Estate." They also create a legacy of sorts and are valuable because they document a history and my process.
So initially 6 prints to make a limited edition, an Artist Proof for my estate, and an extra print to create a "Book of Proofs:" all 13.3x20 inches image size on 17x24 sheet.
Phase 2 is to print these same images into a new limited edition of only four with 2 Artist Proofs, but the image size will be 20x30 on 24x36 sheet. The idea here with 2 Artist Proofs is to have one for my estate, and to have a second Artist Proof on hand as a reserve just in case something wonderful happens (perhaps a miracle like I make it to the big-time). The idea here is to make it easy to assemble a big show if approached by a curator, art dealer, or gallerist.
A total of only 10 prints are for sale, and four remain in my possession.
Of course this business model is for digital image capture and Piezography B&W prints. For analog I intend on wet printing as open editions with steep price increases to limit supply.
I don't have a darkroom yet, so this is somewhere in the future.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
"Maggie" has over 703K followers and one of them is Leica AG.
Maggie informed me yesterday that Leica only follows 647 people, so pretty much Leica is looking at my work and is indirectly following me.
Separately I have been gaining weight due to strength training. I now wear about 3-4 pounds of muscle. Pretty odd seeing an almost 62 year old with the outlines of abs. I'll be 62 in less than a week. Only just started in the middle of December. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing.
Meanwhile I'm still bloated from salt due to some Christmas binge eating. The loss of mobility I witnessed on some of the other passengers on the cruise was a wake up call to provided a strong motivation to start strength training and to get back to being ultra-fit.
At times my blood pressure is 100/60 and my BPM is about 52. BTW when I went to my doctor for a physical, I was told not having any medical issues or needing any medication or drugs is really good for my age. I say I think I should have a strong 30 years ahead to annoy people. LOL. Perhaps even 40 years because I'm stubborn.
Maggie is on antibiotics. She has acute sign-U-cite-iss. It seems the additional flight to Denver after our luxury free vacation in Europe pushed her over the edge, and the dry Denver air of altitude did her in.
She gets run down and then gets sick often. Meanwhile I never get sick.
Cal
Maggie informed me yesterday that Leica only follows 647 people, so pretty much Leica is looking at my work and is indirectly following me.
Separately I have been gaining weight due to strength training. I now wear about 3-4 pounds of muscle. Pretty odd seeing an almost 62 year old with the outlines of abs. I'll be 62 in less than a week. Only just started in the middle of December. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing.
Meanwhile I'm still bloated from salt due to some Christmas binge eating. The loss of mobility I witnessed on some of the other passengers on the cruise was a wake up call to provided a strong motivation to start strength training and to get back to being ultra-fit.
At times my blood pressure is 100/60 and my BPM is about 52. BTW when I went to my doctor for a physical, I was told not having any medical issues or needing any medication or drugs is really good for my age. I say I think I should have a strong 30 years ahead to annoy people. LOL. Perhaps even 40 years because I'm stubborn.
Maggie is on antibiotics. She has acute sign-U-cite-iss. It seems the additional flight to Denver after our luxury free vacation in Europe pushed her over the edge, and the dry Denver air of altitude did her in.
She gets run down and then gets sick often. Meanwhile I never get sick.
Cal
dshfoto
Well-known
Apparently Kodak has announced a price increase on all film products as of January 1st 2020, with the some items increasing by as much as 30%. I got an email from the Film Photography Project about how they will deal with this: https://mailchi.mp/filmphotographyproject/kodak-film-in-2020-the-price-increase?e=2e5eea3ba7
Maybe time for some bulk orders?
Happy New Year
Steve Harris
Maybe time for some bulk orders?
Happy New Year
Steve Harris
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Steve,
See Ted Striker's recent thread about Kodak.
Somehow some big price increases also in Kodak stock prices.
Something is going on.
I still have a stockpile of Tri-X in 120, Acros in 120, and Kodak 5222 in a 400 foot bulk roll. I need to reduce this current stockpile before I create another one. I also have some Aero 70mm bulk film made by Kodak.
Also know that my work is becoming more and more digital. I think shooting color for me is a new medium. I can see me getting a new 24 inch printer to print color.
Sadly film is still important, but is getting more pricey. Glad I shot mucho negatives and concentrated on just image capture when film was cheap-cheap. I can always wet print later and now I have a wonderful historical archive of NYC that is gone. Pretty much I wisely created a legacy of sorts.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
"Maggie" is flying out to Pittsburg again Tuesday. I wonder if she will remain sick as her recovery is slow and incremental on antibiotics. That same Tuesday she has a video interview before her plane trip.
I'm really liking the APO 35 Cron for street. This lens is mighty great, I love shooting it at F2.0, and you have to know with 5 ASPH elements that is a mucho highly corrected lens. Who else builds APO wides?
Also I remain in love with the monster 50 Lux-SL as a portrait lens. It has a Mandlar like signature.
Can't wait to have a SL and SL2 so I don't have to change lenses.
Cal
I'm really liking the APO 35 Cron for street. This lens is mighty great, I love shooting it at F2.0, and you have to know with 5 ASPH elements that is a mucho highly corrected lens. Who else builds APO wides?
Also I remain in love with the monster 50 Lux-SL as a portrait lens. It has a Mandlar like signature.
Can't wait to have a SL and SL2 so I don't have to change lenses.
Cal
Range-rover
Mentor
Cal, I'm sure the lens at F2 is stunning, hope to try it out one day.
icebear
Mentor
Hi Cal,
yeah 20x30 image size on 24x36 sheet Piezography prints on a selected paper that suits the character of the image sounds like a good idea.
Done something like this myself and I'm freaking pleased with the results. There was some wierd guy sporting pony tail fixing me up on piezography ...it might have been YOU! Happy New Year 2020 and a speedy recovery for "Maggie".
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Hi Cal,
yeah 20x30 image size on 24x36 sheet Piezography prints on a selected paper that suits the character of the image sounds like a good idea.
Happy New Year 2020 and a speedy recovery for "Maggie".
Klaus,
I have plans on exploiting 90 day visas like the wealthy to avoid paying taxes. "Maggie" and I are intent of spending a few years in Europe touring around.
The river cruise was pretty much as you and Pete said, mostly old people that were retired. Many had mobility issues that limited their quality of life. I found this sad because otherwise these same people were interesting, educated, and very successful.
Maggie and I were definitely the "Vintage Hipsters."
The good things were the really great food, getting a taste of Europe where I ended up covering more ground and seeing more than if I just visited one city and dug in, and getting off the beaten path. Pretty much we made the most of the situation, and don't forget it was a free luxury vacation with small layovers in Amsterdam and Basel.
In Basel I hooked up with my friend J. who I only knew over the past 4-5 years via RFF. Pretty much we are clones and own a lot of the same lenses and cameras. We share the same personality and had mucho in common.
Berlin is one of the cities we want to explore. How crazy is it that I want to learn German. Touring the Mercedes factory was impressive. Also seeing the Mercedes Formula One racing car up close was crazy. 18K RPM, the engineering, and all that carbon fiber...
Cal
Pentode
Well-known
Is there a date set for January yet?
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
"Maggie" is first going to a studio to tape a podcast, and later in the day she will be flying out to Pittsburg for a meeting.
Sometime later this month she will be on broadcast TV, in what I think will be a live broadcast on a major NY network. Kinda big.
I've been admiring the files from the APO 35 Cron which I'm finding to be a very remarkable lens with a crazy good rendering. It seems like this lens loves F2.0. There is this heightened sharpness that is unlike any lens I have ever used, and this is combined with an OOF smoothness, even though this lens has 5 ASPH elements.
Do I have to mention that this lens is mucho highly corrected?
It seems that the $600.00 price increase that was expected in January 2020, was priced in early sometime in September 2019, just right after I bought my lens. Lucky me, I saved this $600.00 by beating any price increase.
"Moo," said the pig.
I have a shot I took at F2.0 on Central Park West where this British woman was killed. There is a "Ghost Bike" memorial draped in a British flag along with two pictures of the victim and some stuffed animals.
What is remarkable is the acute sharpness and detail revealed that suggests that this image could easily transcend formats and might even pass for large format using a tripod.
But then by chance there is a woman walking on the sidewalk, and the blurring and OOF presents an image of a very strong resemblance of the woman who was killed as part of the background. Pretty much the resemblance is so strong that it suggests that the woman walking on the sidewalk is a ghost herself.
This image was shot using my SL, and I can only imagine how the APO 35 Cron could get exploited on a higher resolution SL2 with image stabilization.
Know that my 50 Lux-SL not only has F1.4, but it has a retro Mandlar like signature.
Know that when I participated in the SL2 Launch event at the Leica Store SoHo that I only tested the 50 Lux-SL and my 58/1.2 Noct-Nikkor on the SL2. At the time these were my primary interest.
Cal
Sometime later this month she will be on broadcast TV, in what I think will be a live broadcast on a major NY network. Kinda big.
I've been admiring the files from the APO 35 Cron which I'm finding to be a very remarkable lens with a crazy good rendering. It seems like this lens loves F2.0. There is this heightened sharpness that is unlike any lens I have ever used, and this is combined with an OOF smoothness, even though this lens has 5 ASPH elements.
Do I have to mention that this lens is mucho highly corrected?
It seems that the $600.00 price increase that was expected in January 2020, was priced in early sometime in September 2019, just right after I bought my lens. Lucky me, I saved this $600.00 by beating any price increase.
"Moo," said the pig.
I have a shot I took at F2.0 on Central Park West where this British woman was killed. There is a "Ghost Bike" memorial draped in a British flag along with two pictures of the victim and some stuffed animals.
What is remarkable is the acute sharpness and detail revealed that suggests that this image could easily transcend formats and might even pass for large format using a tripod.
But then by chance there is a woman walking on the sidewalk, and the blurring and OOF presents an image of a very strong resemblance of the woman who was killed as part of the background. Pretty much the resemblance is so strong that it suggests that the woman walking on the sidewalk is a ghost herself.
This image was shot using my SL, and I can only imagine how the APO 35 Cron could get exploited on a higher resolution SL2 with image stabilization.
Know that my 50 Lux-SL not only has F1.4, but it has a retro Mandlar like signature.
Know that when I participated in the SL2 Launch event at the Leica Store SoHo that I only tested the 50 Lux-SL and my 58/1.2 Noct-Nikkor on the SL2. At the time these were my primary interest.
Cal
dshfoto
Well-known
FYI
MEDIUM FORMAT MEETUP
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Hasselblad Experience Studio
632 Broadway (at Houston) Floor 2
New York, NY 10012
https://hasselblad.us9.list-manage....3806c5aee040ebeb22&id=f21bfd07f2&e=70f248a3a2
X1D II & PHOCUS MOBILE 2 NIGHT
Manhattan 2020's first Medium Format Meetup! ins and outs of working with Phocus Mobile 2, Hasselblad's latest tethering and image handling software. Built for the X1D II 50C, Phocus Mobile 2 gives you the ability to take medium format imaging even further.
Start with a guided session to learn how to connect to and work in the Phocus Mobile 2 environment followed by exporting your images into other programs like Lightroom and Photoshop for iPad Pro. Don't own an iPad Pro or X1D II? demo stations for you to try out and learn on!
MEDIUM FORMAT MEETUP
THURSDAY, JANUARY 23
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Hasselblad Experience Studio
632 Broadway (at Houston) Floor 2
New York, NY 10012
https://hasselblad.us9.list-manage....3806c5aee040ebeb22&id=f21bfd07f2&e=70f248a3a2
X1D II & PHOCUS MOBILE 2 NIGHT
Manhattan 2020's first Medium Format Meetup! ins and outs of working with Phocus Mobile 2, Hasselblad's latest tethering and image handling software. Built for the X1D II 50C, Phocus Mobile 2 gives you the ability to take medium format imaging even further.
Start with a guided session to learn how to connect to and work in the Phocus Mobile 2 environment followed by exporting your images into other programs like Lightroom and Photoshop for iPad Pro. Don't own an iPad Pro or X1D II? demo stations for you to try out and learn on!