Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Lately I have been following the fashion world's culture of doing things at the last moment.
As a self proclaimed "Lazy Slacker" this practice irks me and presents underlying stress that I can live without. I know things happen, but then again it is up to me to minimize stress and confusion.
So now I hope I'm not annoying people as usual by presenting things early. LOL.
Also there is Thanksgiving that presents itself and is a reason to schedule a Meet-Up early in the month.
Cal
As a self proclaimed "Lazy Slacker" this practice irks me and presents underlying stress that I can live without. I know things happen, but then again it is up to me to minimize stress and confusion.
So now I hope I'm not annoying people as usual by presenting things early. LOL.
Also there is Thanksgiving that presents itself and is a reason to schedule a Meet-Up early in the month.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
This Saturday I'm involved in a photo shoot as a model. Anyways somehow I have been sucked into the world of fashion further and now I'm not only an "Accidental Fashion Photographer" but now an "Accidental Male Model." LOL.
You know what they say, "True artists are exhibitionists." LOL.
Anyways this shoot involves a rather successful established photographer, and I have a great opportunity to gain more insights into all these things I have avoided. This shoot also involves some video as part of the production. Anyways a full blown production crew with hair, make-up, and a stylist.
This is for a book.
Yesterday I met John at West 4th Street by the basketball courts known as "The Cage." This location today is littered with the Homeless and is a hotspot, and before I got there John had been assailed and had given a dollar to this guy that kinda set him up by blaming John for dropping his styrofoam container full of food.
Anyways after John told me what happened to him I witnessed the same guy mark a hipster by dropping the very same styrofoam container involving a young hypster. We also saw teaming up of homeless, as the one guy with the styrofoam container had another guy nearby in standby mode like an ambush.
I also noticed that there was this ongoing circling of homeless men circling us like hungry sharks after a shipwreck looking for some opportunity to somehow entangle us and found myself looking behind me and finding homeless men repeatedly looking my way as we waited for Andre.
One guy came over to beg for money, and he was a buddy of the guy that had pressured John with the styrofaom. I told him, "My friend already gave a dollar to your friend the scammer with the styrofoam."
At one point I told John that I don't like this and that I'm getting pissed off about it. So I walked right behind the guy with the styrofoam food container standing in his "6:00 o'clock" 6 feet behind him. I was not in his space, but then again I purposely stood a step away from striking distance. Repeatedly I saw him turn around to look at me, and I continued eyeing him.
John wandered over to watch my back, and it became clear that the roles were kinda reversed and the predator became the prey. The guy with the Styrofoam said, "Okay," and crossed 6th Avenue and was not seen again.
All this happening right next to a NYPD mobile Command Center.
Then John saw this man driving a car with a blow-up doll in the passenger seat. What made it even more unusual is that the blow up doll was of a female child. John ran to grab a shot, but blew it.
A while later I told John that the same man was walking behind John carrying the doll, and that it seemed like he was heading right towards us. Anyways this guy was odd and weird in a Diane Arbus iconic shot kinda way. He was almost advertising that he was a sex offender and he was looking for a beating. He had perve written all over him and it seemed like he was broadcasting it before 8 AM Sunday morning.
John was ready to sneak a shot, but he walked right over and asked John if he wanted to shoot him before John could snap the shutter. Snap-Snap and then John had to ask him what's up with the doll. LOL
Then things got even stranger. Something about being a children's clothing designer, but the child sized doll did not convey anything about fashion. I say this guy definately is a sex offender. LOL.
Andre, John and I went to this place in Brooklyn called "The Hole." Basically it is the belly button of Brooklyn where it is a depession below sea level like Newark New Jersey that is prone to flooding, has no sidewalks and is a somewhat neglected and abandoned area. Imaging if you are a Brooklyn Hill Billy and where you would live. We saw live chickens, abandoned cars, dumping, boarded up houses, and trailers . It seemed rather swampy although inland, and standing water blocked entrance at several intersections.
Anyways just another Sunday morning in NYC.
Cal
You know what they say, "True artists are exhibitionists." LOL.
Anyways this shoot involves a rather successful established photographer, and I have a great opportunity to gain more insights into all these things I have avoided. This shoot also involves some video as part of the production. Anyways a full blown production crew with hair, make-up, and a stylist.
This is for a book.
Yesterday I met John at West 4th Street by the basketball courts known as "The Cage." This location today is littered with the Homeless and is a hotspot, and before I got there John had been assailed and had given a dollar to this guy that kinda set him up by blaming John for dropping his styrofoam container full of food.
Anyways after John told me what happened to him I witnessed the same guy mark a hipster by dropping the very same styrofoam container involving a young hypster. We also saw teaming up of homeless, as the one guy with the styrofoam container had another guy nearby in standby mode like an ambush.
I also noticed that there was this ongoing circling of homeless men circling us like hungry sharks after a shipwreck looking for some opportunity to somehow entangle us and found myself looking behind me and finding homeless men repeatedly looking my way as we waited for Andre.
One guy came over to beg for money, and he was a buddy of the guy that had pressured John with the styrofaom. I told him, "My friend already gave a dollar to your friend the scammer with the styrofoam."
At one point I told John that I don't like this and that I'm getting pissed off about it. So I walked right behind the guy with the styrofoam food container standing in his "6:00 o'clock" 6 feet behind him. I was not in his space, but then again I purposely stood a step away from striking distance. Repeatedly I saw him turn around to look at me, and I continued eyeing him.
John wandered over to watch my back, and it became clear that the roles were kinda reversed and the predator became the prey. The guy with the Styrofoam said, "Okay," and crossed 6th Avenue and was not seen again.
All this happening right next to a NYPD mobile Command Center.
Then John saw this man driving a car with a blow-up doll in the passenger seat. What made it even more unusual is that the blow up doll was of a female child. John ran to grab a shot, but blew it.
A while later I told John that the same man was walking behind John carrying the doll, and that it seemed like he was heading right towards us. Anyways this guy was odd and weird in a Diane Arbus iconic shot kinda way. He was almost advertising that he was a sex offender and he was looking for a beating. He had perve written all over him and it seemed like he was broadcasting it before 8 AM Sunday morning.
John was ready to sneak a shot, but he walked right over and asked John if he wanted to shoot him before John could snap the shutter. Snap-Snap and then John had to ask him what's up with the doll. LOL
Then things got even stranger. Something about being a children's clothing designer, but the child sized doll did not convey anything about fashion. I say this guy definately is a sex offender. LOL.
Andre, John and I went to this place in Brooklyn called "The Hole." Basically it is the belly button of Brooklyn where it is a depession below sea level like Newark New Jersey that is prone to flooding, has no sidewalks and is a somewhat neglected and abandoned area. Imaging if you are a Brooklyn Hill Billy and where you would live. We saw live chickens, abandoned cars, dumping, boarded up houses, and trailers . It seemed rather swampy although inland, and standing water blocked entrance at several intersections.
Anyways just another Sunday morning in NYC.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
So the stylist for the Saturday shoot sent an e-mail inquiring about my shoe and clothing sizes. Also it seems that some of my clothes will be blended in. "Maggie" made mention that I have a loud sneaker collection (bright colors) and that I favor Paul Smith clothes because I have a muscular boyish build at 5'10" and 150 pounds.
I have these yellow rubberized Converse high tops that I consider "Urban Camo" because it is the same color of an iconic yellow rain coat. Initially Maggie thought these yellow sneakers are garish and she told me they were ugly, but when combined with some of my other clothing that she bought me (black jeans and a cool t-shirt from Detroit) my sense of original style came out. Now she loves my loud sneakers and thinks it is part of my "branding."
Anyways if we are talking about branding I am partly a slob who likes some select luxury products. My lack of style really is my sense of style, but mostly known for annoying people. LOL.
I remember this friend who was an engineer I worked with named Mike. In a manner of fact Mike once said to me, "Cal you are so skinny;" I said, "Mike you are fat and bald;" then Mike said, "I didn't mean to offend you;" and then I said, "Neither was I;" but I was laughing; and Mike laughed too.
NYC Marathon is Sunday November 6th. Not a good day for a Meet-Up.
Cal
I have these yellow rubberized Converse high tops that I consider "Urban Camo" because it is the same color of an iconic yellow rain coat. Initially Maggie thought these yellow sneakers are garish and she told me they were ugly, but when combined with some of my other clothing that she bought me (black jeans and a cool t-shirt from Detroit) my sense of original style came out. Now she loves my loud sneakers and thinks it is part of my "branding."
Anyways if we are talking about branding I am partly a slob who likes some select luxury products. My lack of style really is my sense of style, but mostly known for annoying people. LOL.
I remember this friend who was an engineer I worked with named Mike. In a manner of fact Mike once said to me, "Cal you are so skinny;" I said, "Mike you are fat and bald;" then Mike said, "I didn't mean to offend you;" and then I said, "Neither was I;" but I was laughing; and Mike laughed too.
NYC Marathon is Sunday November 6th. Not a good day for a Meet-Up.
Cal
Looks like November is going to be a rough one for me... I arrive back from Chile on the morning of the 13th. The 20th I'm hanging with a friend.
finguanzo
Well-known
Chile... Nice..
Prest_400
Multiformat
I see those yellow sneakers are giving you a great service!
I too get the skinny comments every once in a while, however with the offensive intention. I had a few women envying my natural metabolic capacities for not getting fat, so don't tend to take them very seriously!
If things get a bit ugly there's always the "why you worry so much about losing weight huh".There's lots of muscle mania in guys and I ended up having a few gym rat friends, but always resisted.
Dang, it is a great time to travel with cheap fares again. Even departing within a few days notice. Hard to resist but I must.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I see those yellow sneakers are giving you a great service!
I too get the skinny comments every once in a while, however with the offensive intention. I had a few women envying my natural metabolic capacities for not getting fat, so don't tend to take them very seriously!
There's lots of muscle mania in guys and I ended up having a few gym rat friends, but always resisted.
Dang, it is a great time to travel with cheap fares again. Even departing within a few days notice. Hard to resist but I must.
J-D,
Kinda funny how people blurt out things without thinking.
I am a bit of a gym rat. One of the reasons why I look so young. Back in the day I use to race bicycles, both mountain and road. Never was any good but I have a very high/impressive threshold of pain. LOL.
I'm almost 59 and almost a decade ago I ran the NYC Marathon "off the couch" without any real training. Basically a friend of mine had overtrained, ran himself down, and became too sick to run the event. He offered me his bib so I could run in his place, and I only had one full day to get ready. Completed the Marathon just under 5 hours (beat the clock by 26 seconds) which was my goal.
The day after I could not walk and I was crippled. LOL. I called into work and asked for a sick day, and my boss who is a jerk questioned my use of a sick day, and I told him, "If I have a headache you would not be questioning me. Today my legs hurt, I can't walk, so what is the difference? Give me a sick-day."
As you can tell my boss is not a creative person, nor does he like creative people. LOL.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
PRINTING ALERT: I pre-ordered two Piezography Pro K-8 glossy inksets and new sets of carts for my 3880 and 7800 printers to upgrade my printing to a new upgraded system that has a few benefits: a blacker black, darker than even the newest Epson inks; variable splitone where two inksets are blended via the print head; and most importantly one pass glossy printing. I dropped $2.9K so add onto the $8.5K I already spent on paper and ink over the past year and nine months since I began printing. If you take off six months that I took a break from printing it is almost about $1K a month to feed my printers with paper and ink. How crazy is that?
I still have a big stockpile of K-7 inks. I recently refilled all the 400 ml carts on my 7800 even though presently my 7800 is in storage mode loaded with Piezoflush. I likely have enough shade 4 and shade 3 to expend my inks, but I'll need more shade 5. It seems the way I print I print mostly mids which are shades 3,4 and 5. When this ink is gone them a Piezoflush and load the new Piezography Pro.
Eventually I will run both a small and large printer with the same inkset. To save wear and tear I will only use the 7800 with 24 inch wide rolls and do all my 17 inch printing with the 3880. Because of the one pass glossy printing the difficulty with Pizzawheels from the 3880 paper transport should no longer be an issue when printing Canson papers.
Know that the one pass printing will save a lot of time and maintenance. I also expect better prints with even more dynamic range. Expected delivery is after November 17th. Lock and load.
I hope to have my Nikon LS-8000 online, so I will have mucho negatives to print. Funny thing is I never thought I would scan negatives. LOL.
Cal
I still have a big stockpile of K-7 inks. I recently refilled all the 400 ml carts on my 7800 even though presently my 7800 is in storage mode loaded with Piezoflush. I likely have enough shade 4 and shade 3 to expend my inks, but I'll need more shade 5. It seems the way I print I print mostly mids which are shades 3,4 and 5. When this ink is gone them a Piezoflush and load the new Piezography Pro.
Eventually I will run both a small and large printer with the same inkset. To save wear and tear I will only use the 7800 with 24 inch wide rolls and do all my 17 inch printing with the 3880. Because of the one pass glossy printing the difficulty with Pizzawheels from the 3880 paper transport should no longer be an issue when printing Canson papers.
Know that the one pass printing will save a lot of time and maintenance. I also expect better prints with even more dynamic range. Expected delivery is after November 17th. Lock and load.
I hope to have my Nikon LS-8000 online, so I will have mucho negatives to print. Funny thing is I never thought I would scan negatives. LOL.
Cal
dshfoto
Well-known
I think that printing with QuadTone Rip from scanned negative files lets you concentrate on the image nuances, in a way that just printing digital files may not. -- you have to really dig into the file to get out the dust, scratches, and do some touch up.
Steve
Steve
Very nice...
How about the 13th? I might not make it, but this will be the day I can make it if there is one.
dshfoto
Well-known
Nov. 13th sounds good! I can plan to be there.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
The 13th it is.
Cal
Cal
Range-rover
Mentor
Did you guy's enjoy the show!
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Bob,
I had a great show. Got to pre-view a pre-production AF 50 Lux on my SL.
I got more info on framing stock sizes and mats.
I did not get the big Digital Silver Imaging promo I wanted, but I'm okay with that.
We had a great lunch in an Italian restaurant, and Joe, John and I made our way uptown shooting and saw a Diane Arbus show of her early years when she shot 35mm at what use to be the Whitney Museum. It was a full day.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Now I'm inspired to edit through the disaster I created by shooting film without any regard to printing.
I did this when film was cheap and I bought a truckload of Arista Premium from Freestyle when it was only $2.89 a roll, and Acros that was short dated I secured for $1.89 a roll.
I have been compared to Garry Winnogran because I shot a lot and postponed editing. So now I have a headache to work through.
I've been looking at Moab Entrada because I can get double sided prints, and because double sided prints lend itself to bookbinding. Moab also sells book kits for square negatives and spare pages.
Anyways this is a crazy project because of the volume of negatives.
Cal
I did this when film was cheap and I bought a truckload of Arista Premium from Freestyle when it was only $2.89 a roll, and Acros that was short dated I secured for $1.89 a roll.
I have been compared to Garry Winnogran because I shot a lot and postponed editing. So now I have a headache to work through.
I've been looking at Moab Entrada because I can get double sided prints, and because double sided prints lend itself to bookbinding. Moab also sells book kits for square negatives and spare pages.
Anyways this is a crazy project because of the volume of negatives.
Cal
Prest_400
Multiformat
Too bad this year I have no semester abroad... Had I been in Sweden, there's a nice roundrip fare to NY around 9th to 16th November. Being in Spain it doesn't make any sense though.
I sort of not remember prices before the turn of the decade (decade!) because of my youth. Recently I found myself in some 2007 thread and prices were about half, and some price catalog with some interesting 220 film.
I happen to be like that in digital. 100s of pictures of some trip or whatever, and I end up doing about nothing with them. Film keeps me quite selective and I am happy with it, even if it is Lab process and scan.
I sort of not remember prices before the turn of the decade (decade!) because of my youth. Recently I found myself in some 2007 thread and prices were about half, and some price catalog with some interesting 220 film.
I happen to be like that in digital. 100s of pictures of some trip or whatever, and I end up doing about nothing with them. Film keeps me quite selective and I am happy with it, even if it is Lab process and scan.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Jorde,
For me shooting a lot is one way to become better. I shot a lot more film when is was like you say about half the price.
With digital I take the shot and delete for free.
I also tend to shoot like an assasin/hit man in that I tend to shoot in three round bursts while moving so I have at least three shots to edit from. I also tend to move closer or to the side to not replicate any POV.
For me time is the best editor.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Tomorrow is my debute as the "Accidental Male Model." Some stylist is flying in from Holland, and I was directed to bring mucho Paul Smith, even my suits. The shooting will be B&W and begin in Dumbo and lead to Greenpoint to capture a street style. This is for an art book so I expect that medium format film will be used.
It seems that the higher one goes up in the world of fashion the more the last minute the call, meaning the firming up and booking of a shoot is often made just the day before.
Maggie now has 58K followers, and yesterday she got the last minute call for a really big shoot that will happen later today. The Photographer has initials TR and is as big and famous as it gets as far as fashion photography. The only information Maggie got was 5:00 PM, but she does not know any location, what to bring, or any other details.
As far as tomorrow goes we do not have a location either. Sunday is some video thing involving a film maker that I will be tagging along.
Cal
It seems that the higher one goes up in the world of fashion the more the last minute the call, meaning the firming up and booking of a shoot is often made just the day before.
Maggie now has 58K followers, and yesterday she got the last minute call for a really big shoot that will happen later today. The Photographer has initials TR and is as big and famous as it gets as far as fashion photography. The only information Maggie got was 5:00 PM, but she does not know any location, what to bring, or any other details.
As far as tomorrow goes we do not have a location either. Sunday is some video thing involving a film maker that I will be tagging along.
Cal
Tell her to watch out for Uncle Terry!
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Uncle Terry wears a Rolex like me, except mine is a cheap Rolex.
BTW our friend Nick got a really good job in Public Relations and has an office in Union Square. In his office they follow the Accidental Icon, Nick mentioned that he is tight with Maggie, and Nicks boss gave him the company credit card and told Nick to hook Maggie into some huge marketing campaign.
Nick took her to some high end Italian restaurant, and gave her a huge bag of all this high end make-up and cosmetics as a bribe, and set her up for some gig. So now Nick is a hero and rock star at his brand new job. How cool is it that his job/company supports him as he is (transgendered).
Know that our other transgendered friend Chris is the Production Manager at Milk Studios. Remember how Chris managed the Fashion Show at Fordham.
Next Friday I will be an escort for Maggie. I'll meet Eileen Fisher and some other big person at this gala awards Sara-moan-EE.
Cal