I can’t believe that summer is almost over and Fashion Week is almost here. I’m equal parts elated and stressed. As much as I love covering the shows, my stress levels tend to be off the charts during the entire ordeal. At least I have all of the super thick September issues of my favorite mags rolling in, to keep me distracted in the mean time.
Sometimes people email me asking for recommendations about purchasing a camera. I don’t mind it at all. I love cameras. I love talking about cameras, taking photos, and all of that stuff. But, I wish that people would be generally mindful of a few things when considering upgrading cameras, getting into photography, etc.. At least, I wish that they would be mindful if they are going to interact with me on the subject. I think that it would be less frustrating for all parties involved. For example– even though I know it is not meant to be offensive, I can’t help but be a little bit insulted when someone says something like “I want to get a good camera so my images will look like yours.” To me this is the equivalent of saying something like “This is really good food. I wish I could get a new kitchen, so that my cooking would taste like this.” I’m flattered that someone finds my images appealing, but discouraged by the insinuation that the camera did all of the work. I mean, having a nice camera definitely helps people produce quality images. But, it would be nice if people could acknowledge that there is a little more to it than just knowing how to use the shutter release button. I’m not trying to get all swollen headed, or pretend like I’m some sort of photography mogul. And I really hope that people don’t take this post the wrong way. I truly believe that, as with any artistic medium, producing something great comes from more than just having the right tools for the job. I think that in addition to having the right tools, a person should have a little bit of natural ability (which I think most people have), and willingness to study and practice.
At the risk of coming off like I think I know everything (I’m stating for the record, right now, that I don’t even come close to knowing everything about photography or anything else), I have decided to write a short series, in an attempt to possibly help people who are interested and want to become more involved in photography, and don’t mind the superfluous use of commas. In the series I will give my opinion about where to focus energy in order to improve ones photography skills, and possibly throw in some basic knowledge and links to some online resources that I find helpful. Intend to cover things like basic composition, exposure, lighting, and how to choose a camera. Again, all just my opinion, in hopes that someone finds it helpful. The “dropping knowledge” tag is meant to be tongue in cheek.
A couple of weeks ago, Josh Maready gave us a tour of NYC via a GoPro mounted to the bottom of his skateboard. This week, Olexo Skateboards takes us to India. Although the point of view in this video is not from beneath the skate deck, the imagery is equally stunning. The French scored some more points in my book, with this one. Check it out–
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Since today is kind of a moody grayish day, I’m sharing a track to match it. This track is by a dude named Tommy Davidson, who produces under the moniker Dream Cop. In my opinion, his stuff is a perfect blend of pop and down-tempo. Here is the extended mix of “Warm Thrash.”
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I came across this cool short by Edouard Sepulchre today and thought that I would pass it along. It is nothing Earth shattering. But it has some cool visuals. Plus, who doesn’t love bikes? It’s called “The Great Escape.” And no, it is not a reinterpretation of the Charlie Bronson classic. Check it out:
Speaking of videos, I saw another pretty cool one today, that my b-i-l Mike forwarded to me. I posted it over here.
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I don’t mean to write two “I heart NY” posts in a row. But, I really enjoy the non-stop visual stimulation that occurs just walking around the City. Today I was on the way to shoot this, and I happened upon the scene pictured above (and below). I don’t know what I like more about what is going on here– several dozen trampled roses on the sidewalk, or a dog that looks like a baby deer. I think it is going to be a good weekend.
As mentioned previously, I’m trying to simplify my life at the moment. So over the past few days I have been making a list of items that I need to part with. Last night I photographed them and put them all into a little online store. Here is the link. I’m going to advertise all of this stuff on CL, as well. But I probably won’t have time to create the listings for a few days. If you see something you want in the store, hit me up. Pricing is flexible. It is more just about getting rid of stuff. Happy Thursday.
I remember taking my first photography class, in like 7th or 8th grade. One of the very first projects that we did was make pinhole cameras. We spent one day making the cameras (out of shoe boxes), then the next day wandering around campus during the entire period capturing images with them. We were exposing directly to photo paper, so everything was a negative. But I still remember how much fun it was.
Enter the paper Leica m3. How awesome is this? I would say that it is quite an upgrade from the rickety shoebox contraption that I built back in the day. This printable papercraft Leica m3 was designed by Matthew Nicholson, and is available for download from his site for only £1.50. It comes with assembly instructions (which appear to indicate that it shoots 220 medium format film [same as the Holga]). I think that I may have found a project for the weekend. A few more looks below–
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Every once in a while I feel the need to write about the World Trade Center construction progress. Here is my 2008 rant about calling it ground zero (which people still do, btw). Here is a shot of One World Trade Center last November. And the shot above is one that I snapped yesterday from ground level. It’s pretty crazy that next month will mark 10 years since the attacks. That means that next August I will have been in NY for 10 years. My, how time flies.
This week: The Golden Filter. I know that I have been on a bit of kick lately with the electronica meets female vocals. But I guess that has just been my fever these days. Even though none of the members of this group are from NYC, I consider them a New York group, since this is where they linked up and started producing. I love this track. It’s called “Hide Me.” Give it a listen.
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I have always wanted a paddle board. My very first surfboard probably could have doubled as paddle board, since it was almost 12′ long. It was just lacking the thickness to have the requisite buoyancy. When I was learning how to surf, I used to watch the old guys out at Waikiki Beach use a canoe paddle to paddle out through the ankle slappers, while standing up. I always wondered what it would be like. But I never actually spent any time on a board that was designed for paddling. Lately I have noticed the sport becoming wildly popular in NYC. There is an organized paddle every year from the downtown boathouse, out and around the Statue of Liberty. Laird Hamilton comes out for that one. Last Friday when I was leaving work, I saw a dude strapping a 13′ paddle board onto the top of his Mini Cooper, parked on West St., just north of Battery Park. I wish that I would has snapped a photo of that one.
Anyway, check out these super styley new paddle boards by James Perse. I like pretty much all of the different colorways. I would seriously love to pick one up. If only I had somewhere to store it *sigh*. Hopefully some day.
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I grew up on Nirvana. Kurt C. was a person that I admired and adored simultaneously. I had the pleasure of seeing Nirvana on more than one occasion before Kurt met his demise (which, btw seriously shook my world). Anyway, I stumbled upon this set of photos today, shot by Hedi Slimane. They are of Francis Bean, who is now a grown woman. When I first perused the set, I literally got cold chills. This woman, who I for some reason still think of as a baby swaddled up in Kurt’s arms during an MTV interview, bears a striking resemblance to her father. For a split second, I seriously felt like I was looking at Kurt reincarnated as a woman. Kudos to Slimane and Francis. I was very moved by this set. Have a look for yourself.
[Photography: Hedi Slimane]
This is a shot of a truck that was double parked on my block earlier this week. There are six differences. Go!
If you give up, the key is over here.
Two posts about Italian bikes in one day!? I guess so. Check out these ridiculously hot wooden handlebars made by Officine Milani Firenze. If the bars themselves weren’t cool enough, OMF also offers custom refurbished bicycles with original salvaged parts. I wonder if they have any rebuilt G. Bianchis for sale. A couple more looks at the bars–
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I seriously cannot wait to see this. Trailer #1 is over here, in case you missed it.
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This is kind of a random post, that will probably only be interesting to me. But, here goes anyway. Some may recall that that one of my good friends moved to Florence fairly recently. It is the same dude that I went on the “man trip” with earlier this year. Anyway, he recently sent me some pretty interesting (if you are e nerd like us) shots from his observations in Florence. The first set is of the tricked out Hyundai pictured above (extra points if you know where the title of this post comes from). When he first sent over the images of the Fiorucci Hyundai, I thought it was a joke. I thought it was like all of those minivans that I see driving around my neighborhood with NoS stickers and fake intake ducts glued onto the hood. But, when I looked into it a little further, Fiorucci really did team up with Hyundai on a model called the i10. How funny is that? …an iconic Italian fashion label choosing a Korean built joke of an automobile to collaborate with. It’s like if Toyota released a Fendi trimmed Prius. Except, not even, because Toyota is more reputable than Hyundai. Anyway, I’m not trying to trash talk those automakers, I’m just trying to highlight the irony of the fact that a designer based in the same country that produces Lamborghini and Ferrari, chose to team up with Hyundai. Bold move. And, super entertaining (if you are a nerd).
Next, we turn to “G. Bianchi” bicycles (not be [although hard not to be] confused with Bianchi). Mike said that he has seen several of these bikes around Florence. When he and I looked into it, we discovered that G. Bianchi is a now defunct brand of bikes that was founded in the 60’s by Giuseppe Bianchi, out of Florence. I doubt that the dude even meant to have his brand confused with the Cycle giant Bianchi (or did he), since it was the guy’s name. Anyway, as most people probably know, “bianchi” just means “white.” It isn’t like the word is super uncommon in Italy (I’m assuming). But, now I kind of want to try to get one of these G. Bianchi bikes, just for novelty’s sake. I really like the quarter length chrome fenders.
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The end.
Photography: M. Cuomo
It’s true that I don’t have a lot of nice things to say about the French. But, I’m trying to mend my ways (especially after being politely nudged in a more positive direction by BNE), starting with this post about Yelle. We actually used one of Yelle’s songs in a tutorial vid that we shot for Hairdresser on Fire. Despite being super girly, the positive energy in Yelle’s music makes it bearable… nay, enjoyable for me. I can’t really say the same for most other really girly sounding artists/groups. The track that I’m sharing today is the title track from “Safari Disco Club.” Check it.
The video for this track is quite entertaining as well. It’s over here if you are interested.
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My homey Josh Maready shared this video on FB today. I couldn’t help but pass it along. Last time we hung out together, he was telling me about this idea that he had to put a camera on his skateboard and go skating. I thought it sounded like an awesome idea, and also wondered how the camera would hold up (and apparently it didn’t). But Josh was able to put together some pretty remarkable footage anyway. He is a fantastic skateboarder. It is almost as fun to watch from the underside of his board, as it is to watch from the third person perspective. Anyway, check it out.
As promised, here is the dreaded first installation of my weekly running blah on Jake’s Mag.
I’m currently working through one of the Hal Higdon training programs (below).
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Week
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Mon
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Tue
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Wed
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Thur
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Fri
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Sat
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Sun
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | 3 x hill | rest | 5 m pace |
10
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| 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | 30 Tem | rest | 5 m run |
11
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| 3 m run | 6 m run | 3 m run | 4 x 800 | rest | 6 m pace |
8
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| 3 m run | 6 m run | 3 m run | 4 x hill | rest | 6 m pace |
13
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| 3 m run | 7 m run | 3 m run | 35 Tem | rest | 7 m run | 14 | |
| 3 m run | 7 m run | 3 m run | 5 x 800 | rest | 7 m pace |
10
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| 3 m run | 8 m run | 4 m run | 5 x hill | rest | 8 m pace |
16
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| 3 m run | 8 m run | 4 m run | 40 Tem | rest | 8 m run |
17
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| 3 m run | 9 m run | 4 m run | 6 x 800 | rest | 9 m pace |
12
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| 3 m run | 9 m run | 4 m run | 6 x hill | rest | 9 m pace |
19
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| 4 m run | 10 m run | 5 m run | 45 Tem | rest | 10 m run |
20
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| 4 m run | 6 m run | 5 m run | 7 x 800 | rest | 6 m pace |
12
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| 4 m run | 10 m run | 5 m run | 7 x hill | rest | 10 m pace |
20
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| 5 m run | 6 m run | 5 m run | 45 tem | rest | 6 m run |
12
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| 5 m run | 10 m run | 5 m run | 8 x 800 | rest | 10 m pace |
20
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| 5 m run | 8 m run | 5 m run | 6 x hill | rest | 4 m pace |
12
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| 4 m run | 6 m run | 4 m run | 30 Tem | rest | 4 m run |
8
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| 3 m run | 4 x 400 | 2 m run | rest | rest | 2 m run |
race
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This week, was week 8, of 18. I can’t believe that after next week I will be half way through. It’s kind of crazy/frightening, especially considering the fact that I have been fairly half-hearted about training this year. I left off after week 5, since I missed both of the long runs for weeks 6 and 7. Anyway, here is a recap of this week’s efforts:
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Week
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Mon
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Tue
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Wed
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Thur
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Fri
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Sat
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Sun
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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goal
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3 m run | 8 m run | 4 m run | 40 Tem | rest | 8 m run |
17
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| actual | skipped | 7 m run | 7.3 m run | 38:40 tem | rest | 8 m run |
Overall, I have to give myself a grade of about a B, for this week. Even though I skipped Monday, and came up short on Tues (I forgot to check how far I was supposed to go), I made up for it on Wed, with a handful of extra miles. I was also pretty happy with the way that I was able to do as Hal suggested and instead of zoning out for the tempo run, do some “associating.” Associating basically means that instead of just throwing it on autopilot and shuffling along at an 8m/m pace, pay attention to my speed, my body, etc.. By taking Hal’s advice, I was able to do my tempo run at a pace that is close to what I want to be running in Oct. I has similar results on Saturday. I capped off the running week with a change of venue, and did some laps in Central Park. The weather was mid-70’s and the early morning shade made for a super pleasant run.
Here is what is on deck for next week:
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Week
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Mon
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Tue
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Wed
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Thur
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Fri
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Sat
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Sun
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 m run | 9 m run | 4 m run | 6 x 800 | rest | 9 m pace |
12
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EVOL is an artist that I have been following for a while. He has a knack for turning small items into cityscapes with his precision stenciling. I had the pleasure of shooting some of his work earlier this year at Volta. It was awesome to see his work in person. But his latest piece is the coolest that I have seen in a while. He excavated a field to create crisscrossing trenches, before lining them with his stenciled plywood walls. He documented the entire process on his Flickr page. Check it out.
[images: EVOL]