It took a wine glass and some Bob Dylan to get into this trance. Going to California again in some 7 weeks. My last (first) visit to the state of California has left me loving it. I'm curious what will happen this time. Its cool not to know yourself.

Wine. San Francisco. Driving along Highway 1. Los Angeles. Photo Shoots. Seeing Don. San Diego. Priceless.

I wish I could bring along the Vespa and have Don ride it. I'm not sure he ever rode a scooter. There is something about the Vespa that makes you appreciate that it won't go 80mph+. I push the limits of any motorcycle to get myself scared but on vespa I am stuck enjoying the ride. I actually really like it.

Need to shop for some portable strobes for location shooting. The image tonight is from a photograph taken after work last Friday. I was waiting by the bar before scouting to see a location in Central Park for a engagement portrait I shot on Saturday.

Easter is as important as Christmas in the catholic calendar. I appreciate it more somehow because it does not get distorted by the mad shopping rush and the sales. It’s amazing that it can still shut down the New York Stock Exchange and all trading in the USA. But it is not the day off from work, as much as the importance of the day. My biggest problem with the Catholic Church is the corruption and the preaching of how to go about it. So I don’t go to church that often. I live my best way based on some moral principles. I like Buddhism for the Zen chapter where you sit back and think about nothing. There is a strong element of concentrating how to be in charge of your emotions.

I am including 4 images from Saturday. One is from a passenger window of passing though a ghetto. In a run down part of town stands a shiny black Cadillac. Perhaps this could be a good metaphor for the current state of American car industry. I hope they break out of it. There was some amazing engineering that now needs a new age efficiency.

The other 3 images are from the church mass itself. I heard the rumor that only Polish and Italians bless their food on the day before Easter Sunday. Oddly enough because of the internal politics of this church the all Polish tradition was done in English. There is a deeper story here but since I do not have hard facts I will pass on it.

It is now March 21st, 2008 and this is the first post for 2008. A lot of changes have been happening and a lot of great things coming to life.

To begin, I am now beginning to shoot Digital. Somehow I was torn on the idea of cheating myself by making this change and a lot of ethical questioning went into the decision. Somewhere near the end I asked my friend Don if that is indeed the case and his response was "Cheating against who?". And so I purchased a Canon 5D and have begun working with the camera and digital process. I still shoot film for my personal work and will as long as will be manufactured.

In addition, one thing I absolutely love is Magnum and photojournalism. Far from being in the front line of news I am venturing into Wedding photography with a business partner. Since we both have day jobs with somewhat of a career track our focus is networking and opting to photograph high end weddings. The income generated from these weddings will be there to fund traveling and business expenses. The idea is to do something I absolutely enjoy. And if I do not have to photograph weddings every weekend but selected few in a year I will be able to work on my photojournalistic reportage though a somewhat orchestrated event.

Late last year I also made a decision to get back on two wheels after 4 year absence. With 2007s left over at the local dealer I got a great price on a brand new Vespa GTS. I love the little Vespa. At about 70-75mpg this is the ultimate warm/hot weather transportation around the NYC Metro area. It will go as far as 76mph but its hard to tell via the speedometer because they tend to be always inaccurate at such high speeds for scooters.

So posts now will be on everything from scootering/photographing to photographing and lighting. My life is photography. It always reinvents myself and gets me to be more involved into observing. It is what I love about it. I was considering altering the title of this blog which I might still do but for now I need to think of what the name could be. Discipline is the biggest lesson I have learned in the last few months. I intend to use it to help me vent here on the blog over ideas that have been in my head.

In this post, the pictures are of no significant photographic value other then display the cool Italian design of simple transport.

OK, it looks like last time I posted was at the end of October. I have color film I still need to develop but all my trips to the NYC have been anywhere but 20th St. area. Since the films vary there will be a sense of surprise on what is on them. I like that feeling but more so with time as evidence where I been and what I chose to focus on in a given moment in time.
The PC got fixed after I got fed up with the web browser and uninstalled whole bunch of crap. The Mac has truly showed me a new way. The mere consistency and the ease of workflow make the PC a true separation from leisure and work. I even think that sometime in the further future I'd get one of those cool 24' Macs that the whole thing is built into the monitor. So cool!

In the midis of winter I'm looking to get back on two wheels again. This time I am thinking locally with a little kick to go further. I paid a visit to the local dealer which 2 years ago upgraded its facility and took on Ducati and Vespa for products carried. Oh how cool! The prettiest (in Men terms) bikes and the cool (pretty in Women terms) Scooters. All stereotyping of definitions of aside, the Vespa GTS in Black has stuck with me so strong that given the financial promotion going on it has became a research vehicle. The styling is amazing and the general opinion is nothing but thumbs up.

So what does any of this have to do with photography? I guess the explanation that this blog has not died not became abandoned by me. Simply a transition for me into some significant changes. Once the Vespa issue is set I'd like to get more landscapes here but it would have to be somewhere in March since its the earliest here when the weather gets more stable.

I've been reading a lot. I have few books on a stack to be read. Combined with my weekly Economist magazine (which I came to appreciate tremendously) I have more writing to do here on the subject of photography.

And I will start posting more about wine here because after drinking it for over 4 years seriously I want to pass some of that experience to anyone it might help.

No photograph tonight as I needed to write. Next post I'll include one.

The great news is that the old Arca Swiss 4x5 has found a new life in my hands. The bad news is that the experiments from last night, some 10+ minute exposures on HP5 filled by Full Moon came out nothing more then mediocre. BUT! if I was to go tonight and do it I would improve on the things I did not like from last night. Locations would be better screened along with bringing few things which would make my life easier in the dark of the night. but that's all night photography.

I am now going to use this for some portraits. Natural light with the 90mm lens. Hopefully some environmental ones. Others will be some reflections on American towns. I can only shoot on the weekend now due to days getting shorter. Soon I'll be leaving for work in the morning and walking out of y building in the dark of night. So the weekends are what's left. Plus, some work with the Pentax 6x7 to do as well.

Tonight a photograph from last night. Stand developed overnight in Rodinal at 1:200. Same town and both after 10pm. Next time I'll choose the location more carefully to be more in the dark. The street light and local traffic over expososed some elements of both photographs

If it was not for NYC I don't know what I would do around here. NJ is not a place of any recognition in my book. Its a vast land of everything necessary and just enough to pass. There are rich towns and poor towns, but the mentality is just the same. Baseball and BBQs. And I could not be more far that any of that crap.
Tonight ta photograph from a walk in NYC Meat Packing district. A wedding shoot taking place while a dog (the ring bearer) waited for his turn to pose. And shortly after the first photograph he did. I'm planning to photograph this same region with the 4x5 camera in the next few weeks.

A great news for Poland today. Despite a 6 hour lag I have been following the elections to the minute. I could not be more happy. Donald Tusk has won. He is among my favorite politicians. Not only Polish but my personal tracking of world politics. In this group is Tony Blair and the american Colin Powell. Powel had disappeared from American political scene because what he believed in was pure and human good but the candidacy which originally supported him failed to support his vision.
i have watched Donald Tusk in the two televised elections in the last week. I read about his campaign for some time now. His voice is mine. I am Proud that the Polish government now has a prime minister I am absolutely sure of and incredibly proud of. Donald Tusk is my answer to transforming Poland where I can return and make better.

Even after so many rolls developed in Rodinal I came across technical setbacks recently. A few rolls pushed 2 stops of Tri-x gave me very weak negatives. So I have been stubborn to find some alternatives. I found one recently while surfing the net which is called Stand developing method. Basically the developer is diluted to 1:100 or 1:200 and once the roll is in the can all agitation takes place in the first 30 seconds to 1 minute. The tank then sits for an hour (or two hours based on the dilution). What this supposedly does is develops a fuller negative. Because the amount of developer is so small it does not over develops the negative but simply dies while developing the film. I read somewhere where a guy left a roll in the can overnight and still got some useful negatives.

I do not know how this will work for me. As I am writing this I have a roll I did this morning. A typical suburban life and scenes. In one of the shots I found a very plain house with two cars as the standard for what suburbia is supposed to look like. Then there was a garage sale, then some apartment buildings on the edge of woods (over development of suburbia) and a photograph of a real-estate sight now overgrown in tall grass. All this on a roll of 12 is souping right now in Rodinal at 1:200 dilution for 2 hours. Some 50 minutes still left.

For now a photograph from the old rollei of a different sight but still of New Jersey. A plant (incinerator I think) that I see from a train everyday on my way to the finical area of Jersey City.

I took out the old Rolli I have, a camera made in the early 1950s, and ran a roll of tri-x in it. I am making progress in figuring out why my previous pushed processed rolls were disappointments. But I need to do some more rolls to know for sure.

Tonight, a quick hand held shot of 1/25th motion blurred photograph from the Rolli on the commute home. Tri-x pushed in Rodinal to 1600 at 71F 22min.

I have started to be more conscious of photographing my commute. The idea here is that being in the same trend of everyday I am trying to see a pattern of consistency with the photographs I take along the way. My answer lately to the question of type of work that I photograph is social documentary. I am a big fan of Magnum organization. I'd like to find more of the elements found in those photographers work in my work.
With plenty of gear in my possession the only thing left to do is to photograph. Despite a recent setback of pushing Tri-x to ISO 6400 and getting less then acceptable results, has not deterred me from experimenting some more. Since most of my work is done in the evening (after dayjob hours) and weekends I am trying to find a discipline of processing pushed rolls that I can somewhat relay on. One of the specific locations I am concentrating on is NYC. Everyone has done it and thats the best part about it. I want to be there photographing to see how I see it. I am interested what my interpretation, opportunity, and the decisive moment will be. Outside of that I do not know what to think of these surroundings. I am much often unsettled around here. I am thinking more often of leaving and that would mean Europe.
Photograph from a commute as mentioned before. This is the tonal quality I am after.

September 25th is the 18 year anniversary of my arrival in USA. Some thinking about the subject tonight. I am including the photograph I mentioned in my post from few weeks ago. I am late with it.

This was taken last monday on the day of the anniversary of the Katyn Forrest massacre in 1940. So in this post a combination of reflections on history in a private and world content way.
Katyn of course of an event very much unknown to the west of the brutal and systematic killing of intelligence by the Soviets in the territories they were setting on to later control.

I finished Kapuscinski's book Friday. I have another one by him titled "Shadow of the Sun" which I will start after re-reading some of Susan Sontag's literary criticisms and few other scattered pieces on Photography. I find that when I don't shoot as much as I would like the readings helps motivate me in the few moments I have.
I received my contact sheets back from Mary Ellen Mark also on Friday along with a positive and encouraging letter. I really enjoy critiques of other photographers who's work I really admire. And to receive words of encouragement such as that i have an excellent eye was a great compliment. What is great about her letter is that the critique is very much constructive. Her arguments for the reasons follow a very organized tone in which there is not much room to say something just to satisfy and sound nice.
I have 3 rolls of film waiting to be developed. One is an experimental Tri-X pushed to ISO 6400 and the other two are both at ISO 400. One roll I shot on my commute on monday while the second I don't exactly remember. It can't be more then 2 weeks old because I would not have it rolling around my bag for longer then that.

Another post with a photograph today when the 2 rolls at ISO 400 dry. The roll pushed to the max is drying... the ISO 6400 experiment is dead. Did not work for street shooting. Back to slow shutter speeds and narrow depth of field at ISO 1600. In other words, stricter discipline.

Still working on processing (digitally) the 35mm scans I did two weeks ago. I hadn't really had time to work on them. So tonight just a photograph from the ongoing lot. A tacky memorabilia salesmen.

Road trip to Canada was simply great. But no photographs from it. With only 3 days there there was too little time. I drove some 700+ Kilometers in the Canadian countryside though. Very Peaceful and picturesque. But because the distances between the towns were packed against the busy schedule I didn't even get a chance to take out the camera from the bag.

After scanning the 35mm negatives in the last weeks and making contact prints this past sunday I am left in limbo whether I should shoot color for now. Maybe its the 35mm negatives that I am not used to looking at. But I also will be trying some Tri-x at ISO 6400 in the next few weeks where the grain is intriguing me more then colors.

Printing color is what turned me a way a little. There is so much interpretation of color balance that is that factor alone that can alter the mood. Black and white is more to the point I think. The colors don't distract and the tones only emphasize. So that is the dilemma for now.

Tonight a color photograph from the 35mm negatives. A County Fair from back stage view.

For the last few days I have been reading Ryszard Kapuscinski's 'Travels with Herodotus' which have kept me from the computer. I scanned some 160+ frames of 35mm film in between that time. I started to edit them this evening but the process will take some time.
The book is a great journey though history and first person encounters with different cultures before the full blow globalization changed all that. There is a sense of understanding the changes about places like India and China and how some elements are deep rooted in the diversity of culture.
On my last trip to Poland I picked up a book which includes various brief interviews of some of Poland's best known photographers. The first one is Mr. Kapuscinski and my main motivation of buying the book. To be honest I have yet to go though the book at length and oddly I stated the book in english before reading his interview in Polish. But I wanted to read his true work. Photography was of second importance in his travels. And with that I read so far I see how talented he really was in his writing.
All this of course is related to photography. In few days I will drive out to Canada. I really like Canada for some reason. Actually its more specific then that. People and the climate have a very familiar European feel and the weather reminds me of Poland. A quick fix via a 5 hour drive. I'll be driving out to Quebec City which is about 3 hours drive further then my last two trips. Of course this will include a camera and film. I am thinking of finishing some of the 35mm film stock I have left from workshop. So more color soon.
For now I am including a photograph I like the best from the roll I did with the Leica which a fellow photographer lent me to use at the workshop. I have a portrait of him in action which I will post soon along with other color frames from the 160+ frames.
I like this photograph for the mere simplicity of the young girl's expression among the complex lighting though the pattern of leaves reflecting above. There is a natural balance in the photograph due to the human expression of the little girl.

I have returned from my summer recess. Not that I went anywhere but my last 3 weeks included multiple trips to NYC buying ink for the Epson printer (I am seriously thinking about selling this printer due to maintenance costs), printing a quick portfolio of B&W prints for the Mary Ellen Mark workshop, and running the film into NYC back again.
The workshop was good. Its a mix of networking and discipline in the presence of a world renowned photographer. I was the technically savvy guy and Mary told me she uses a Mamiya 7 as well. She suggested I add a flash for my general street work. I did. I got a Metz. I am still deciding whether to keep it or now. There is an advantage to using a flash as a fill in. Mainly its set minus 2 stops to the regular scene. My tests seemed to support the fact it helps. But more testing is needed.
The great thing about the workshop were some of the people I met. Neither have websites here I could share but the work presented was tremendous. Once they do put it up somewhere on the web I'll post the links right away.
I ended up shooting 5 rolls of 35mm film at a Fair we all went to. The film is still in NY at a lob recommended from Mary Ellen. But I did not get them to scan the film since it was $15 per roll in addition to the processing. I sort of regret it but need to take the film to a darkroom to print contact sheets and send them for review. The scanner I have here won't be the most time efficient nor detailed tool to scan the 35mm (for 120 it does a decent job) so I'll just need to devote some extra time to it.
A great photographer whom I befriended lent me his Leica M6 with the 21mm lens. Amazing tool even in the digital age. That was just one roll of TriX. The rest of all work was done in color with the Contax G2. Here is one photograph done with Leica.

Black and White is intriguing me a lot lately. There is a sense of interpretation of reality with the tones I have been getting. Here is an example of a walk though the Northeastern USA woods.

Long overdue post. I have been keeping busy in the preparation for the Mary Ellen Mar workshop in 3 weeks. I now have to find some time to sit and go though a box with negatives. I am trying to keep my work most recent in the portfolio I am printing. This process is very useful. Its also showing me some consistency of my older work. Its all about elements but I can see progression. It is a very rewarding feeling... at least sometimes.

Photograph tonight is from Friday. I was walking though a forest and found this tree. I liked the hole in the trunk because no other tree had it.

Too few posts lately but partly because I have been realizing that most of my thoughts in the last few days are criticism of general lives around me. I even started to stereotype. After-all there is some truth to stereotypes. And if you use your imagination then you can really adopt a stereotype. I find them useful so find the right atmosphere sometimes. But then again I jump from one stereotype to another and each world in between. Sometimes the camera comes along and I have proof of it. Most days its all in the words and jokes and another day worked.

Few days ago in my previous post I was hopeful and open minded. But coming back to earth I realize few elements were really understood by the other party. I say this because some things are worth believing in and require more then a quick observation. Hardest part is believing in making a change in yourself. It happens but it takes too damn long since I am a quite determined person once I know I will try out for something.

The other day I got comment on a first impression of me from a model I work with. I found it strange but I did not explain to her why I might of came off that way. The comment however made me think about first impressions I could make and I am realizing that I care much less then when I was younger. It simply is not that important to me in the end. At first of course I get caught up in the dance and trip miserably while I probably embarrass myself. But so what... isn't that part of the fun to finding yourself again. The great thing is that I am self reliant in that finding process . I no longer seek others to give me a pat on the back that it be all good. It won't and I might as well face it myself. Its like playing chess without knowing your opponent's skill level... or something like that. You never will fully know everything about yourself until you believe in things that come in your life. If necessary you burn out to get them. The worst scenario is that you'll just have to try again.

I am lost in incomplete thoughts this evening. I see images and remember words that come together. I want to go back and make things more perfect, the light more even and more dramatic, but is it not that the imperfection itself what makes me go forward? Oh, I just hope whatever I am attempting did not get completely
wrong by my impatience. Judgment of others means little to me on any other day but then, there are those days like today when 20 minutes make me hope I had things more together. So time will tell.