Category Archives: Stories

It’s Saint Nick In A Box

Posted on by gwunterberger
7

                It's Saint Nick In a Box

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…well, you know how that old crap goes. Contrary to what the jingle might suggest, on this Christ’s  un-birthday we creatures WERE stirring, As merry models stepped out from the strobes to stand behind the camera, with digital and analog blending worse than week-old eggnog, a glorious catalog of Christmas cavorting came to life. Yet now that Christmas time has come and gone, a question still lingers, where you naughty or were you nice? The jury is out on this crew, but one thing is for certain, we certainly gave the Thanksgiving Post a run for its money. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

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FNO

Posted on by gwunterberger
6

FNO

I believe I have successfully stretched the boundaries of “fashionably late,” considering Fashion’s Night Out occurred over 3 months ago. Regardless, I pulled this out from the archives, so here we go. FNO’s timing this year could not have been better; not because we were finally in NYC to experience it, not because my girlfriend had recently secured a job at a major fashion magazine, but because I had just secured a new camera from eBay! Shamelessly capitalizing on the listing mistake of seller tahoerealtor5, I managed to secure the legendary Yashica T4 super for the meager sum of $50 ( the going rate for a T4 is  for upwards of $250.) For those of you that just googled “Yashica T4” and were wondering what could possibly make that plastic 90’s point-and-shoot worth anything near $50, say hello to Mr. Terry Richardson. In reality it’s actually the Carl Ziess lens that give the camera its mojo, but for all intents and purposes the T4 can attribute its fanfare to Terry, so what better way to break it in than to emulate that full-frontal-flash style (minus the penises and vaginises…I’m just not there yet OK)

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Merry Christmas, Baby

Posted on by gwunterberger
4

Merry Christmas, Baby

Last week, we properly welcomed the holidays into 7S with this petite pedestal pine. Lauren took full creative responsibility for the decorations, while I volunteered my brawn to lug the bugger home from the deli around the corner (and of course to document the night’s festivities!) Though a different experience from my childhood’s Christmas tree lot, it was fun to see tree stands begin to bloom across New York’s busy sidewalks, and it’s awesome to come home to that glorious Christmas smell.

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Hexar Hazzard

Posted on by gwunterberger
12

title

I’ve talked about my love for the Konica Hexar before, and I am consistently amazed by the output of this unassuming camera. Despite its 90’s era design, unintelligible operating features, and limiting 1/250th top shutter speed, the Hexar has gained a cult-like following among street photographers as a silent but deadly shooter. Armed with a reportedly “identical” knockoff of the beautiful Leica 35 Summicron lens, the Hexar truly earns its chops when shot in “silent mode,” an inaudible method of operation made possible by mashing odd buttons in sync while turning the thing on. Why on earth the designers hid this awesome function beneath a Mortal Kombat like string of commands, only god knows, but once properly engaged the Hexar is scary silent. Like I’m not even sure that I hit the shutter silent. While this operation is EPIC on the street, it becomes much less EPIC when the shutter starts to stick. Imagine my surprise after a days worth of shooting, adoring and admiring the utter stealth of my “silent mode”  Hexar, only to find that the silence had occurred because my faulty shutter failed to fire. Apparently, the lofty Hexar is plagued by a notoriously week electrical connection between the shutter button and the body, a defect responsible for erratic focusing and…you guessed it, miss fires! At first it was an inconvenience, but the more I had the Hexar by my side, the more I noticed the problem worsening. My growing frustration led me to begin leaving the Hexar at home, afraid that if I brought it along I would end up missing something important. But one day I stumbled across an online forum that described a relatively easy fix, but still a fix that involved disassembling the body and exposing its guts to the elements. What choice did I have? Do nothing and be stuck with a faulty camera, do something and potentially ruin a cult icon. Did I have the technology, or steady hands to perform a procedure like that? Read on to find more.

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The Brenzier Method

Posted on by gwunterberger
2

What the heck is a Brenzier? Well, Brenzier is actually the last name of photographer Ryan Brenzier, the man who popularized a technique that now bears his namesake. In reality, The Brenzier Method is less of a method and more of an “mosaic,” a compilation of images stitched together to form a final product. But unlike the typical landscape photos that benefit from stitching, squeezing in more scene to create sprawling panoramas, The Brenzier Method strives for compression. Read on to learn more, or if you would rather just skip all the boring photo speak, feel free to do so now.

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I Am Thankful For…Part Duex

Posted on by gwunterberger
4

I present to you the second installment of a Thanksgiving double header, and I am so crazy STOKED on these portraits. After shooting these, I can totally see why people fall in love with studio shoots and controlled lighting, and even though we had to improvise with janky hotel light fixtures these might be some of my all time favorite photos. There must be something about Thanksgiving (I loved I took the photos from last thanksgiving as well), that or it must be something about my INSANELY EPIC FAMILY.

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I Am Thankful For…

Posted on by gwunterberger
2

Oh what a Thanksgiving it was! In fact, the holiday was so EPIC that I have been forced to break up the festivus into two separate blog posts, with the version you are now reading chronicling the feast itself. After days of preparation and supply gathering, the women descended on 7S the morning of the 22nd with a unified goal. With each minding her own specialty, a bounteous banquet was hand crafted around a 19-pound poultry centerpiece. At the stroke of 4pm, the clan enlisted a taxicab caravan down to 79 Crosby street, a dangerous voyage no doubt, but one that would be rewarded with spoils, spaciousness, and salaciousness…well not really that last part, that would be weird.

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Flash Fail

Posted on by gwunterberger
3

I consume a lot of photography related information on the internet, and the one thing I know about myself is that I am easily influenced. This mostly stems from my curiosity; usually I’ll try some new technique, have a little fun, then go back to my main stuff. So when I started to notice posts online about using flash for candid street photography, I loved the look and started to devour content. In fact, I remember first stumbling upon the work of Bruce Gilden during a pregame for a Fraternity party, getting completely sucked in and then missing the entire night. I remember staring at this Gilden photo in awe, then this photo, then stumbling upon interviews with Charlie Kirk and his flash work in Tokyo. I knew I had to try it. I read all the tutorials, all the techniques, all the negative comments from readers exclaiming that “if somebody tried to do that I would smash their camera.” I didn’t care, and only gained confidence when the photographers themselves noted that for the most part people didn’t seem to mind. The only thing left was to get out do it, so I slapped on a flash and wandered out into the night.

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Pierced

Posted on by gwunterberger
2

At first I thought, “Oh well, the shops closed, there goes that idea.” Well…I drastically underestimated Lauren’s resolve, while managing to simultaneously overestimate her inability to prod a sewing needle through her ear. So being the good boyfriend that I am, I left the girl to her own devices, and grabbed a camera to document the momentous occasion.

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Tribute in Light

Posted on by gwunterberger
4

After a failed attempt the night before, the gang mobilized once again for a second pilgrimage to the Brooklyn Bridge to view the 9/11 Tribute in Light. In my head I had already predetermined the shot I wanted, not exactly the most original composition ever conceived, but one with the impressive bridge in the foreground and two pillars of light rising triumphantly behind. So I loaded my pack with more gear than necessary, for a refreshing change, and set off with purpose and determination. About half-way across I was suddenly stupefied with the utter absurdity of my logic, in order to achieve the shot I had envisioned I would have to be FAR away from bridge upon which I was currently strolling. Like, I need to be on the Manhattan Bridge far, and seeing as it was 11:30, that wasn’t happening. Deflated, I worked with what I could see from the bridge, and truth be told I think it pushed me to a more creative output. Plus, there’s always this  google search to quench my cliche thirst.

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