Tag Archives: New York

Merry Christmas, Baby

Posted on by gwunterberger
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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
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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

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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
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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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Pierced

Posted on by gwunterberger
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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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Independence Day

Posted on by gwunterberger
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I have learned to let my photos “marinate,” in other words, take the images then leave them alone for a while so that when I come back everything is removed from the moment and fresh. It helps me be more objective in my edits, and I love forgetting exactly what I shot only to rediscover old goodies. That being said, I have been seriously abusing the method, using it as rationale for laziness in revisiting backlogged photos (see Vietnam, Argentina, Japan ext.) Thus the reason this July 4th post comes in exactly 78 days after the event. If my memory serves me correctly, the day started with an afternoon soiree into Brooklyn for another epic lunch at Diner, followed by much lounging until the evening. After dinner, the streets running towards the river were already blockaded, and masses of people were in a Grapes of Wrath migration  uptown searching for the mythical opening. Poor Lauren couldn’t handle the sea of GP (general population) and had to bail out, but rest of the group continued onward in the search of open space. Unlike last year where we casually found a nice spot to lounge, we were forced to settle for a minute sliver of concrete among an ocean of observers, but at least we were gutting it out. The show was amazing as always, but I found myself much more interested in watching the people. Looking back I guess I could was doing the same thing, but everyone was busy watching the display through their displays, holding up all kinds of electronic devices to record the fleeting moment. I found it a fascinating, and wondered if they were enjoying the event or too worried about capturing it. Adding to my fascination was the fact that along with the Canon I had loaded the Leica with some Delta 3200 for the first time, and was eager to see how it would turn out. Not only that, but it was my first date with the Leica itself, so needless to say I was a little bit happy. The film itself came out gritty and grainy (increased a bit by my poor handling and suspect scanning), with a totally different feel than the digital files but adding beauty in their own right. I don’t think I’m sold on the 3200, but it was a fun experiment that produced my favorite shot of the night, see if you can guess which one.

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1600mm

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“The 800mm f/5.6 is the photography equivalent of a D cup – not a necessity, but wherever you go with it, you’ll make lots of new friends”

So how many new friends would there be if you doubled up to 1600mm? With a newly rented behemoth, Jehad and I hit the streets to find out with some less-than-inconspicuous street shooting. Making the attached 5D look like a cheap point-and-shoot, the fully manual “telescope” proved a tricky beast to tame, but with everything dialed in we simply sat back and waited…2 blocks away from our subjects.

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