The East Village

Fuji X100 | ¹/300 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 (view large)

Sunday morning in the East Village. I always advocate getting up as early as possible to start a photo walk. The light is beautiful in the morning, and the streets are a lot less busy, even in New York.

Fuji X100 | ¹/250 sec, f/5, ISO 200

Fuji X100 | ¹/75 sec, f/2, ISO 200

Bridget was tired, but supportive of our early morning walk. Thanks honey.

Fuji X100 | ¹/300 sec, f/5, ISO 200

Fuji X100 | ¹/400 sec, f/7.1, ISO 800

Fuji X100 |  ¹/1,000 sec, f/2, ISO 200

Fuji X100 | ¹/280 sec, f/4.5, ISO 800

Bikes! There are bicycles everywhere in New York, and the East Village is certainly no exception. What I love is that they’re all beaters. Some are just left to rust and decay out in the street, making for great photographic subjects:

Fuji X100 | ¹/600 sec, f/2, ISO 400

Fuji X100 | ¹/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800

Fuji X100 | ¹/750 sec, f/2, ISO 200

Fuji X100 | ¹/600 sec, f/2, ISO 200

Fuji X100 |  ¹/1,000 sec, f/2, ISO 200

Fuji X100 | ¹/600 sec, f/9, ISO 800

Now that is a cool little bike. Would have loved to have one of those when I was a kid.

Fuji X100 | ¹/1,000 sec, f/2, ISO 200

There was a downside to getting here so early in the morning, however. The wife was really into seeing the little gardens located throughout the neighborhood. Most of them weren’t open until much later, however, so we had to admire them behind locked gates. Squeezed my lens through narrow bars to get these:

Fuji X100 |  ¹/340 sec, f/5, ISO 800

Fuji X100 | ¹/750 sec, f/2, ISO 400

Fuji X100 |  ¹/900 sec, f/2, ISO 400

Fuji X100 | ¹/180 sec, f/3.2, ISO 400

Fuji X100 | ¹/950 sec, f/2, ISO 400

My cousin Josh came along. That’s an adapted 50mm f/1.4D Nikkor lens on an Olympus EPL-2 he’s holding. Really nice combo.

Fuji X100 | ¹/200 sec, f/3.2, ISO 800

Fuji X100 | ¹/300 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

Fuji X100 | ¹/450 sec, f/6.4, ISO 400

Fuji X100 | ¹/200 sec, f/3.6, ISO 200

Fuji X100 | ¹/300 sec, f/4.5, ISO 400

The light was great and the gardens were beautiful bla bla bla. You wanna know the real reason we came to this neighborhood? Coffee.

Abraço is a tiny coffee bar nestled in the East Village. When I say tiny, I mean it. You could drive right by and not even know it’s there, and once you’re inside, you could literally stand in one place and have arm’s-length access to the entire cafe. I’ve had enough just seeing pictures of the place on blogs like this one. I needed to try it myself!

Fuji X100 |  ¹/450 sec, f/6.4, ISO 800

The coziness factor of this shop makes for easy conversation over a cup of coffee and/or artisan pastry. Chatted with the locals, took pictures, just chilled out. No rush, it’s Sunday.

Fuji X100 | ¹/1,200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800

Fuji X100 | ¹/60 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250

Fuji X100 | ¹/350 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400

Meet the cortado. Freshly extracted espresso with just the right amount of steamed milk and foam in my opinion. Not to be confused with a macchiato, it’s perhaps more similar to a cappuccino, but smaller. Enough milk to take the edge off the brew’s acidity while still kicking you in the pants with just the right amount of strength. The flavor was amazing, but it was the texture that was blowing my mind.

Fuji X100 | ¹/125 sec, f/8, ISO 200

I’m normally a pretty slow coffee drinker, but I was going though this cortado like a crazy coffee-drunkard. I didn’t want the experience to end.

So I ordered a second one:

Below left is some kind of sparkly, honey-something or other,  I forget….bagh who cares, it’s all about the cortado. This stuff gives my local favorite espresso at Four Barrel a pretty good run for it’s money.

Fuji X100 | ¹/210 sec, f/4, ISO 400

These are the kinds of experiences I like to have when I travel. Mingling with the locals, photographing neighborhoods apart from the tourist areas. Areas (and COFFEE) like this make me miss New York.

____________________________

All Images: Fuji X100, Provia Film Sim (JPEG output)

The One Reason Why I’m a Morning Person

Fuji X100 | ¹/60 sec, f/4, ISO 1250

This is definitely what I call starting the morning right. Waking up extra early for the sole purpose of chilling at Four Barrel over a cappuccino? Worth it:

For me, coming here during the week means coming when the shop opens. People trickle in here and there, but it’s certainly not busy.

Later in the morning, however, Four Barrel is bustling. The pour-over coffee station opens up, and people pile in to get their fill of individually brewed cups of coffee. After grabbing my own cup, I head out side to hang out with Suki and Bridge at the public “parklet.” We sip away while watching the Valencia street traffic whiz by.

I’m not a morning person at all actually. I just really, really love coffee.

______________

Early Morning Images: Fuji X100 | Film Sim: ASTIA (JPEG output)
Late Morning Images: Fuji X100 | Film Sim: Provia (JPEG output)

Seven Years Ago Today

Yesterday was quite special. We started with brunch at Blue Bottle, where for the first time I had a chance to try one of their famous Siphon Pots. Add a Belgian waffle and a grilled cheese sandwich, and whoo, what a brunch:

A few hours of goofing around town, and we settled in at Salt House for dinner:

Bridget easily picked the best dish of the night with her appetizer choice: Kennebec fries covered in Vermont cheddar and short rib gravy. Would have gone great with my NY steak if we didn’t eat them all in like 30 seconds!

Yeah, I know, lots of pics of Bridget. Can’t help but snap away in the direction of the one who I married seven years ago, today. Love you honey, happy anniversary =)

(ok technically yesterday but you swear I’d blog right after a dinner like this!)

_____

All images: Fuji X100, Film Sim: ASTIA (black and white conversions in LR3)

The Saturday Morning “Ritual”

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/1.7  1/4000sec  ISO200

Before I get started with today’s entry, I just want to say thank you to everyone that took the time to read my previous blog post and leave a comment. My post entitled Revisiting Film Photography was featured on Freshly Pressed, the front page of WordPress.com. I was so excited to see all the comments start pouring in, not simply because I relished the extra attention to my site, but because of the content of the comments themselves. You shared your personal experiences with me, and it’s been fascinating to see the discussion that I started continue to grow through your stories.

Some of you reminisced about the shooting film back in the day, expressing a newfound interest in that dusty old SLR in your basements that you haven’t used in years. Others of you haven’t given film a try yet and expressed curiosity about using the medium. Some of you admitted to knowing little of photography and yet expressed interest and appreciation through your comments, while others you are active film shooters who shared your own great experiences with the format. Thank you all! It has truly been a pleasure reading your personal experiences!

So, Film vs Digital, what’s my final word on the subject? If you look at all my recent work, it’s pretty obvious that I do a lot of work with digital cameras. Is my recent experience with film going to change all that? Probably not. But the truth is, I just love photography. I’ll take pictures with anything that, well, takes pictures. I see the Film and Digital formats simply as two different ways of making art. So, film or digital? Answer: Yes.

Ok, back to this post:

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/1.7  1/1000sec  ISO200

As much of a Philz and Blue Bottle addict that I am, I’ve been trying to visit some different cafes here in San Francisco to see where else I can get a stellar cup of coffee. We started the weekend this morning at Ritual Coffee Roasters on Valencia street.

With large, east-facing windows gracing the storefront, tons of beautiful light flooded the cafe. How could I possibly resist taking my camera out?

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/1.7  1/250sec  ISO200

Here’s where Ritual’s drip coffee is individually brewed to order. Wait a minute now…maybe I should head to the hardware store, pick up some copper pipe and just make my own filter-holding contraption!

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/2  1/800sec  ISO200

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/2  1/500sec  ISO200

If I’m visiting a coffee-house for the very first time, I always try their drip first. If you can make me a killer drip, I’ll keep coming back for sure. The roast I chose was La Esperanza, described as “sweet and creamy, with flavors of butterscotch, Danish pastry, dried stonefruits and a lavender finish.” A one pound bag of whole bean Esperanza will set you back a whopping $22.50.

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/2  1/4000sec  ISO200

My friends had lattes, complete with the obligatory frothing art on top =)

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/2  1/4000sec  ISO200

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/2  1/2500sec  ISO200

Verdict? The drip was awesome, among the best I’ve had in fact. But I paid handsomely for it, so regular visits here will not be a wise “Ritual” for my bank account.

Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 | f/2  1/60sec  ISO200

We didn’t stay long at Ritual, because we needed to get breakfast elsewhere. The coffee perfectly complimented the famous morning buns at Tartine Bakery. Sorry Tartine, but your drip coffee leaves a lot to be desired. Every time we go, we see a bunch of other people in there, standing in line with their cups of coffee from other cafes. Hilarious =)