I know I work at a snail’s pace and maybe slower than a snail, and I apologize for that, but as you can see I’m certainly not in it for the glory. As I said many times, there is no glory to this blogging thing! Well, at least not for me anyway 🙂

As you can see from the photo above, I’ve managed to find another Nicca 5L / Tower 46 rangefinder. This time I have paired it up with a 5cm f/2 Leica Summtar that I’ve had for a long time. I have film in it now and the results from this combo will be interesting for me to see and hopefully the mystery camera will not be such a mystery any more.

Flashback Friday: Baby Zay at two months old. Canon EOS 5D Classic, EF 50mm f/1.8 II.

The photo above was Baby Zay’s first sit down portrait attempt at two months old in 2015. In a couple of days, she will turn two years old. My friend, does the time fly or what? Allow me to post just a few more of her photos in the next few days in celebration.

I can totally understand if you have “Baby Burnout.” You see, before I became a father, I was never a fan of baby pictures. I thought they were cute but boring. After I had my children, I’ve found beauty in the photos from a father’s perspective, but I can certainly remember my pre-father days 🙂

I can also appreciate more now what it takes to get good shots of your infants, toddlers, and tweens. It requires timing, patience, and practice and coming from a street photography background I truly believe taking photos of the kids has honed my street skills.

At first they seem to have nothing to do with each other, kids and street photography, but in reality they complement each other well just as Country and classic Soul music seem a world apart, yet they are so similar in many, many ways.

“Pool Sharks” 2016. Fuji Klasse W, 28mm f/2.8 Fujinon, Arista EDU 400 in D76.

Right now I’m looking at images from a Fuji Klasse W, which is the “wide” 28mm version of the Klasse film camera in preparation for some kind of review on this beautiful point and shoot. The above is a crop from a larger, wider image and the Fujinon lens is very sharp, retaining fine details.

“UGG Enviable” 2016. Ricoh GR Digital 8.1mp. Yes, I still use my original, from 2006, GRD. This was shot using the 21mm add on lens. Sure there’s some distortion. Still love it though!

Found a new “ugly” building off the West Side Highway in Manhattan. Why do they build these things?! Will we ever get new classics in the shape of the Chrysler Building or the Empire State Building? I’m afraid this is the new face of NYC.

“Happiness.” Nikon D700, 60mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor. Baby Zayda is all smiles as she approaches two years of age.

I recently procured another D700 which was had very cheaply because the camera had over 200K shots on it. In 2008, I had a D700 when they first came out which I later sold to fund a D3 which was also sold. Both cameras used the same 12mp sensor.

Though Nikon has released numerous full-frame models since that era, I’ve always loved the sensor in the D3/D300 cameras. The new models are better to be sure, but I’ve never felt the need for anything more from a DSLR than what I got from the D3/D700 sensors. It was a sweet spot for full frame I think.

The Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 Micro has got to be one of the sharpest lenses I’ve ever used. Mine was had cheaply in “UG” condition from KEH, which means there’s some defect they found in it, but if there were any optical defects, I certainly didn’t see it. The above image looks like it was shot with flash, but it wasn’t. That was the beauty of the D700 sensor when mated with a good lens, it’s alive and vibrant just like Baby Zay here. Happiness is a Nikon D700!

With Nikon’s recent financial woes, I would say, go out there and buy some Nikon right now! Support Nikon. After losing Rollei, we cannot let another one of photography’s greatest names go down! And no, I get no kickbacks from Nikon though I wouldn’t mind if they did give me some, but I know they cannot afford superfluous spending at this time 🙂

Alright, I wish you all a great weekend!