Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Christian,
I still have your fancy pen that you left behind at a Meet-Up. Remind me to bring it.
Also I forgot that I sent in two more Monochrom files to be printed 24x36 on 30x40 inch fiber at Digital Silver Imaging.
I decided against getting a huge wall sized print at this time because of a lack of funds and space.
Cal
stompyq
Well-known
Lol nice joke Christian
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Wish we could make it to a meeting!
That said, we're making life work out here in the wild west.
Here's a reason we don't miss NYC:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/415031-2/DSC0324_01_E.jpg
Phil Forrest
That said, we're making life work out here in the wild west.
Here's a reason we don't miss NYC:
http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/415031-2/DSC0324_01_E.jpg
Phil Forrest
Ok, silver Df incoming. Anyone want a D800e?
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I miss New Mexico greatly.
I feel the city has changed a lot after you left. Its getting pretty suburbanized, and eventually I think in not too long a timeframe I'll get displaced and "priced out."
East Harlem over the past two months alone is getting filled with hipsters. There seems to be very few vacant storefronts on Lex between 101st and 100th. For years they were long vacant.
Somehow the city is loosing its vibe, coolness, and individuality. My years seem numbered.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Range-rover
Veteran
Not all of them.
Range-rover
Veteran
Range-rover
Veteran
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Bob,
In my book you are never too young to retire. Having a sustainable income is another matter. Basically I'm sick of work, and I don't see the point of wasting my time anymore.
I put off my artistic struggle to get some security, but I now see that it all is an illusion. The luxury lifestyle I created is not sustainable at this level, but I still have the opportunity to get back into my art, even though I have had a disrupted life.
I'm going back to my youth, a more edgy time, and a place where I can embrace risk again (all or nothing). Worse case is that I will have to leave NYC which I think will happen anyways.
Cal
Cal, what are you bringing to the next meet-up (camera wise)? 
I'll have to bring the silver Df and the 60mm macro. I think I need a close up of "the Lightbulb."
I'll have to bring the silver Df and the 60mm macro. I think I need a close up of "the Lightbulb."
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Cal, what are you bringing to the next meet-up (camera wise)?
I'll have to bring the silver Df and the 60mm macro. I think I need a close up of "the Lightbulb."
John,
I will bring the Nikon 28/1.4 for Bob for sure. Likely will bring the D3X at least as a lens cap.
Been a bit Fuji ("Texas Leica") centric lately. I just got a second Fujica 150/5.6 that has an issue with intermittent shutter firing (I think the shutter in the lens does not get cocked) that needs to be repaired. I already have a 100/3.5 AE that is with Frank Marshman that appears to have a dead CdS cell, so one lens at a time. My first 150/5.6 has about a third of its coating missing (likely wasn't cleaned properly before the vacuum deposition process to apply the single coat).
With the new Epson 7800 (24 inch, 131 pounds) the recent emphasis is scaling up printing operations, and this is where things are getting crazy. I need to bulk up on ink and will buy 700ml bottles of ink. The ink alone will cost about $2K. Then there is paper at $220.00 a roll for 24"x50.' Basically only 16, 24x36 inch prints per roll. Understand that the new Jon Cone refillable carts hold about 350ml so after an initial fill (About 1/4 of that volume goes into filling the lines and the dampers,) 700ml is not a lot of ink to start with.
I expect "MJ" to be a rather thirsty printer that gets greedy with paper. The carts that are now filled with Piezoflush and the gallon of Piezoflush set me back $620.00. Luckily these same carts also will fit an Epson 44 inch printer and always be used to store a printer indefinately.
Figure that 2 ml of ink is utilized to cover a square foot and that a 24x36 inch print is 6 square feet, and compound that in my experience that the Piezography process lays down even more ink onto the paper. Now the numbers are getting scarry and realize that I already spent close to $5K on paper and ink so far this year.
Because I live in NYC I don't own a car, but the way I print (with all the best) it is like owning and maintaining a car as far as expense. Kinda funny how at PhotoPlusExpo when they ask you if your annual budget for gear and supplies exceeds $10K. LOL.
Now understand that it takes about 17 minutes to print a 13x19 and that a 24x36 inch print is 3.5 times as much area. Basically it could be an hour (unidirectional for highest quality) to print my 7 shades of black, and then a second hour to lay down the "Gloss Overcoat." Now imaging trying to print big in a 650 square foot i-bedroom apartment filled with your girlfriend's clothes who is a fashion blogger. Add in my 14 pound ghetto-dog and pretty much life is crazy.
The next big move is a drum scanner. Basically since I made all my negatives for wet printing I kinda will need a real scanner that has a photomultiplier tube because of my negative density. This is what I mean when I say: Crazy is good.
Basically I have a three year plan to get ready for art mode.
Cal
SuperUJ
Well-known
If any of you would like to make some DNG files out of a M246 from the next meeting, please bring a SD card with you.
John
John
Damn, that's crazy!
JuJu
Well-known
Cool, I'd like to take some shots of the taxi interior right across street
Tung, are you going to come?
stompyq
Well-known
Yeah Tung. We haven't seen you in ages..
JuJu
Well-known
23th? yeah, John. I'd love to go if no annoying last minute job request comes up. I haven't had a chance fondle your Df yet ;-)
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
John,
Looking forward to retirement. As you know I created quite a mess making negatives with a total disregard for printing or editing. LOL Basically I annoyed a lot of people. Double-LOL.
I'll use my 403B money to rent a real commercial space or storefront so that I can have a studio when I retire. Back in the day I once rented a garage in the suburbs, no heat, no running water, no bathroom, to use as a studio when I was a painter. I'm getting too old for roughing it.
Either I make it sustainable, or I blow dodge. Not sure I love NYC anymore. As the city becomes more filled with entitled rich people, NYC is becoming just a big crowded suburb that is kinda getting boring, and the changes means a loss of vibe and spirit for me.
Why pay extra? And for what?
As our city gets sanitized and made into a safe place for the very wealthy, it comes at a cost. At a point it seems like I'm not only supporting the poor (I don't mind), but working hard to support the rich which is against my slacker spirit. Fug-em.
If I can't join them: leave them. Double fug-em. Just say no to paying high taxes to support the rich, the wealthy, and the overly entitled. I made the banks, the real estate developers, and all the landlords lots of money gentrifying first Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Long Island City, and now Spanish Harlem. Now I'm angry. I can't wait for all those 421 tax abatements to run out on all those luxury dwellings that I'm priced out of (The timing is such that the tax abatements kinda run out all at about the same time.)
Cal
Cool deal... but note that I'll probably bring the less sexy silver version to this meet-up.