No wonder 4x5 photographers often refer to taking pictures as "making pictures." It's a hell of a lot of work! We were only trying it out with a polaroid insert, and I don't think we'll be shooting sheet film until we can properly wield this crazy beast. Her nickname is Cindy or Sinnie, and she is an attention whore. While I was at the nail salon, Jimmy took her out onto the streets of the East Village (with a crazy focusing cloth). Apparently more people took pictures OF him taking pictures than he managed to take. Hah.
With the lens at f5.6 at the fast end and the polaroid film at ISO 100, there's not a great range of conditions we can really use the camera in. We did what we could on a tripod in the backyard for these first shots. The polaroids came out awfully blue/green, and we suspect we may need a UV filter for it. Here's how the first one came out:
And the second, which I tried (and mostly failed) to get a tilt-shift effect on.
This camera would be ideal if I had a well set-up studio with very nice streaming window light. It may very well be the opposite of portable. Even though it folds up pretty small, the monorail it sits on makes it quite large still. Oh, and it's effing heavy.
Aha, looks like I'll have to start a "large format" tag. :)
I sought Jimmy's help to write up this post, but naturally he would spew out a novel, so this is an edited down version. I think he is much better at articulating our restaurant experiences, so you may see more of his posts in the future! Any annotations in parentheses are my add-ons. Ok, let's carry on.
The Modern is the restaurant that has sat on our “to visit” list the longest. We’ve had a number of near-misses but finally went for dinner last Wednesday.
Upon entry, we were escorted to a seat next to one of the windows looking on the MoMA’s garden. This proved a disadvantage later in the evening when they turned on the lights outdoors, leaving us with nasty mixed light and some weird shadows from the window bars. (What a nightmare to process! Very inconsistent white balance throughout... yuck.)
The food at the Modern is just about the opposite of that at Untitled, its USHG museum restaurant sibling. Chef Gabriel Kreuther serves excellent high-end Alsatian-inspired contemporary French cuisine. This is unabashedly restaurant food of close to the highest caliber available here, and it has the Michelin star to show. We started with an assortment of delectable canapés, followed by an intense nettle panna cotta that was indulgent and healthy at the same time. My actual first course was a “damier” of wagyu beef and foie gras. The richness of both components paired well with each other, while the accompanying passion fruit gastrique provided a delightful counterpoint. Alice had a tartare of yellowfin tuna and diver scallops, which did a great job of showing off the excellent ingredients.
Our second courses were a Loup de Mer “soufflé”, excellently cooked though only very barely reminiscent of a soufflé, along with a delightful hamachi, sea urchin, and fennel tart that really demonstrated the kitchen’s skill in working with pastry elements in savory courses. Our last savories were a piece of very flavorful chicken breast accompanied generously by morels for me, along with a fantastic duck course with tableside preparation that has to be seen to be believed.
It’s no surprise that desserts were excellent. I voluntarily ordered a lemon dessert for the first time that I can remember and was anything but disappointed. Alice’s strawberry-rhubarb vacherin was pretty good too. We could not have asked for a better way to finally conclude the meal than with selections from the three-level petits fours trolley (what a tease that thing is!). My only regret was not ordering some selections from the cheese cart that I’d seen being wheeled around, though I don’t know how I would have made the space in my stomach.
This is one of the best restaurants in New York. Eleven Madison Park may be the darling of Danny Meier’s stable, but the Modern is not to be missed.
I was thrilled to see that Van Leeuwen opened up shop a wee hop skip away from me (my waistline ain't so thrilled), because there isn't really a great ice cream place quite that close. They serve decent coffee too, so it'll be a nice alternative on Mondays when Abraço is closed.
The colorful balloons for their grand opening should be enough to entice anyone inside. I am a fan of the yellow barstools too, but you could probably paint anything yellow these days and I'd love it. There is some great natural light inside and I will have to return with some film. For now, here are iPhone snaps and a polaroid. If you follow me on twitter, you might have read about my iPhone camera incident - as you can see, it's working just fine now thanks to those silica desiccant packets! :P
Nom.
And of course, leftover coffee cups.
No set plans for the last day of the weekend tomorrow, and I'm more than ok with that.
With the lens at f5.6 at the fast end and the polaroid film at ISO 100, there's not a great range of conditions we can really use the camera in. We did what we could on a tripod in the backyard for these first shots. The polaroids came out awfully blue/green, and we suspect we may need a UV filter for it. Here's how the first one came out:
And the second, which I tried (and mostly failed) to get a tilt-shift effect on. 
This camera would be ideal if I had a well set-up studio with very nice streaming window light. It may very well be the opposite of portable. Even though it folds up pretty small, the monorail it sits on makes it quite large still. Oh, and it's effing heavy. 
