Category Archives: Shooting from the Hip

Sep 24 0 comments
Food, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Photography, Shooting from the Hip, Slow Food, slow food, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #19

10:51AM 9/05/09 - Fennel in wooden box at Union Square Market, NYC

10:51AM 9/05/09 - Fennel in wooden box at Union Square Market, NYC

In a couple of days it’s back to business, having wrapped and packed and loaded up and moved and unloaded and unwrapped and unpacked and then moved some stuff home after moving it to the new studio ’cause it didn’t fit (<looks like a run on sentence, doesn’t it?).

The September email promotions and postcards are out and now it’s time to pick up the phone and make those calls for a little face time with Buyers. I’ve spent way too much time building this new portfolio and contemplating this move. So, it’s on to the phone calls, picking up an unlimited MetroCard, buzzing through the nearly always useless security checkpoints and showing up for my appointments. Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” I wonder what the other twenty percent is.

Just to make things interesting, after I wrote this entry, notcot.org, posted my scissor birds photo and it went viral with 800 hits so far in just 24 hours. Absolutely amazing! Three months of blogging and marketing finally start to pay off! So, the other twenty percent must have something to do with perserverence. And I thought it might be perspiration. Who knew?

Sep 21 1 comments
Commercial Photography, Commercial Photography, NYC, Personal Photography, Shooting from the Hip, slow food, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #18 (while moving an entire studio)

10:35AM, 8/31/2009 Assorted Mini Peppers at Union Square Market, NYC

10:35AM, 8/31/2009 Assorted Mini Peppers at Union Square Market, NYC

Done. I’ve moved in to the new studio. Six trips in Vicki’s Suburu Legacy station wagon with Vicki at the wheel. Without my girlfriend as driver and watchdog, not only would I still be moving, I’d probably have been to the tow pound on 12th Avenue as part of the deal. After all, who was going to stay with the car to keep it from being towed? Vicki. And who was going to keep an eye on the equipment while loading and unloading? Vicki. Who forgot to ask Vicki if she could help with the move?

Me.

Duh. Thank you, Vicki.

I’ve already started unpacking and managed to shoot two jobs over the weekend as well: one for Lincoln Center, and one for AJ, my friends, James and Andrea’s Jazz/Soul band.

Feels like I’m off to a good start.

Sep 09 1 comments
Food, Greenmarket in the Studio, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Shooting from the Hip, Slow Food, slow food, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip (and from Outer Space) #17

Savoy Cabbage at Union Square Market

Savoy Cabbage at Union Square Market

Satellite Photography of Anchorage Alaska, February 16, 2003

NASA Satellite Photo of Anchorage Alaska, February 16, 2003

What do Savoy Cabbage from Union Square Market and a Satellite image from NASA have in common? Benoît Mandelbrot’s mathmatical Fractals.

In the mid 1980s Jonathan Herbert and I were creative partners, owning one of the first IBM XT computers and diving head-first into pretty uncharted territory for photography at the time: computer generated graphics combined with traditional photography. He was the artist and I, the photographer. Although we were far, far from creating anything remotely close to what Mandelbrot had achieved working with the Cray Super Computers of the day (the Cray-2 and X-MP), we aspired to create something, someday that resembled the pages of our hero’s book, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, which, believe it or not, is still in print after 26 years. And, I keep discovering fractals in so much of what I shoot.

Romanesco Broccoli Detail - Also called Fractal Broccoli

A detail of my Romanesco Broccoli from Union Square market- Also called Fractal Broccoli

So, where are we now? Jonathan Herbert has taken to fine art and I, to still life, back to the basics for both of us. The computer still figures in to our lives pretty heavily, but our desires are different.

And I have to admit after 25 years of computers, I can’t imagine living without my iPhone, MacPro tower, my MacBook Pro or my digital watch for that matter. By the way, the 2008 MacPro Tower runs about a thousand times faster than those old Crays.

I would never go back. Now, to sit down to Vicki’s French chicken and cabbage dinner…

Sep 05 0 comments
Food, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Photography, Shooting from the Hip, Slow Food, slow food, Uncategorized, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #16

Detail of Chard on Display at Union Square Market, NYC

Detail of Chard in Wooden Box

Union Square Market, NYC – 9/5/2009, 10:50 AM

I’ve most likely walked through the Union Square market a thousand times, yet it wasn’t until I started shooting for this blog that I discovered a market rarely seen. It’s the vendors who, unknowingly, set up my photos, so it’s a wonder that anything works at all. In the end, it is a market filled with the commonplace caught in the random and uncommon act of being in the right place and right light at the right time when I come along. Truly, there is a familiarity to so much of what I see, it’s not unusual to wonder if anything I do today can be any different from yesterday or the day before.

There is an elegance to the much of the stationary world that goes unseen. It is hidden away, out of view simply because it is surrounded by comings and goings, tables and pavement, laughter and silence.

I’m humbled by what the market gives me for my patience. I sure hope she never gets bored with me.

Aug 31 0 comments
Food, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Photography, Shooting from the Hip, Slow Food, slow food, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #15

Green and Red Zebra Tomatoes at Union Square Market

Green and Red Zebra Tomatoes at Union Square Market

8/31/09, 10:33AM – It’s a long story, let’s just say I was cruisin’ the veggie tables to kill some time.

I looked up green zebras and got a surprize! Tom Wagner (no relation that I’m aware of, honest) is an heirloom tomato breeder (can you herd them, too?) responsible for developing the green zebras. He’s also developed other heirloom tomatoes with names like banana legs, green elf and one named Schimmeig Stoo, which in Manx means striped cavern. Manx is a Goidelic languare spoken on the Isle of Man. Who knew? The red tomato is also known as a red zebra, but no one is taking responsibility for it as far as I can tell.

Anyway, these tasted pretty good in tonight’s salad. Oddly, though, I still prefer the red ones.

Aug 29 0 comments
Food, Greenmarket in the Studio, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Portfolio, Shooting from the Hip, Slow Food, slow food, Uncategorized, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #14 & Greenmarket in the Studio #2

Which do you prefer?

3 Zucchini Flowers on white background

3 Zucchini Flowers on white background in the studio

Zucchini flowers on display at the union square market in NYC

7/31/09, 2:57PM - Zucchini flowers on display at the Union Square market in NYC

As I continue to shoot the Union Square Farmer’s (Green?) Market, I see a pattern. My studio work of Union Square produce over the past three years has clean crisp lines and, with a tip of the hat to Avedon, is shot unadorned with simple lighting.

On the other hand, the “as is, where is,” technique I use for the Shooting from the Hip series has an earthy, gritty look due, in part, to higher contrast curves and vignetting in post production.

One has the elegant, but not quite blemish-free, perfect look of food for advertising; the other is a raw, nearly random capture of food as it appears close up and personal, blemishes and all.

I like them both. Which do you prefer?

Aug 29 0 comments
Food, Greenmarket in the Studio, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Portfolio, Shooting from the Hip, slow food, Uncategorized, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #14 & Greenmarket in the Studio #2

Which do you prefer?

3 Zucchini Flowers on white background

3 Zucchini Flowers on white background in the studio

Zucchini flowers on display at the union square market in NYC

7/31/09, 2:57PM - Zucchini flowers on display at the Union Square market in NYC

As I continue to shoot the Union Square Farmer’s (Green?) Market, I see a pattern. My studio work of Union Square produce over the past three years has clean crisp lines and, with a tip of the hat to Avedon, is shot unadorned with simple lighting.

On the other hand, the “as is, where is,” technique I use for the Shooting from the Hip series has an earthy, gritty look due, in part, to higher contrast curves and vignetting in post production.

One has the elegant, but not quite blemish-free, perfect look of food for advertising; the other is a raw, nearly random capture of food as it appears close up and personal, blemishes and all.

I like them both. Which do you prefer?

Aug 21 0 comments
Food, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Shooting from the Hip, slow food, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #13

Purple and Green Long Beans with Summer Squash ©2009 D.A.Wagner

Union Square Market – 2:57PM August 17, 2009

These purple and green long beans are also known as (according to Wikipedia, anyway) long-podded cowpeas. This is the first year I remember seeing them at the market and when I looked them up, I found that they are grown in warmer climates like Thailand and Southern China and are a traditional food of Africa. Cool.

So, I cut and steamed a mix of them and whipped up a Japanese sesame dressing from one of my favorite cookbooks, simply called, “Japanese,” from Parragon Publishing in the UK (out of print). This is my favorite recipe for beans. It’s quick, delicious and everyone loves it.

Here’s this great concoction:

Steamed Green Beans with Sesame Dressing

8 ounces of greeen beans

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon toasted sesame paste (Atari Goma is what I find in Sunrise Mart)

1 teaspoon of superfine sugar

1 teaspoon miso paste (I use red Akadashi Hacho Miso for its rich flavor – but you can use any kind of miso – also available at Sunrise Mart)

2 teaspoons of soy sauce (shoyu)

While steaming or boiling the beans (you can use string beans or long beans – either work), mix the other ingredients together in a cup until it becomes a smooth paste. Drain the beans and toss with the sesame dressing. Serve while still warm.

Write me a note if you try this.

D.A.

Aug 16 0 comments
NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Photography, Shooting from the Hip, slow food, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #12

Garlic Stalks, Union Square Market © 2009 D.A.Wagner

Garlic Stalks, Union Square Market

2:06PM June 24, 2009 – Union Square Market, NYC

Rich, dramatic and mysterious, garlic has been used as far back as ancient Egypt for medical and culinary purposes . Vampires don’t like garlic, but I do.

Aug 09 0 comments
Food, NYC, Organic, Personal Photography, Photography, Shooting from the Hip, Union Square, Vegetables

Shooting from the Hip #11

Who's your edamame?

Who's your edamame?

Union Square Market, NYC – 1:37PM, August 7, 2009

Edamame, or baby soybeans, are just about my absolute favorite quick appetizer. Cook for three minutes in salted boiling water, strain, sprinkle with coarse sea salt and eat. Yes, they look hairy and blemished, but like most real farm grown fruits and vegetables, they taste good. That’s the thing about commercial fruits and veggies, much of it is “designed” to look nice and travel well, but most of it tastes like cardboard. Me, I’d rather buy food that has flavor and looks like cardboard.

Come to think of it, I think real food is quite beautiful, blemishes and all.