Category Archives: About the Snap

Favorites taken by the author

Oy vey!

A precious moment.

Date: November, 2013
Place: The CJM on Mission Street, SF
Modus operandi: Stroke of luck
Weather: SF afternoon sun
Gear: Panasonic GX7, 14-45mm kit zoom
GPS: Click the image
Me: Loking forward to a pastrami on rye at Wise Bros Deli in the CJM
My age: 61

When she was alive, my mother (1915 – 2003) never hesitated to remind me that I was the outcome of 15 centuries of documented Christianity, documents which sadly went up in the inferno we know as Blitzkrieg.

Yet, as a former denizen of that most anti-Semitic of nations – Poland – she never hesitated to inculcate in me a deep admiration of Jews. As a child I thought nothing of this. What child cares about ethnicity, after all? Then as I made my way in the business world in New York and most especially at Salomon Brothers, the genius of her insight was made clear. How could one not hew to a nation so disproportinately represented in the worlds of art, music, finance and science? Oy vey, and in economics and psychoanalysis.

Snapped, appropriately enough, outside San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum, an exemplar of art and culture in that most cultured of American cities, San Francisco.

Panny GX7, kit zoom, magic light courtesy of the City by the Bay.


“Oy Vey” Traffic Sign on the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, NY.

A snap over lunch

A picture of a fine man with his first born.

A happy, modern Pietà.

Date: May 11, 2012
Place: Rosamunde on Mission Street
Modus operandi: Looking forward to a cool beer
Weather: Parisian morning sun
Time: 12:39:44
Gear: Nikon D700, 50mm f/1.4 MF Nikkor-S
GPS: Click the image.
Medium: Digital
Me: A lovely man with a divine baby
My age: 60

I was traipsing around San Francisco’s Mission District, enjoying the locals and the murals, when hunger did its thing and directed me to the Rosamunde Sausage Grill on Mission at 24th for a pint and a sausage. After trying mightily to engage the very attractive barmaid in idle banter, and failing miserably, I opted instead for the Ninkasi ‘Spring Reign’ blonde ale, and got to chatting with a fellow diner in the welcoming beer cellar setting. The sausage of choice was a fiery Andouille, with the beer serving as fire extinguisher.

Bruce had a very small baby strapped to his chest and was a delightful companion. Handsome, open, with a straight gaze, a ready laugh and a natural curiosity, we got to chatting. He related that he was selling his restaurant down the road to concentrate fully on bringing up the baby. Spotting the Nikon dangling in that insouciant way from my shoulder, a style that only I can pull off, one thing led to another and he agreed to let me snap a picture of the two of them.

I took a small handful of snaps, composed very tightly, at close to full aperture. I lucked out in keeping both Bruce’s eyes (stolen, clearly, from Cary Grant) and the baby’s head and eyelashes sharp. Natural light from the adjacent window provides gentle modeling.

Bruce with his son, Oliver. D700, 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor-S at f/2. Click the picture.

For those readers who might understandably have questioned my sanity in fine tuning the focus indicator for this lens, the proof of the pudding is above. The eyes and child’s lashes are critically sharp, whereas the father’s chin is already blurred.

A friend with better eyes than mine, not to mention a knowledge of Hindu, relates that the father’s T Shirt is emblazoned with the word ‘Om‘. How apt.

The related large print is in the mail to Bruce as you read this.

Here’s the ‘contact strip’ from Lightroom:

Guard dog

Woof!

A man and his dog.

Date: April 1, 2012
Place: On Columbus Avenue in Little Italy.
Modus operandi: Enjoying the sidewalk scene.
Weather: Warm afternoon sun.
Time: 3:51:23
Gear: Nikon D700, 20mm f/3.5 MF Nikkor Ai-S
GPS: Click the image.
Medium: Digital
Me: Seldom have I met a dog I did not like – or one who was slower than me!
My age: 60

The Bagel

Mmmmm ….

A lovely, funny memory of a special place.

Date: April 1, 2012
Place: In the City Lights alleyway between Chinatown and Little Italy, San Francisco.
Modus operandi: Looking forward to a visit to City Lights to find myself.
Weather: Warm afternoon sun.
Time: 2:58:07
Gear: Nikon D700, 20mm f/3.5 MF Nikkor Ai-S
GPS: Click the image.
Medium: Digital
Me: A magic moment, luckily caught in a shaft of sun.
My age: 60