Survival of the fittest may be a good title for this race which was held Saturday morning in a frigid Central Park. Temperature in the low twenties, a threatening wind, and a fresh blanket of snow on the park and park roads made this one to remember. Fewer runners than last weekend, but still a very large turnout in a winter wonderland. Had to hand it to the volunteers, this one should guarantee entry to the NCMY for standing there in sub freezing temperatures for hours watching the water in the cups freeze over. I could turn mine over at the water stop and none spilled out…

I ran this one with a friend as back of the pack bunnies, but as you can see by the graph, we snowplowed our way to negative splits. The bump at mile 6 was me taking a potty break. Here are the splits:

1. 10:12
2. 9:04
3. 8:53 

The first two miles was like learning how to skate again on a crowded rink, we were back in the third corral and it was pretty bunched up.

4. 8:41
5. 8:31 – 5 mile split of 45:21 – 9:04/mile
6. 9:17 – visit mr. john

7: 8:15
8: 8:12
9. 8:10 – second 5 mile split was 42:25 – 8:29/mile 

Totals 15k- 1:20:05 – 9:12/mile but the early crowding and the slippy start cost us a lot of time. At the end my friend had some mysterious jolt of energy around Cat Hill and opened up a 10 yard lead, by the last mile it had tripled- I didn’t see him finish. Nice kick. I was content with avoiding congestive heart failure…

We got lucky with the wind, which was not a factor although at the end heading northbound I was feeling it. But surprisingly not cold even at 25 degrees with the right clothing. 

End of year thoughts on running…

Some 500+ miles covered since June when I began. The calendar only says “June 1, first run”. I cannot remember how far or even where I went. Since then I have run in Ontario, Omaha, Dallas, New Delhi (ok, that was on a treadmill in the hotel gym…) and Bhutan-that was though rice fields.

It is hard to describe just what it is exactly that I have gotten out of running. Part of it is control, certainly, that I can make my body do something continuously, automatically even, that is outside of daily living and breathing. Like an engine, the body becomes a motor for the mind to drive around, and the world becomes the view out the window. It is not that far from photography really. The inner mind of perception looking out through an eye or lens or window onto the world. And the unfolding of a landscape rolling sideways. There are times in running where it does feel very much like this, like being in a car driving, or in a train looking out at the homes and fields and trees passing by. The way I am describing it suits my personality, for sure. I am describing being immersed yet distant from the world, and those of you that know me might recognize this characterization. For everyone else, welcome:)

“Fire up the colortini’s, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures as they fly though the air.”

I know I promised a review of the Eggleston show at the Whitney and part of that has been written. I just don’t know if I agree with it any more…but the prints are stunning, you should go just to get an idea of what colour should look like.

Maybe if i get inspired an end of year post with some dead certain conclusions about the state of the world we are in. » Read the rest of this entry «

One word-COLD! Second word-SHORT!

Mile splits are 7:34, 7:10, 7:34, 7:26. 

Not much to say, it was over before the snot had a chance to freeze in my nose. One to remember on those hot days in June.  

But my goal was a 30 minute 4 mile, based on last weeks performance the McMillian calculator says I could do a 30:57, so I knew it was possible. But it would mean I would have to run a lot faster than I am used to. In other words, I would have to race…This is not my natural inclination. I am more of a zone out grinder. Plus any time I have gone out to run intervals I have had the worst experience, I just get wacked out and can’t recover. So pacing in a race is new to me.

The first mile I thought I went out way too fast-everyone was cold and it seemed we had the wind behind us, and the timer at mile 1 was not working, so I had no idea. This got me a little worried, but the ticker was not really pumping so I didn’t have any thoughts of Fred Sanford yet. Wheezy!! Then the second mile was downhill along the West Side of Central Park, this was even faster and really had me thinking reel it in. I saw the time of 15-something so I knew I was pretty close to 30 but would need to keep it up. Like the girl says, “just breathe.” So mile 3 was Cat Hill, I finally saw the damn cat sculpture just before the Obilisc, never knew why people called it that. I remember the split to be 22:22, and subtracting the starting offset of around 20 seconds I knew it was looking good. Faded a little in mile 4 or so I thought but got the gift of the downhill at the end and rounding the corner I saw 29′s on the clock and knew I had it.

Next week is a 15K in Central Park, we will see what the weather is. I am running that one with a friend so I don’t know what the target is, enjoyment or punishment. According to the calculator it says I can run a 1:13, or 7:50′s the whole way, I somehow doubt that. A loop and a half of the park, some hills, I think 8′s are optimistic still.

Yes I will talk about photography. on monday, some words about the Eggleston show at the Whitney.

This is iphone from the N train on the way in at 7:30am this morning. What were you doing?

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I don’t know who this Joe Kleinerman is, but I really like him. And I’ve got his t-shirt.

MASSIVE PR – (for me) – 10K – 49:09 – 7:55/mile pace…oh yeah

That’s right-sub 8 minutes-my first ever. 

Better than any training run to date on that distance, blew the previous Nike 10K way outta da water, but that was a terrible course (53:26, august 31) and three months ago.

Not sure what I did right here except go out fast and hold the line. Weather was a blessing, little wind, cool but not cold yet, no sun. Roadrunners president Mary Wittenberg introduced some guy from ‘Da Bronx-that’s how he was introduced, and I could swear after ever sentence I heard the Law and Order “doink-doink.” “I’m a man of few woyds…on ya mahwks…!”  Race started at 103rd Street and went anti-clockwise around the park, beginning in the Harlem Hills. (“ya, youse godda run ‘dem Hawlem Hills…”) I was actually looking forward to this since my own runs always begin with the hill up to Park Slope, so this was similar. There were only a few moderate climbs for the rest of the course and it seemed like lots of downhills. I think that is where I picked up a lot of time.

I don’t have splits that are accurate because I was running on a new nike ipod and it was not calibrated. Christmas is coming and if the Garmin-Gods can get their Mac update out I will be changing over in the new year.

Can’t report anything interesting during the race-not a lot of time to look around! The first two miles was spent trying to find space and pass a lot of people. You can see that in the graph. It is really great when you pass people who are clearly aiming for comfortable 9-10-minute mile who lined up in the corral in front of you and are going out in happy-chatty groups-yeah maybe you can run 7:00′s all day long but the 9:00′s are behind me in the next corral…

Didn’t get hit by any snot-rockets or lougies. Which is saying something in this cold. Sounded like a Seniors Residence cafeteria during breakfast! Oy! Around mile four I had to drop a foot-flopper (plop plop plop plop) with some heavy asthmatic breathing and grunting going on next to me-turned up the ipod and tried not to listen while running faster. Guess I can thank him for my PR? Around mile five there was an lady who like to split runners with an open-sesame-arm move. Coming Through! Yeah right. We are all here for ya lady!

Time for a nap. It was fun while it lasted…

Edit: I figured out the splits I think. Based on total time and time between ipod markers and using the differential of avg miles per hour (7.10mph vs 7.47mph–.95%)

mile 1 8:11     8:11/pace

mile 2 15:58   7:47/pace

mile 3 23:50   7:52/pace

mile 4 31:47   7:57/pace

mile 5 39:58   8:11/pace

mile 6 47.33   7:35/pace

mile .21  49:09  7:37/pace

A little bump in the middle, I remember thinking at mile 5, save something for the last little bit. Probably shouldn’t have thought that. 

» Read the rest of this entry «

This was one of those assignments where you are sent in blind except for the headline. I knew the story was about the psychology of the workplace, which for most self employed photographers is something they know absolutely nothing about. Well, except that my ID and SuperEgo don’t throw away their leftovers in the home office lunchroom refrigerator…

Immediately upon arrival and setting up I find out that the individual portrait idea I had was not going to fly: the crew was a team and needed to stay together. No individual portraits. 

I would like to say I came up with this solution all on my own but we all know where it is cribbed from. Sometimes it is helpful to be able to invoke the deity of “Avedon” to support your harebrained schemes. 

I think it splits the difference, individuals in a group. Thanks to TAG creative for letting me in the door.

Full story here. BTW don’t be shocked by the color in the article. I get paid just the same. » Read the rest of this entry «

…not by me, here.

You may recall my appreciation of Eggleston’s Democratic ways here.

We don’t exactly agree on the nature of photographic democracy but that is not too important. I think what is more important is that Jordana says;

“It didn’t give me that instant gratification I was seeking, it didn’t feel revelatory, but without my knowing it, I believe it was benevolently working on me even after I’d left it.”

We talked about that today and agreed that the experience of seeing photobooks often is better than seeing the prints, there is something personal, intimate, and evocative about studying a book of work, in your own space and on your own time. The “ownership” experience. Museums end up being about them.

» Read the rest of this entry «

Check out this story in the New York Times this past weekend. I am not sure what to call in since there are two titles, one for the print version and one for the video version.

That in itself should tell you something about what is going on. The print version was called “Home, Hangout, Departure lounge” and the video version was called “Project Apartment: A Family of Friends”. They are similar but different. Initially what the assignment was was to go profile Daniel Vosovic from last season’s Project Runway and his roommates and “habitat” on the LES. A sound recordist was going to take audio and a slideshow was going to be produced. Somewhere along the way the sound got way-laid and I was on my own, or so I thought. On sunday the story is published and I see video, in other words, they went back and shot more footage, this time for the video.

Recently Vincent Laforet wrote a column on convergence on how the new Canon 5DmkII was a “game-changer” for the industry. I have no doubt that across the country, weddings and porno shoots will never be the same. But I digress:) When you look at the two features you see very different approaches. Mainly you see very different lighting. I think it was unfortunate for the video folks, they probably had to go late in the (very short winter) day and had no ambient light, either that or they chose to exclude it entirely and use their own for colour balance reasons, or expediency. For whatever reason, the effect is stark, what is a tiny, cramped, albeit colourful space is transformed into the average bare-bulb lit New York tenement interrogation room. So much of what I see online as “new” multimedia is actually just bad TV. I wonder what the video producers got paid to go in there, shoot a hours worth of footage, and then cut it together? Not nearly enough I am sure, probably a lot more than me. And what looks better? (ok go easy)

Truth be told it is a lot harder to shoot multimedia pieces than it is to do what I did. The issues multiply, colour balance, sound, moving camera, editing, B-roll, etc. I can make it appear as if it was a sunny day almost anywhere I go, if things don’t have to move. Motion does not have that option, they are locked down to the framerate of the camera and the ISO. Evidently the the new 5D in HD mode is auto exposure, with an exposure lock. A limited flexibility. More if you opt to spend a lot on fast prime lenses. And the sound recording on the 5D is really only good enough for background sound, not for interviews. So what am I trying to say? Besides the fact that after I get the camera you will be subjected to my poor attempts at video?

I think the idea everyone had for “convergence” was this idea that a single photographer or videographer could hoist a camera and capture both, stills and video. And that that could be a huge cost savings. What I think you see is that while it might be possible to take hi-quality stills from a video assuming you can overcome the lighting issues, which I don’t think you can exactly, not unless you want to haul around a 10K on a crane to all your Manhattan locations…taking video from a still shoot is another thing entirely. Basically we styled the still shoot to look good as stills. Every picture can be a “picture” and not just something on the way to something else. To video the still shoot is very boring, it is just behind the scenes of a still shoot. And while the current demand for behind the scenes seems to be insatiable, I think it will grow old soon. Please not another Victoria Secret show backstage!

We are still in this fractured place where neither approach is working very well. Traditional media printed on paper is on life-support. Online media is straddling the line. The multimedia pieces are hit and miss. Some of the best in my opinion are the information-presentation interactives, “charts and graphs!” But with pizazz! I think audio slide shows of stills are very effective as a bridge piece between print and online. Look at Magnum in Motion. Video has a way to go, it would be better if they had no responsibility at all to the printed piece. Motion is it’s own logic, and has it’s own expressive language that I think is getting wasted a lot of the time on some of this stuff. Basically I think what you are seeing is we are painfully reinventing the wheel online, enduring a lot of bad video that we used to criticize TV for (funniest home videos?-that was the “tube” before the “you”). Call it whatever you want, convergence, user-generated content, interactive, but the bar is low. I think the utility to advertisers is that it can guarantee eyeballs in one location for a longer duration. Think of it as glue. 

And what of the cost savings of having one person shoot both still and video? Not sure about that either. Good video is expensive, just like film. It is more complex to produce, execute and deliver. Vincent’s impressive “cologne commercial” cost him quite a bit, but not a fraction of what it actually “costs.” I hope someone picks him up for his eye while he is still cheap! The people who are really good at, the ones who can turn it around quickly, not surprisingly, are already doing it. They have jobs in television, and have had them for years. But we have resisted this other “convergence” of media, between print and television for a number of reasons, some of them very good. Monopolies, hegemony, diversity to name three. If I had to predict where this is all going, I might be tempted to say economic realities will force print media to merge totally with television to achieve economy in production costs. Martha Stewart paved the way long ago. She achieves high quality in both areas. And can decoupage with the best…It may only be a matter of time. Or as Woody Allen would say, we all have to sit through the Ice Capades, again.

Update: Canon’s Chuck “Santa” Westfall says that the sleigh bearing the new 5DMKII-will-save-us-from-armageddon has left Canon USA’s village and should be bringing the camera to good little girls and boys by the end of this week! Prediction-Holiday Video Ennui Up 1000 Percent. 

But does it know how to roast a turkey?  » Read the rest of this entry «

1. lately, we have both been running a lot.
    
2. we both voted democrat yesterday (I assume)
    
3. when asked a question, we both tend to give too much detail and wonky esoteric analysis
    
4. we are both half white. (my other half just happens to be white also…)
    
5. Our names are not good for getting elected right now
    
6. we both have friends in Hawaii
    
7. Barack pals around with William Ayers and I am William’s heir, ‘pal. (my dad’s name is Bill)
    
8. we both have big ears and are left handed
    
9. if Barack gets a particular kind of puppy for Malia then we might both cavort with Terriers…(a shout out to Lucy-a very crazy terrier belonging to my friend Zoey)
    
10. we both have a big crush on Michelle Obama…? (knew I should have gone to Harvard. What was I thinking?)

» Read the rest of this entry «

They get older and yet they get better. I think that is what is amazing about the elite women of the marathon. For some reason the men don’t inspire me, they are just too fast to think about. They complete a full marathon in the time it would take me to complete a half or thereabouts. Not that I think I could ever touch the women’s times either…

What did she say you ask?

I fibbed a bit. Earlier last week somewhere in the rolling hills of Omaha after my run Paula came on the headphones through the nike ipod and said congratulations on completing 500km! 

She didn’t seem to remember me this time…

Congratulations to the 39,000 who ran this years New York City Marathon.

» Read the rest of this entry «

Maybe it is all that time in Omaha near Warren Buffet…but look around-

Its a bubble that can’t go on much longer and I have to say I was right when I said it made no sense to begin with.

What am I talking about?

Two years ago here (november 2006 in the archives if you are interested) I got into a a little dustup about online usage and appropriation of images. Most people said I was not getting it, they pointed to all the seeming good that was coming out of sharing work online for free. I said, be careful what you trade for. Be careful what you encourage in this space.

This article today highlights what has come to pass.

Print media is contracting month over month and year over year. It has nothing to do with the quality of the content as some have argued. It has mostly to do with what is free and easy and convenient and available online. 

Most magazine articles are photographed beautifully, written and researched, and exhibit a depth far beyond what is available online. They may be a week behind or a month behind, but that is not really the problem. They are being outpaced by online competitors that pay nothing for content they steal from other websites.

Online media can get by with half the staff and half the investment because for the most part they are not actually “creating” anything, they are just recycling what others have paid and are losing money to produce.

The analysis in the Times article is interesting, the quote is “The answer is that paper is not just how the news is delivered; it is how it is paid for.”

Think about this for a moment, it is also true of all printed media. Now compare that to “screen” media-and in this I am including television because it is the nearest neighbour. What is on the screen is “free”. This is the attitude. It is monetized through advertising or to some small extent by subscription-cable fees. But the real money is in distribution, cable networks, ISP’s monthly charges, etc. You pay for the delivery method primarily not the content.

So the internet has been a free ride so far, but there is no way that this can continue. There is no way that printed media can continue to subsidize the growth of online media. Online has to pay. Otherwise there is no money for editors and reporters and art directors. No money for foreign bureaus and investigative reporting. If you want to see the future of online media, look at Gawker, Myspace, PerezHilton, and Youtube. About the lowest scrape of the barrel out there. This is what “user-generated” content is all about.

Others may think that I don’t get it, but I think it has never been clearer now that we live in a gross expansion bubble, where nothing has real value because nothing is real. Earning money on the leverage of other people doing real work cannot continue. The attention economy nor the endorsement economy is not enough. » Read the rest of this entry «