I have had this idea for a little while now, that I wanted to try to do a portrait of me, together with the City. It sounds really corny, I know. What better time to do portraits, than when we are both having an “ugly” day, right? Ok, in honesty we have both been having a lot of ugly days lately. I need to get a haircut and some sun, like nobody’s biz. Thank goodness that the vacay is right around the corner. As for the City having ugly days, it’s not really her fault. It is spring. Rain happens a lot in the spring. Despite all of that, it is kind of hot the way that the unfinished 1 WTC disappears into the clouds.

So, NYC and I went into kiddie candids together and asked for some portraits. This is how they came out.

For the most part I’m pretty happy with them. But I want to try it again some time with a different setup. I’ll keep you posted.

Part II of le post–

Linda wins the Rag & Bone x Timberland notebook. Congratulations! This actually makes things very easy for me, since I can just pass it off to Zack tomorrow night.

I’m going to put the giveaways on hiatus for the next few weeks, while I’m out and about. But, I’ll be coming back with a banger. For those who love Italian made photography gear, you might want to get in on this one.

These were actually from over the weekend (same night as that photo of my parents on the GW, a couple of posts back). Both photos were shot facing almost straight south, from mid-span of the GW Bridge. I thought it was cool that there was such a distinct band of orange even on the horizon opposite of the sunset. I suppose that it was caused by the particulate matter in the air. Who knows? All I can say is that, I thought it was nice-looking enough to snap a few and post ‘em.

Wow, I don’t really even know where to begin, on this one. As I mentioned last week, I was a bit nervous going into this race, given the large span of down time from illness. So, I set a goal for myself to forget about a target pace, and just soak up all of the positivity of the experience. In a lot of cases it is difficult to measure success in achieving goals that are based on intangible and subjective qualities.  But, such was not the case on Sunday. I can whole heartedly say that the 2010 New York City Marathon was the best race that I have ever run. And my time? Let’s just say that I have done worse. Hehehe

I’m just going list out a couple of things that made it so amazing (and try not to get too wordy [because Reagan says that makes it boring]). The first thing is kind of corny- When it comes to trivial things like sporting events, etc., I like to pretend that luck plays a role. So I was a bit nervous that my bib number started with a 13. But I reconciled things, thinking that since this was my 7th marathon, that the lucky seven would beat out the 13. Well, my friends, it totally did. First, the weather was phenomenal. Sunday was the first break in a 3 day streak of rainy gloomy weather (that incidentally picked up again Monday), it was blue skies and sunshine. Next- Having a cheering section that was 2+million people deep was beyond description. It is pretty hard to have a disparaging thought or feeling, when both sides of the course are lined with people cheering so intensely that if you didn’t know better, you would think you were winning the race. Third reason- having family and friends along the course adds another dimension. It is so great to see those familiar faces when you need that extra little boost. I could go on for days. But, I will spare everyone.

Top Photo– Me between mile 23 and 24 waving to Sarah, Becca and Brittany (Photo by Sarah M.)

Above– Reagan and I about to board the bus at the Staten Island side of the SI Ferry terminal, to get to the staging area near the Verrazano Bridge. (Photo by M. Cuomo). Below– Reagan at mile 23 (Photo by Sarah M.)

Above– Some post race hugs. Below– All smiles on the train returning up town. (Photos by Sarah M.)

For the 4th of July, we visited PJ in the morning, then walked across the GW Bridge to NJ, for a picnic at a Revolutionary War site. Above is a shot of Reagan on the GW Bridge, standing beneath the “largest free-flying American flag in the world; 90 feet (27 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) wide, the flag weighs 450 pounds (200 kg),” according to Wikipedia. The shot above doesn’t really allow for proper reference.

The shot below is looking back at NYC from the historic Ft. Lee battery.

Here is a shot of the flag after dark, from the Manhattan side. The shot below gives a better idea of how large the flag actually is.

And finally,  another one of these shots. This time, with the towers lit up for the holiday.

I had a blast this morning shooting the latest stuff from the guys at Only. I was able to recruit Samuel, again. He was a good sport about getting up at 5:30 for the shoot. In this shot he is rocking the new Only New York “Fish Tank.” It is needless to say that I love the name. Getting so amped for this weekend, and it isn’t even Friday, yet.

I was in the park last night, doing what I like to do (playing with cameras). On the way out, I decided: “Since I’m here with my gear, why not grab a slow-shutter shot of the GW?” So, I grabbed the image below. For extra fun, check out the full resolution version here.

I mean, look at this thing:

I have complained about New York City’s lack of authentic Mexican food, on more than one occasion. Several kind people have made suggestions of restaurants to try. The suggestions usually did end up leading to some pretty good food. But, I think that maybe after seeing the photo above (purchased from a taco truck in the bay area, CA),  it will be a little more clear what I’m looking for. I feel like I shouldn’t have to go all of the way to Cali to get a $5 Tijuana-special carne asada. Thanks to Zach for documenting the very thing that I have been searching so diligently for in the city that supposedly has everything.

Speaking of diligently searching. I was finally able to track this down, late Wednesday night.

The title of this post sounds like a children’ s movie about a pet who dies. I didn’t have a pet who died (recently). But I have to say that I’m pretty bummed out that all of the pieces (that I know of) that Banksy left around the city this weekend, have been defaced, if not completely destroyed. I’m so glad that I was able to see them in person before they were messed with. I shot all of them for Highsnobiety early Monday and had someone (in most cases, a passer by) snap one of me next to the art, with the point and shoot cam.

The photo above was by a really nice guy I flagged from the street. He asked me if I wanted it to be a creative shot (only in DUMBO), then accidentally dropped his diet Pepsi shooting it.  He wouldn’t even let me reimburse him for the drink.

I’m doing the same face as the guy in the painting. Thanks, German guy for shooting this one for me.

Thanks, Col for snapping the one above. Finally, remember this one? Here it is 48 hours later.

(Photo: Aman*Duh.)

I was at club Amnesia last night covering an event. Jigga was supposed to be there, but had to leave town at the last minute. It was still a pretty sick party. They had these cirque du soleil-type acrobats swinging around from the ceilings.

The weather had been cloudy and kind of rainy all day. I was grateful that it petered out to just plain old cloudy, by the time I was trekking all over town last night. Also, it made for a cool shot of the Empire State Bldg.