Top Ten 2010 #5

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#5 - Not Quite Midnight

Taken on no particular evening of importance and capturing nothing monumental, except a pleasant walk home, I found this picture beautiful for its ordinariness. New York may not sleep, but it does slow down. Noticing the beauty of the city when it’s slower is why I loved this moment.

Top Ten 2010 #6

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four...well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliche fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#6 - Ode du Martha

If I ever had a chance to get into any Martha Stewart publication I thought this photo was it. The color palette, the light, the properly placed chipped paint on the wall, this scene looked so styled it was hard to believe it wasn't. I love random perfection. I don't want to have to make perfection, because I can't, but to stumble on perfection and notice it - that is this moment and this photo.

Top Ten 2010 #7

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four...well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I love so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliche fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#7 - A Museum of The People

One of the best places to take candid pictures of people are museums because no one thinks they are the subject of a photo when there is Pollock on the wall. Wandering around MoMA, one night after work, I concentrated on capturing the process of viewing art, not the art itself, and I thought this image said it all. Yes, the MoMA, MET and all the other mega museums are cultural amusement parks with snack bars, gift shops and commemorative t-shirts. Most the time people are there to check Starry Night off of a to-do list. This fact upsets many art snobs, but not me. I don't care why you go to any cultural activity, as long as you do. As long as you are curious to see what could be...that's all that matters. I own museum t-shirts, and not every work of art on a museum wall is good, but what matters to the art world, past and present, are the people experiencing it.

Top Ten 2010 #8

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#8 - A View From Queens

This shot made the cut because it’s not about a pretty sunset. I like this picture because of the people it represents. I love the detail of the fire escapes and I wondered who was still in their office in the ESB as the sun was setting. But most of all, this picture reminds me of all the people who see this point of view of Manhattan, the view of an outsider. With its historic grandness far enough away to be separate, but close enough to be attainable. When I see this view I hope that everyone else in the vicinity sees the opportunity that is in front of them and realizes that they have the power to succeed in this crazy town.

Top 10 2010 #9

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#9 - Welcome to Chelsea

Google just bought a block of my neighborhood. You don’t get cooler then that. So goes the story of Chelsea and its evolution. I never intended to stay in Chelsea (or my little dumpy apartment) when I moved in fifteen years ago. If I had, I may have painted the walls or got personalized stationary. But I have stayed, and I’m not ready to go thanks to buildings like this one. I walked by the construction of this wavy condo every day and watched it grow from an empty parking lot to contemporary status symbol. I love the way the world reflects off of it and I see a bigger story about my neighborhood every time I pass by.

Top 10 2010 #10

Six of the pictures that made my top ten of 2010 I loved the minute I took. I remember knowing they were contenders for a spot on the list as soon as I saw the result, six miracles that perfectly captured what I was feeling and seeing in that exact moment. The other four…well choosing them from the 4,567 images that remained was a bit more of a debate, and only time can tell if I got them correct. What I notice when I scan all the images is my instinct. Every time I reached for my camera I was experiencing a feeling, object, person, place, food or landscape that I loved so much I wanted to put it in my pocket and take it home. Exploring a years worth of pictures does underline the cliché fact that time moves faster as I get older. It also gives me a pictorial view of the moments that mattered.

#10 - Central Park In Fall

Speaking of clichés this photo almost didn’t make the cut. Not because I don’t love it, but because I really debated with myself if I wanted to highlight Central Park in fall – YES IT’S BEAUTIFUL – it felt like a “well, duh” type of picture. But as the image came on and off the list of contenders I kept returning to this moment. I was noticing the first colors arrive from upstate and felt the first warm cloths fresh from the closet. Wondering in Central Park, sipping coffee, after visiting the Whitney to see the Hopper exhibit on a Sunday, it’s all a cliché, but that does not stop it from being perfect. Blue sky, cool breeze, Upper East Side kids playing catch with their nanny’s – my love of this picture reinforced the fact that I am not done with this city and it’s not done with me.

My Friend Bobby

Lady Gaga's meat dress at the VMA show Sunday made me hungry. Animal rights didn't cross my mind when I saw her wrapped in beef, but puff pastry did. Beef WELLINGTON!! yes, that's what I want!

When I think of beef wellington I immediately envision Gordon Ramsay (wellington is always on the menu at Hell's Kitchen) and Bobby Van's. I am a regular at Bobby's or BV, as I call it, and while I usually have a glass of Red Red at the bar and devour all the olive loaf sourdough bread they have, on Monday night it was raining, and I was not in a hurry to get anywhere...so I had dinner.

My first pass at the menu tempted me because they had black bean soup - I LOVE their black bean soup and my affinity for it is so well known among the staff that I actually get a call at my office when they have it. They know I will come running and they always save me a bowl, but with Gaga fresh in mind I was not dreaming of soup - I was thinking of meat headdresses.

Initially I was disappointed because wellington was was not on the menu - but like I said, I'm a regular - so I mentioned that I was craving wellington and the top notch staff made it happen. Only the visitors order from the menu :) I'm part of the BV family.

It is hard to review BV, it would be like reviewing a favorite Aunts dinner she made just for me, so if your experience with BV is anything but wonderful its because you have not yet joined the inner circle, but once you are there - look out! Not only will your every meat fantasy be fulfilled and your wine glass never empty but you will get to know a great group of hard working staff that gets to watch finance guys throw their money around and have the amazing ability to seem impressed by people they really are not impressed by.

Bobby's is a steakhouse - you don't eat at a steakhouse by the stock exchange unless you have a desire for a power trippin' ego (hello I'm there). But Bobby's is not exactly current. It's not new money it's old money or the mid level money (which is still rich by my standards) the Gordon Gekko wanna-be or has-been's fill the tables. This is the original Wall Street, not the sequel. But stop by and watch the power lunch at noon or power drinks at five. You can have a man meal of slab bacon and the salad is not healthy. I'll be there with my Red Red watching the dynamic and enjoying the fact that while I am not a finance wiz who attends the Robin Hood Foundation gala, I am treated like one by Bobby.