A PANOPLY OF PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHS

         In the late 1960's, after I had spent 16 years helping build a small public company into a multi-million dollar corporation, it was acquired by a major NYSE conglomerate for big bucks. I was a VP and had some stock and options which increased tremendously in value. But, I became excess baggage as the Corporate Development and Financial Planning I had been doing was taken care of by officers in the conglomerate. I was left with a big office and very little to do, so I decided to take my money and run (which meant opening a photo studio in NYC to re-ignite a love of photography). I told my boss, the CEO of the acquired company, of my plans to leave. He himself had almost nothing to do and spent most of his time gallivanting (living high on the hog on his expense account) between Beverly Hills and Palm Beach. 

        He didn't want me to leave - - - and for only one reason - - - when he was in town (our headquarters was in Metuchen, N. J.)  we went out to lunch together almost every day and played backgammon to see who picked up the lunch tab. The bill wasn't very high, as we often settled into our regular booth at a nearby diner. But the competitive nature of the game was fierce and unfortunately he won more often than I did. That wasn't because I let him win to secure my job or because he was a better player. No, he was just plain lucky.

Yes, I know this is not a picture of me and my boss playing backgammon at a diner, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Lindsay Lohan is more photogenic.
 I wonder what they were playing for.

        So, because my boss enjoyed the backgammon/lunches so much, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. "Earl," he said, "just stay on and you only have to come to work on the days that I am in town and you'll still be paid your full salary. And, when you do leave I'll see that you get a proper retirement package." I spent the next many months driving to work in NJ every now and then and spent the rest of my time at a photo studio I set up in a small apartment in Manhattan. I took courses in photography to make up for the lost time between when I received an Argus 35mm camera as a bar mitzvah present.  Back then I took black and white photos, mostly candid portraits, and developed and enlarged them in my bathroom. (Brother Bob and I had to forego showers some days.)

       On one of those rare days that I was at work my boss came in and sat down, which was unusual in itself, and  told me that the president of the parent corporation wanted me fired and that he had fought it as long as he could, but I had to leave. I was surprised, but I certainly deserved it, but I cried when he left. I cried a lot more when I learned what my retirement pay package was going to be. I reminded him of his prior promise and was able to get it increased a bit.
       I bought myself a panoramic camera, I have no idea why, since it is a bulky, heavy  behemoth 

that used film that was 2.5"x 6.7" in size. It's size however made it excellent for blowing up into huge images for magazines, billboards etc. I lugged this camera on all our foreign travels (along with the Leica judy bought me as a present) and had an agent who sold my panoramic work. I happened to get a great shot of the Taj Mahal and this image has been in Time magazine and is sold throughout the world on the Internet as a poster, mostly by foreign companies who have appropriated it illegally. If you Google Earl Bronsteen you'll find about 50,000 sites all over the world selling a poster of my Taj Mahal shot - - - and I don't get a dime.

     Here's an example of some of my panoramic images. You can see all 70 at: www.panoramicimages.com and then type in my name.

Rialto Bridge, Grand Canal, Venice, Italy

Taj Mahal,  India

Amalfi Coast, Positano, Italy

A gustatory highlight of Positano was the zuppa de peche at Chez Black at the seaside.

Positano from the sea. I think I swam out, holding my camera above my head, to get this shot.

Iditarod Dog Camp is high on a glacier which we accessed via a thrilling helicopter ride. This was one of the few sights on our trip to Alaska (3 whales and some beautiful glaciers) that was the least bit interesting. Really just a lot of tourist shops along the way.

     For photo enthusiasts only: I cut my "teeth"on the Argus 35 mm.  At summer camp, as a 16 year-old, I took photos of the counselors and sold them to the campers at 25 cents an 8x10 shot, which gave me the money to buy a Speed Graphix. Judy bought me a beautiful Leica camera as a present for getting fired and I still have it.