Thread: My month in New York City

After four or five pretty slow days of shooting not much of anything, I had a good day today. It was cool and beautiful and just a great day to be out and about in NYC. I had some street shooting, saw a few really unforgettable faces (a couple of them sort of horrifying), got to play with some cool shadow and light, saw Grand Central (again) and the UN (for the first time), saw a couple of pretty frightening faces, and just generally had a great time. The vast majority were shot with the Olympus 12mm, but a few with the 9-18, and one or two with the 14-150. I had a better than 10% rate of shots I liked enough to process (which is unheard of for me) and it would have been more but some of them were pretty repetitive.

Here's a pretty healthy sampling:

















This face was scarier up at face level than from hip level, but I think it can be fixed if the owner is of a mind to:


I'm afraid this poor kid has done himself irreparable damage:


A few happier shots to close:



I was changing lenses not too far from this guy's truck/trailer and he shouted me down and insisted I take his photo. OK, happy to!




-Ray

Great series. Is that plastic surgery on the young kid?

Originally Posted by tdekany

Great series. Is that plastic surgery on the young kid?

As far as I could tell. Some kind of Michael Jackson syndrome or something? A few other people walking in the same direction I was commented on it immediately after he went past. I guess you could give him the benefit of the doubt and figure maybe he'd been horribly injured and needed to have it done, but the way he was carrying himself suggested otherwise. Like something you'd see in a horror movie or REALLY bad dream. I feel VERY sorry for him if he finds himself in the midst of full-blown adulthood someday and realizes what he's done to himself.

-Ray

I really like the ones inside Grand Central especially the shoe shine.

More great shots helping to get to know NY.

A great day of shooting yesterday followed by a thoroughly uninspired one today. A lot of OK scenic shots, a few ok street shots - nothing that really grabbed me. Didn't venture that far from my apt either. Here are a few. I'm pretty sure the first two were with the 14-150 and the rest with the 12mm.



I've been fascinated by the abundant fire escapes in this town. I haven't really gotten a lot out of trying to photograph them, but I keep trying:




The whole ensemble works pretty well, but the cell phone doesn't fit:




-Ray

love the "snort"

Enjoying the Greenwich Village shots; I lived there briefly in a long-ago phase of my life. Went to a little below-street level restaurant on Bleecker Street, and at the table behind me sat a young up-and-coming singer/poet named Bob Dylan...

That's Mario!!!

Originally Posted by Ray

The whole ensemble works pretty well, but the cell phone doesn't fit:

And was that "real" person on the one where you wrote the caption, "I'm afraid this poor kid has done himself irreparable damage"??

It looks like a manequin - or at least his face does!

Originally Posted by Armanius

That's Mario!!!

And was that "real" person on the one where you wrote the caption, "I'm afraid this poor kid has done himself irreparable damage"??

It looks like a manequin - or at least his face does!

I assume by Mario you mean of Super Mario Bros??? If so, I thought he was kind of pudgy, no?

And, if that guy was a manequin, they're making them REALLY lifelike - he was walking down the street, surfing on his smart-phone, etc. And, yeah, that plastic, seemingly unmoveable face is what I was referring to. I actually didn't get a full look at him when he passed by - too busy shooting, but the folks near me on the sidewalk sure mentioned him. And then when I saw the photo, I just shuddered. Beyond surreal. Like I said, I almost hope he was horribly disfigured and that's what they HAD to do to put him back together. I'm just horrified at the thought that someone might actually do that to himself on purpose! Because it sure doesn't look like something that can be UN-done...

You get used to seeing pretty freaky people in NYC - I don't even notice most of them. It takes a lot to shock me, but this guy really freaked me out.

-Ray