Thread: My month in New York City

Ray, the b&w of the archways and reflections is magical. I think if I found a place like that I'd be there forever shooting it from every angle.

Originally Posted by Luckypenguin

Ray, the b&w of the archways and reflections is magical. I think if I found a place like that I'd be there forever shooting it from every angle.

Thanks Nic. I took a few, but that was the best. Its a pretty iconic spot in New York, shows up in a lot of movies and stuff. And a LOT of much better photographers than I have taken tripods in there and given it a pretty good working over. That's so removed from the way I generally shoot that its hard for me to slow down that thoroughly, so its probably never going to be the type of photography I'm best at.

You can credit the X-Pro 1 to a pretty large extent too. I've taken a few cameras in there on various visits to the park and the X-Pro 1 (and X100 to only a slightly lesser extent) are the only cameras I've been able to get the interior of that place well and still see ANYthing other than a bright shining blob at the end where the stairs are. I'm sure it can be done with lesser gear if you really take the time to work it out, or do bracketed HDR or something, but that's just using the X-Pro set to auto DR and making sure I keep the ISO up high enough for the DR to work. Walked in, point, and shot. And it came out OK.

-Ray

very nice, you are going to have an amazing set of images by the end of the month

Ray......the arches shot is my pick. Spectacular! Love the reflection shot too with that vivid green. It's like a swift punch in the face......but in a good way if you follow my drift. I loved the architecture of the upper east side when I w as there and wish I had taken more time to shoot it. The wealthy wrinkled old prunes that inhabit the area are just as interesting a subject as the "underclass" that frequents the less salubrious neighbourhoods.

I am back from wet, grey and miserable France. I couldnt do an e-book of my NYC street stuff as paypal USA will not accept paypal uk email addresses. Typical snafu!.

Love your NYC sojourn. Paul Theroux? Eat your heart out!

Today is a Noreaster and looks and feels like a washout, so I'm staying in. Also have just about filled my 64gb iPad with images, so its time to CULL. There's more than enough total garbage that even being extremely generous I should be able to free up about half of it, which will be more than enough for the last week. But I'm glad I got the 64 gig version. I didn't need the 3G but I thought I might need the memory and I was right.

Anyway, just got finished working through yesterday's shooting. I basically just walked over to Union Square Park and shot a bunch there, then walked down to Washington Square Park and shot very little, and then back home. Lots of shooting on the walks to and from and between the parks. Pretty good day for just being out a few hours. Here are samples:

First, a huge pretend string of pearls outside a gallery near my place:





















-Ray

Originally Posted by Petach

Ray......the arches shot is my pick. Spectacular! Love the reflection shot too with that vivid green. It's like a swift punch in the face......but in a good way if you follow my drift. I loved the architecture of the upper east side when I w as there and wish I had taken more time to shoot it. The wealthy wrinkled old prunes that inhabit the area are just as interesting a subject as the "underclass" that frequents the less salubrious neighbourhoods.

I am back from wet, grey and miserable France. I couldnt do an e-book of my NYC street stuff as paypal USA will not accept paypal uk email addresses. Typical snafu!.

Love your NYC sojourn. Paul Theroux? Eat your heart out!

Thanks much Pete. Sorry you couldn't do an e-book - I'll still check out the preview on a more viewable monitor when I get home. I have to admit I've spent less time on the upper east side than the upper west side. The parts I've been in feel somewhat similar but without the jolt of Broadway running through the middle and the reachable beauty of riverside park just below. And once you get down to 2nd and 3rd, it starts getting a bit funkier than Park and Lex. Also not sure where Spanish Harlem starts - sort of felt like the transition was well underway by the mid-to high 80s where the fancy boutiques and trattorias turn into Best Buy's and pizza joints. I'm heading up there tomorrow to meet up with a friend who lives in the area and hopefully he can give me a bit more educated understanding of the area...

-Ray

No shooting yesterday - total rainout. Today I headed up to the upper east side to meet up with a friend from DPR (we tried to do a podcast with him a while back, but never managed to connect). He's a super for a 30+ story condo building up there and we went up on the roof. VERY cool views. Sort of neat seeing THAT part of the city from on-high - not the typical view from Rock Center or the Empire State Bldg. Here's one wide angle and three short telephoto shots from up there. Then we had a really nice walk around the neighborhood and through the park and I'll include a couple of park shots and a couple of street shots. A pretty light day of shooting - but a nice day of hanging out...

















And finally, a diner from "my" neighborhood, temporary though it may be...



-Ray

Great shots all but I especially like the one of the two men. For me the poses are classic NYC.

Originally Posted by kathyh

Great shots all but I especially like the one of the two men. For me the poses are classic NYC.

Thanks Kathy. If a shot makes me laugh, I usually keep it. That one made me laugh...

-Ray

Wasn't in the mood for street shooting today (I'm kind of amazed at how much of this month I HAVE been in that mood considering how exhausting it can sometimes be). I'm trying to go see the little pockets of Manhatten that I've missed this week and it turns out I haven't missed all that much - I've missed loads of details but I'm getting familiar with most of the island, at least in broad strokes. Today I headed for the western portion of Soho and down to Tribeca, which it turns out is just sort of the northwest part of Downtown. Lots of interesting architecture, mostly new stuff. And some older details too.



The fountains at City Hall Park:














And again, finishing up back in my neighborhood with a mix of old and less old...


-Ray