My month in New York City

You are making me very anxious, I want to shoot with this camera so badly, but all I got from UPS today was two bodies, lenses are not coming until Friday.:(
 
I did end up doing a good bit of shooting today. Here are a few.

Also, just to note - I'm uploading a LOT of images to Flickr, not so much because I'm so proud of all of them but largely as backup to my ipad and hard drive while I'm travelling. If worse came to worst with my travel gear, at least the images would still be there in SOME form, even if only snapseed processed form. So, I appreciate the nice comments, but don't feel obligated!

View attachment 51910

A guy mopping the top of a translucent glass awning, as seen from below:
View attachment 51911

Chelsea Market:
View attachment 51912

View attachment 51913

View attachment 51914

Just what it looks like - corregated metal with holes cut in it exposing the brick wall behind - a sort of cool little art installation in a walkway between two buildings...
View attachment 51915


-Ray
 
Another great set Ray. Amazing sharpness in all these photos. Was that first photo (the guy with the hoodie) shot with the 18/2? If yes, what aperture are you setting that in? In one of Steve Huff's photos with the 18/2, the DOF just seemed to go on forever and ever! And even the background objects/people were razor sharp! Amazing!
 
Vicarious living here for me, Ray! I'm so close...yet so far.

Really enjoying seeing the city and its life through your eyes - loved that dog shot, of course!

Have a wonderful weekend - I think it's going to be a beautiful one!
 
Another great set Ray. Amazing sharpness in all these photos. Was that first photo (the guy with the hoodie) shot with the 18/2? If yes, what aperture are you setting that in? In one of Steve Huff's photos with the 18/2, the DOF just seemed to go on forever and ever! And even the background objects/people were razor sharp! Amazing!

Im not sure Armando. I'm sure it was done with the 18, as the majority of daylight photos are. When I'm using zone focus, I'm generally in f11 in really bright light. But that one was auto-focussed if memory serves (which it often doesn't!), so it was probably 5.6 or 8? Digging exif out of an iPad is a trick I haven't learned yet or I'd check. Remind me when I'm back home in May and I'll check then! :cool:

I'm definitely a fan of deep DOF when I'm street shooting.

Here are a couple more low light shots from last night, while I'm in this thread. VERY low light in both.

View attachment 51927

View attachment 51928

-Ray
 
A couple of selective focus low light shots from the bar the other night:

View attachment 51969

7053390609_9e549db5b6_b.png


A straight on view of the flatiron building:

View attachment 51970

And a couple of my usual:

View attachment 51971

View attachment 51972

View attachment 51973

-Ray
 
Ray, re EXIF data viewing on iPad, EXIF Wizard-Pro (ExifWizPro) app does the trick. Data is preserved even after Snapseed processing; however, several other photo apps do wipe out the camera data.
 
Chuck, thanks, I'll look for that app - I'm only using snapseed and saving the originals in any case, so the data should be intact.

Armando, those dancer / acrobat types are part of an elaborate promotion for some new model of Lincoln, soon to be officially introduced. There's a tent set up in a small square in the meat packing district, with lots of TVs and other hi tech stuff, and these women, badly lit, doing these dance /acrobatic routines on those poles and rings. Very bizarre to stumble onto just walking down the street. But there appears to be SO much money in this city, and it's such a hub of marketing and advertising and creative types, that you see things here you don't often see anywhere else. And all of that money also leads to a lot of public investment, and the parks and other public facilities are really beautiful and incredibly ell kep up. Quite a trip being here really. By the end of the month I suspect I'll have a better idea of whether it's a place I could actually live or just a place I love to visit.

-Ray
 
it's a place I could actually live or just a place I love to visit.

-Ray
Funny thing for me is I love to visit the city, one of my favorites, but I just hate working there one of my least favorite cities to work in, so the conclusion for me is if I was independently wealthy I could enjoy living there a lot but if I still had too work I would hate every minute.
Your images are a joy to view, I admire your taking a month to shoot the city, very cool
 
Funny thing for me is I love to visit the city, one of my favorites, but I just hate working there one of my least favorite cities to work in, so the conclusion for me is if I was independently wealthy I could enjoy living there a lot but if I still had too work I would hate every minute.
Your images are a joy to view, I admire your taking a month to shoot the city, very cool

Funny, when I was younger, even 15 years ago, I couldn't stand the place. Within a few hours, it would stress me out something fierce. Just couldn't cope. Now, as long as I have a place to escape the insanity, I love it. I can still do with VERY small doses of the whole Times Square / Theater District area, which is crazy far more often than not. But just about anywhere else in the city I love.

In terms of independant wealth, I don't think you need to spend a lot to live here IF (and this is a HUGE if) you can afford a place to live. What I'm paying for a month is a lot for rent, but is dirt cheap if I look at it as a vacation rental. We'd usually go to Mexico or something over my wife's Spring Break and spend about 2-3 times what this place is costing. Its a cheap little studio, but I'm fine with it - I've never had expensive tastes (although my somewhat impulsive purchase of the X-Pro may suggest otherwise!). But to live here, I think you'd have to spend at least a half million and probably a good deal more for even a decent one bedroom in Manhatten. And that's just beyond our means (and equity). So I don't see it happening.

But, once here, there are plenty of really good cheap restaurants (and expensive ones, but I prefer cheap ethnic about 90% of the time) and plenty to do without spending a lot. Theater tickets are insane, but I'm not a big fan anyway. Museums and galleries are everywhere. The parks and public amenities are incredible. A subway pass is pretty cheap and you wouldn't want a car here anyway. If you had a lot of equity in a home somewhere else that you could sell and plunk down on a place here, I don't think it would be that expensive a place to retire otherwise. But barring a pretty good bit of real estate wealth going in, it would be a WICKED expensive place to try to buy or rent a decent place long term.

But, we own our current place outright and can probably afford a month here and a few weeks to a month at the beach each summer. And I love where we live enough that a couple of months like that to look forward to each year sounds like a pretty workable plan... This month has been an absolute blast so far. Photography is just sort of something to focus the mind and activities as I basically just explore and hang out.

-Ray
 
I hear you, Ray. I like to visit NY, where currently my only grandchild resides (never mind my son and daughter-in-law :)), but I would not want to give up my home and woods in the country of NC for it. But I need to find out how to rent a small place for shorter periods like a week or two, because a month is too long right now and my son's apartment is barely big enough for them, much less me too. But photographing there is wonderful.
 
Ray.....must stop looking at these. Makes me wanna dip my hand in my pocket and fly out again. I could actually live there......maybe for a year.

Have you tried the cable car that goes over to Roosevelt Island? If not, give it a go. Costs a dollar each way I think and you get a fantastic view down a couple of the canyon like avenues. One of my favourite touristy things to do.

world.nycsubway.org/Around New York/Roosevelt Island Tramway

Pete
 
This is such an excellent series of photos, Ray.

I envy you being able to spend this amount of time in such a great place for street shooting. I look forward to seeing much more.
 
Rick, thanks so much for the kind words. Pete, tramways scare me silly, but the views from that sound pretty spectacular, so I might have to check it out.

Big family weekend - my wife and both daughters showed up and we either saw or talked to a few other friends, cousins, etc. Very nice time, not a lot of shooting and very little street shooting. I'll get back to it early this week. Here are a few misc shots from the weekend.

View attachment 52007

View attachment 52008

View attachment 52009

View attachment 52010

View attachment 52011

View attachment 52012

-Ray
 
Back
Top