My month in New York City

Checked out the Lower East Side today. Funky area - much more real and less upper class than many of the other neighborhoods. Then again, I walked through Grammercy Park today and that's anything BUT real - very very very spendy and exclusive. They even have this beautiful little park but its owned privately. According to a guy I was talking to, only about 15-20 people have keys to the place. A mix of scenics, architecture (details and larger), and street. I was having a bad day today, but the photography came out ok - funny how that can happen. Some samples:

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Possibly the site of the original CBGB's - not sure. Right block at least:
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Cooper Union:
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Tompkins Square Park - still a lot of homeless hang out here:
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Grammercy Park - no homeless need apply:
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-Ray
 
Ray, wonderful photography and series.

Check this link that I posted, it is calling your name:)

https://www.photographerslounge.org...raphy-%40-national-gallery-dc-8832/#post75145

I saw the post earlier with the other links as well. Thanks so much for the fine compliment, but no WAY my work belongs anywhere near those masters. Maybe one or two could qualify among the thousands of photos released in that archive... Regardless, thanks for looking and I'm glad you're enjoying them!

-Ray
 
Ray, a search comes up with 315 Bowery St for the location of the original CBGB. Bowery Electric is 327 Bowery. Close!
I know Chuck - I had the iphone out while I was walking around. 315 Bowery doesn't exist anymore and 327 looks like exactly where 315 comes up on the map, so all I can do is guess, but it sure looks like it could have been.... But the Bowery has changed just a little bit since those days...

-Ray
 
On tonight's podcast, I outed myself as having gotten an OMD from B&H last week - I've been shooting with it for most of a week now and many of the shots I've been posting, particularly the street shots and shots at odd focal lengths have been with it. This is a shot I hadn't posted yet that really shows off the IBIS of the camera. This was a one HALF second handheld exposre at Grand Central. You can see how thoroughly the woman in the foreground is ghosted, with only her boots really showing up. But if you look at the larger version, the lettering on the far wall is sharp as a tack. At a half second hand-held. I find this pretty remarkable personally...

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-Ray
 
A mostly non-shooting day today, but went up to the Lincoln Center area for a movie and did a bit of shooting on the way back, mostly in the subway.

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I'm gonna wear out this ghosting trick pretty fast and then I won't use it any more, or much. But today's your lucky day... Unless you're already sick of it...

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And every now and then, for reasons I'll never understand, I get the urge to photograph a flower. And there are a LOT of them around NYC this time of year. This rose bush is on my block.

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-Ray
 
Ghosting is still looking pretty cool, specially when it is "cool comfort, light as air"!

Yeah, well when you first have a hammer, everything looks like a nail! I like that cool comfort business and everyone rushing past the guy preaching from the Bible, but I have a feeling this is a trick that will get very old very fast. But until then, the party is ON...

-Ray
 
Hello, guys! thank you for welcoming me back :) I was very busy at work, my last 3 months were really crazy — I spent more time traveling than home. But I don't want to hijack Ray's thread by discussing my absence here.
 
I had a great last day in the city today before catching the train back to PA midday tomorrow. I don't know if the photographs will be any good - I have to start processing them before I put that critical eyepiece on and figure out whether what I have is useable. I started off by walking over to Union Square and then walking up Broadway to Central Park. The people didn't seem to be cooperating by being interesting enough, or I just wasn't adequately awake, but I wasn't feeling the street shooting. Then I walked through the Park and did some more scenic photos, some of which are probably good enough. Then around the Upper East Side a bit and then caught a subway down Lexington that tood me down to just north of Soho - I guess that'd be Noho. Walked back to Chelsea from there and, in the process, realized I'd thus far missed the biggest chunck of the best part of Greenwhich Village. Basically walked along Bleeker Street from east of NYU all the way back to where it ends at Hudson in the West Village. I'd been over he portion from Hudson to 7th about a hundred times (OK, maybe 10-15, but enough), but always continued east across 7th toward Washington Square Park, about 3-4 blocks north of Bleeker. Bleeker is AMAZING in that stretch and I was both enjoying the walk through there today immensely and kicking myself up one-side and down the other for missing this amazing area before today. Just wonderful, as cool as the West Village but seemingly a bit less over the top affluent so a bit funkier like Soho - I saw the names of some stuff I recognized (the Bitter End, Matt Uminov's guitars, etc). I wish I had a lot more time to really get to know this part of the Village. Ahhh, a reason to come back NEXT year! :D

I'll likely process this last batch of photos in the next couple of days and put some up here. Then I'll let this thread die. I may put together a book from this month, or not - I'll have to see what my motivation is like. I'll keep folks informed but I won't be wearing you out with 8-10 images every day anymore, except whatever I come up with from today's shooting.

I appreciate all of the nice comments, here and on Flickr. I know I put up a lot of images here. To the extent that it was just too much and you had to skip many or most, I fully understand. To the extent some of you enjoyed some of them, I'm glad for that. I've had an amazing month and have enjoyed pretty much every minute of it immensely. I hope to be able to do it again someday, whether here in NYC or in some other great city...

-Ray
 
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