New York City...

Ray Sachs

Legend
Location
Not too far from Philly
Name
you should be able to figure it out...
I've been in NYC since last Thursday, staying until this coming Saturday. My wife was here for the first 5 days - the weather was beautiful for much of that and we had a great time but photography wasn't real priority. I'm solo since Monday afternoon but the weather hasn't been great and I'm not feeling it. I'll shoot for a while, but then duck into a movie or museum or something. The street shooting is really limited - when it's cold there's a lot less interaction on the streets and more heads down, pushing toward a destination. I've done some, but not a lot. I've used a combination of the Canon G7X, Nikon Coolpix A, and Df, depending on what I feel like shooting and carrying any given morning... Very happy to say the little Canon is getting it's share of shooting time and is acquitting itself really well - not as good in terms of IQ, but in terms of getting the shot, damn near ANY shot - it's a real pleasure to shoot with.

Anyway, here's a set of what I've got so far, with a bit more to come over the next couple of days:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/20889767@N05/sets/72157651361160717/

And a sampling:

16875638399_f87ed65f21_h.jpg
NYC - day 5-227-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

View attachment 108983NYC - day 5-340-Edit by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16428114043_407dfa649e_h.jpg
NYC - day 4-65-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

The ultimate cliche shot of the Brooklyn Bridge, but I dare you to walk across it with a camera in your hand and NOT take one or two of these...
17035149975_4d52480972_h.jpg
The ultimate cliche shot of Brooklyn Bridge
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16862048899_f7250db9d9_h.jpg
NYC - day 4-54-Edit-2
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

And some street stuff:

17061959625_8f397f50e4_b.jpg
NYC - day 5-88-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/rC6nW6]
16817362397_e8c4900358_h.jpg
NYC - day 2-89-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr[/URL]

16812738447_fb5a1c10ce_h.jpg
NYC - Letterman trip-13-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16832609680_8151886dfc_b.jpg
NYC - Letterman trip-32-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16874310750_76281cdb16_b.jpg
NYC - day 5-136-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

17061166831_6e7a129658_b.jpg
NYC - day 5-43-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

I may add something here in the next few days... Or not, depending on how the next couple of days go. But I seem to just be enjoying the city for the city rather than primarily as a photographic endeavor this trip...

-Ray
 
Last edited:
Tried to check out the interior of the Guggenheim today, but somehow they picked Thursday, of all days, as the one day of the week to be closed!? So I walked back down the street to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and spent a few hours wandering around that massive museum. Some of the architecture is pretty cool, as is a lot of the art!

16906004150_8a8c491e5b_h.jpg
NYC day 8-123-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16907358619_2fe7ca4cea_b.jpg
NYC day 8-124-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

17093565735_c23f2ff14d_b.jpg
NYC day 8-84-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16907360669_1fb849c4cd_h.jpg
NYC day 8-101-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

17067608696_80ea39ee03_b.jpg
NYC day 8-134-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

And a few more street shots:

16907362699_9314aa77ec_b.jpg
NYC day 8 - A-71-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

17092878571_8085916c51_h.jpg
NYC day 8 - A-64-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16886164767_d33d5101bc_h.jpg
NYC day 8 - A-74-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

One more day to get some shooting in tomorrow - maybe I'll find my way inside the Guggenheim then...

-Ray
 
Lots of good stuff here Ray, after two visits to New York, I still didn't even see the Brooklyn Bridge, never mind take a cliche picture! Nice to see things I haven't seen. For us in the UK it seems to be the Millennium Bridge with the view of St. Pauls :rolleyes-74:
 
I think those separate bike/walk lanes probably work pretty well on a weekday during commute hours (assuming mostly one directional bike travel - could be pretty hairy for bikes going opposite directions at speed in such a narrow lane). But for the bridge's role as a tourist attraction, it doesn't work at all! During heavy tourist days, cyclists just have to assume there are gonna be peds in their lane pretty much constantly. Having walked the bridge a few times over the years, I absolutely would not want to ride it during those times... Or, if I had a bike I had to get across the bridge, I'd assume basically a walking or slow jogging pace as all I'd be able to do...

-Ray
 
Back home now - a few from the last day (yesterday) to finish up. First, three architectural shots.

The first two are from the Guggenheim. This place ticked me off - they don't tell you when you go in that you're not allowed to take photos from the round ramps, which is the only place you'd ever WANT to take photos in the Guggenheim. But everyone was doing it anyway and I joined the fun - my street shooting technique of shooting from the hip served me well here - the guards spent less time scolding me than many of the other patrons:

17102149662_d652755e56_h.jpg
NYC day 9-152-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

17113085305_f0afe6f312_b.jpg
NYC day 9-176-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

This is from the newer Fulton Street subway terminal downtown:

16916119640_ba18af813d_b.jpg
NYC day 9-115-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

And a short series of my favorite regular NYC jazz combo - these guys have been playing out in Washington Square Park every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, since I've been going to New York regularly. In addition to being accessible, the added bonus is they're really damn good. I think some of them are on the music faculty at NYU, but don't hold me to that... I used my $75 ebay special 75-150 pre-AIS telephoto, which has got to be the lens bargain and travel telephoto of the century. I love this lens. First a photo of the relatively diminutive lens on the Df:

16149787533_cc8f10a25d_b.jpg
75-150
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

And jazz in the park:

Four of the five regulars - the other is sitting out at the moment:
17102106002_4f2db06786_h.jpg
NYC day 9-359-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

The main trumpet player helping the keyboard guy stretch his back out between sets...
17113084055_f035f71182_h.jpg
NYC day 9-212-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16896245187_e7cafc0e67_h.jpg
NYC day 9-301-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16896246267_deda81ba17_b.jpg
NYC day 9-281-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

17087336786_2ee3187373_b.jpg
NYC day 9-285-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16916087420_c2686f7178_b.jpg
NYC day 9-283-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

16926894329_08dc9159a1_h.jpg
NYC day 9-307-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

This is a trick but it's a hell of a trick and he actually plays beautifully like this, as well as with one instrument. His upper lip is sort of effed up, but the upside is his ability to move air effectively through two horns at once.

17077694186_2fb0ba812b_h.jpg
NYC day 9-310-Edit
by ramboorider1, on Flickr

If I find a few more, I'll add 'em to the flickr set, but this is all I'll post in this thread...

Thanks for looking,

-Ray
 
Last edited:
Really good stuff, Ray.
Regarding the 75-150mm Nikkor I couldn't agree more; they're one hell of a lens and optically hold their own against the much larger and heavier pro-grade alternatives I've owned. I always had one of these in my bag or backpack for more than 20 years and still own 2 copies even though I don't use them that much anymore. Picked up the last one used for 40€, lol.
 
Ray, well done on those shots from the Guggenheim. It really is silly how photos are banned from such places in the USA, I remember the same being applied in a Smithsonian museum in Washington DC and this was well before 2001.
 
Ray, well done on those shots from the Guggenheim. It really is silly how photos are banned from such places in the USA, I remember the same being applied in a Smithsonian museum in Washington DC and this was well before 2001.
The odd thing is that you could shoot in most of the individual galleries. But their claim was that they didn't hold the copyright on some of the work displayed around the ramps. Which I get, if you're shooting the art, But most people were shooting the architecture in such a way that you'd need a microscope to even see any of the art displayed there. I didn't see anyone shooting the art along the walls of the ramp area... So I guess that may explain the policy and the relatively light enforcement - they'd scold you but never threaten to toss you out or make you erase your files or anything... Still, I got tired of the scolding, so I mostly shot from the hip.

-Ray
 
Heading back to NYC for some bike expo / bike ride events in a few weeks. Looking forward to seeing some green this time on the trees...
The trees were still pretty bare when I was there, but just in the last 3-4 days of my stay they started putting the flowers in. That's one of the more amazing things among the many amazing things about NYC - the flowers the city plants in the parks, along the streets, just about everywhere. I guess it comes from having a very wealthy city and a big tax break, but that city is really lovely in the Spring...
 
Back
Top