Tag: New York

Times Square and a Little….Luck?

On By John2 Comments

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Hi everyone.  I really have to apologize for my extended absence.  Things have been a little crazy with work, and on the home front.  I’ve been to fencing matches, dance studios, and nearly the ER, for a possible broken toe with my daughter.  It’s been a couple of wild days for sure.  I decided to go for another Times Square post today.  Times Square is one of those places that no matter how you point your camera, something amazing is in your field of view.  On this particular night, we had finished eating a little further uptown at Ellen DeGeneres’s restaurant where all the waiters and waitresses are Broadway musical hopefuls, hoping to be discovered.  Trust me, this place takes the singing waiter to an entirely new level as the wait staff perform songs from all the big shows on Broadway, while serving your food.  It is a super fun time, and the food is awesome as well.  Anyway,  we had eaten a late dinner, and were walking around Times Square checking out all the shopping venues.  Naturally, my daughter had some strong opinions there.  At one point, as we crossed the street going between these stores, I literally stopped, pointed the camera up the street, and grabbed this picture.  I can only imagine what the cabbie was thinking as I stood in front of his car to grab this shot while the “Don’t Walk” sign began to blink.   No prior planning was involved, and it turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of the whole weekend.

Photography, is funny like that.  Sometimes you spend 10 minutes standing with your camera trying to compose a picture, and never quite get the look you’re trying to achieve.  Then, other times, you stumble bass-ackwards into something that really stirs you and strikes a nerve. When it happens, you don’t know how to feel about it.  You’d like to take credit for a great photo, but you know it was the result of unseen variables that miraculously aligned for you.  Call it luck if you will.  I once had mentor who didn’t believe in luck.  He always said that you make your own luck, but I’m not so sure.  A point to ponder; I guess.  All the best.  See you soon and be well.

NYC

On By John1 Comment

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Well, well,  is what I’m sure your saying right about now.  No hay bales, no rolling hills, no flowers or fall foliage in this picture.  Nope, this is a shot from New York, New York, the town so nice, they named it twice; as David Letterman used to say.  If New York has a heart, it is in Times Square.  It’s the place where the ball drops on New Years Eve, and where the city’s theater district makes it’s home.  It is such a vibrant and alive place to be.  On this particular evening, my family and I were in the city to have a bit of fun.  We had tickets to see Billy Joel at the Garden the following night, and came into town a little early to shop, and take in the sights.  I once lived in the city, and know my way around Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn very well.  It was great to be back, even if it was only for the weekend, and even though I didn’t make it to B & H, my wife and daughter shopped the heck out of just about every store between 34th street and 50th.  My son and I just took pictures, and carried the bags, and it should go without saying that Billy Joel was awesome.  I’d seen him before in other venues but as he himself said, the Garden is his home turf, and all I can say is, they’re lucky to have him, because he puts on a great show.

Todays picture was taken shortly after we arrived in the city, and dropped our stuff at the hotel.  We all wanted to get out into the city and soak up the energy.  I don’t know how to describe the boost you get as you go out into the night and there are there are thousands of people rushing in every direction.  At the same time, billboards illuminate the entire area with a flickering light that is constantly changing as the ads change.  Finally, add in that it was a particularly warm evening for the fall, and you can’t help but feel drunk off the energy coming from so much activity.  This shot is actually a panorama, digitally stitched in photoshop from three different pictures.  I think you can click on it for a larger view, at least that’s my intention, but I am still trying to figure out this theme, and how that feature actually works.   I’m a big fan of panos, and have many more to share with you in the future.  This was a particularly difficult one because the billboards are constantly changing, and as such, you need to act fast so the billboards on the stich points match.  Also, exposure is a tough one because you need to find the happy medium between keeping the street well exposed, without letting the billboards blow out.  I had a lot of rejects because of this problem.  All I can say is, thank goodness for LCD screens on the back of today’s cameras.

Sorry for the long pause between posts this week.  The time leading up to the holiday was crazy, then the holiday was crazier, and I don’t even want to talk about the time after the holiday.  Anyway, I value the patience you’ve shown, and hope to stay on schedule a bit better in the future.  Have a great rest of the weekend.