Astor Place

I was free one day at lunch time and took the subway up to Astor Place in Greenwich Village.  The core of the area is a square with a giant black cube called "Alamo".  I took several shots from different angles and generally focused on a single man standing near the giant work of art.  Here are three of those shots with different treatments.

Astor Place

Here is the same angle but with some dramatic tension from the emergence of the curly haired woman.

Opposing the Cube

I moved across to the east corner of the plaza, and represented it with a black and white perspective.

Cubed

Then across from the south vantage point, there were some contrasting shapes, the circles of the bicycle and rack opposing the cube.

Circle and Cube

Wall Street Subway

I frequently walk around the Wall Street area looking for subjects.  There is an eclectic mix of people there.  There are of course, the investment bankers, but also police, construction workers, residents walking their dogs, and the tourists.  Walking around with a camera is not unusual so it is easy to people watch.  

I am regularly drawn to this subway station and caught some good light this time.  

Wall Street Man

Wall Street also seems like a place of grittiness so I worked on some of the pictures to strengthen that sense.

Moving West

Tandem

There is also a lot of construction in the area.  They construct blue walls to protect the work areas which together with the scaffolding creates strong backgrounds.

450 Broad Street

Entering into the area there are barriers that rise out of the street, these seem to me to be interesting geometric subjects.

Inclined Descent

 And, there are those who have inhabited the street for years.  Even from behind, I could tell there was a story in the relationship of these two.  The gentleman on the left would occasionally extend his hand to help stabilize the man with the cane.  

Continuing On

Summer Fire Escapes

In the summer, shadows become extreme.  These create geometric patterns that change the look of what is naturally there.  The New York City brownstones become glowing structures that frame the streets.  In particular, the fire escapes create designs that come from the bright sun.  

Here's is one that has a spotlight that snuck between opposing buildings:

Evening Fire Escapes

Sometimes the brownstones are blemished from years of deterioration and lack of upkeep.

Dripping Windows

The light can reflect off the windows of opposing buildings creating their own spots of rhythmic light...

Walk Up

The harsh shadows around noon time create the strongest patterns...

Ladder Shadows

And, the brownstones themselves have their own rhythms and reflections...

Summer Shadows 

The Wall of the Post Office

I like to find interest backgrounds and then wait for someone to walk by and appear at a specific spot.  One of my favorite spots is the downtown Post Office.  I've featured a series from this spot previously called "Shadow Play".  Here is another series with the target being between the two geometric vents.  

Centered

The Conductor

You're telling me what?

The sense of Norman Rockwell

I saw this group having a fast food lunch in Zuccotti Park.  First, I noticed the man on the right's leg and the balance of their positions.  After studying it a bit, I will add it to my "Norman Rockwell" collection.  

Fast Food Lunch

The Encounter

The Federal Reserve Building in lower Manhattan has a blocky structure that creates a nice background behind those walking back and forth.  While it is a significant building that sometimes is protected from photographers, my new camera is a bit less obtrusive and I was able to wait a bit and capture some people passing in front of the Northern wall.  

I spotted the woman in the brilliant green outfit and caught two shots of this encounter, which actually was not an encounter.

Hoboken Train Station

I was advised to check out the Hoboken (New Jersey) train station to capture some shots when the light was just right.  Since I wasn't sure what time that might have been exactly, I went when I could which was at the end of the day near sunset.  Here's what I got.

Train Station

Shoe Shine

Waiting Room

Alone with his Music

Cruising from New York

The slow smooth departure of a cruise ship from a port is always an event.  It's a time to be moving on... to anticipate new sights, and to reflect on where you've been.  It also provides a unique perspective, even to a place which you are most familiar.  You usually do not look at a place moving from 12 stories high from the water.  So, it is a time to be fascinated by something that looks just a little bit different. I've previously shown a selection of shots when departing Venice.  

While I am a New Yorker is most every way, and capture the sights from the street with much of my photography, the view from the river is something that is quite strange to me.  In this case, struggling to stay comfortable on the top deck of the ship, on a winter's day, with winds blowing at 50 miles per hour, Nonetheless, I knew that the light and view would be rewarding.  The ship departed from the Hudson River pier up near 55th Street and moved downtown into the harbor and then out under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.  

It was a cloudy day, with spotlights of sun.  First a classic view featuring the Chrysler Building.  

Juxtaposition

Looking straight up 42nd Street towards Times Square through the entire island of Manhattan and over to Queens.  

 42nd Street

You, of course, need a shot of the Empire State Building....

The Empire State

I am unfamiliar with these buildings, but the combination of the new architecture with the colors of the pier seemed to create an interesting juxtaposition.  

Triad Juxtaposition

I softened this picture of the Statue of Liberty.

The Statue

Having reached the Harbor, looking back gives a view of the downtown area, including One World Trade Center under construction.  

Downtown

Eventually the Verrazano came into view as the sun started to descend.  The wall in front is the glass barrier of the cruise ship.  

Approaching the Bridge

Having passed under the bridge, the sun now was centered within the west tower.

Beyond the Bridge

And then out to the rocky sea towards the Bahamas.

Tickertape 2012

I had my third opportunity to observe a tickertape parade up the Canyon of Heroes winding its way up Broadway (which is by the way counter to the way cars travel).  The New York Giant Super Bowl heroes (who play in New Jersey) were once again honored for their victory (last time had been 2008, one of the other times I saw the tickertape).  I also saw the Yankees in 2009.  

The crowd was fully assembled along the parade route as early as 8:30am in preparation for the 11am start to the event.  I made the mistake of trying to get some of the early setup shots up near City Hall, the eventual site of the ceremony.  It took me about 15 minutes to travel only one block amongst the blue and white jerseys and turned back to a side street.  Barriers were up since the night before and people began aligning themselves against the obstructions, even in those spots that were back from the street.

Giant Shadows

As the parade came, the battle for prime viewing positions began.  This mob was on the roof of this car (which looked like an unmarked police car, as there was a police sticker in the window).  The roof start denting, and they all ran off.  Realizing that they couldn't see anything from the ground, and the roof was already dented, they all climbed back on.  

Dented Car

I was able to work my way into a building that had a sunken glass lobby.  It was below street level, but they eventually opened up the doors to let people move into a secondary area not far from the street.

Below the Crowd

The people were everywhere, as people waited for the players, as the video from my iPhone shows.

As a photographer, one of the first subjects that caught my eye was a girl hanging on a bus stop sign raising a "we are number one" finger.  

Number One

There heroes began passing, I couldn't really see much but did grab some photos of the players as they passed between bodies as they were elevated.  Here is the obligatory shot of quarterback hero Eli Manning.  Also on the truck is Mayor Bloomberg, the team owner, and the Lombardi Trophy.

Eli the Hero

Then the crowd began to disperse.  The layers upon layers of shredded paper was everywhere.  And, the people were everywhere.  Happy crowds of Giant fans clad in Giants uniforms with not much room to go anywhere, but they slowly started to make their way away.  I focused on the people and went into Street Photographer mode, capturing what I saw.  

Dorothy in Tickertape LandTickertapeThe Party's OverGiving the ThumbSunburnTalk to the HandPizza FanThe Manning Brothers

And, in the end there was only the tickertape and the swirling wind.  I got this video from my iPhone of the wind whirling the paper into the air.

Top 10 Photographs of 2011

StreetObservations.com - Time for my annual discipline of selecting the Top 10 Photographs I have taken over the course of the year.  In this case, we will select the year 2011 as it is fresh.  As always it is difficult to decide on only 10 shots, I had about 25 finalists as candidates.  And, this year my selection of "descent" shots, ones I've posted somewhere, was over 300.  I am pleased and feel productive this year.

This is the seventh year that I've done this exercise of selection (that would go back to 2005), although certainly I took many photos during the prior years as well, I just didn't do the annual review.  

Like last year, there are two iPhone pictures that have made the cut.  I will point them out below.  Those two pictures would not have been taken without the accessibility of the device.  I saw the subject and then looked for a camera and there the iPhone was.  For Christmas this year (2011), I bought myself the new iPhone 4s.  The camera on the 4s is a major upgrade over my iPhone 3GS, so we will hope there is some added appeal to the pictures for next year.  

While last year I made an effort to travel to a photogenic vacation spot (that was via a cruise from Venice, Italy to Greece).  This year's trip was coincidentally to Venice again (but this time it was Venice Beach, California).  So, there were the sunset shots and some California culture shots you can see in the overall series viewed by the link.  

Also, this year I've embraced using Google+ for my primary online photography posts.  While I still upload my shots to Flickr, the major activity is now over on the Google+ page which has a growing community of photographers.  Also, I've been posting more to Facebook since they upgraded the size to which the pictures are displayed.  

During the year, I was selected to be interviewed in the Streets in Colo(u)r interview on Flickr, where I got an opportunity to discuss how I go about capturing and processing my images.  

So, here are the Top 10 presented chronologically as taken over the course of the year. (Click each picture to see it larger). Some of the photos have been previously discussed in my StreetObservations.com blog. Clicking (More...) when you see it will take you back to those entries.

1. Reflecting on Rain - This is one of the iPhone shots, taken in Harrison, NJ, a site where there is a lot of construction taking place.  The buildings behind are to be a new residential housing complex and the land in front is a parking lot that is primarily used when the Red Bull soccer team has games at the nearby arena.  I saw the girl coming and rushed to get my iPhone out, and happened to get her in full stride with my only shot.  

Reflecting on Rain

2. Watching a Crumb Disappear - I was up in Greenwich Village and was drawn to the brick background.  The girl was primarily listening on her phone call and occupied herself watching the birds eating some crumbs on the street below.  I like the pose and posture of the girl, also the pink dress is a nice match to the wall behind.

Watching a Crumb Disappear

3. Breakfast Break -  This building at 195 Broadway is a popular spot for the workers who are building the new skyscrapers at the World Trade Center site to sit and have their breakfast.  The columns gave a nice framework for the construction workers.  (More...)   

Breakfast Break

4. To the Light and Beyond - This is an atrium area next to the Federal Reserve building (which is behind).  On another occasion I took a picture from within (where the people are in this shot) and I was told to vacate as photography was not allowed since it is private property.   I did get this shot though before leaving which is an interesting reverse angle.   I also liked that complementary shot and also considered it for the Top 10.  

To the Light and Beyond

5. Caffeine on the Edge - This is the second iPhone shot.  I was taking a coffee break at work and had just finished filling my cup.  As I was reaching for some sugar, I noticed that the cup was positioned right on the edge of the counter and bordering the sink.  The composition really appealed to me and I grabbed my phone and got this shot.  I like photo so much that I framed it and put on the wall of the dining area at home.

Caffeine on the Edge

6. Tentacles - With my new interest in posting pictures to Google+, I became involved with a group of photographers who like to band together and take photographs in groups.  I learned about a photowalk that took place in Greenwich Village.  A number of us took shots of the basketball court on Sixth Avenue and I was pleased with this particular shot of one of the players.  I got a number of other photowalk shots I was pleased with, as I was inspired by the other talented photographers.   

Tentacles

7. Sunset Heartbreaker - Venice Beach, California... I got a number of sunset shots, but this one tells a story.  Whether it is a true story is another matter.

Sunset Heartbreaker

8. Bicyclist - After daylight savings time went away, I found it was just a bit too dark to take stop action street shots during the evening commute.  In this case, I took the opportunity to work on my panning technique.  That's a slow shutter speed while following the subject with the camera.  This bicyclist came out a bit surreal.  I talked about other shots taken at the same time on my StreetObservations blog.  (more...) 

Bicyclist

9. The View - This one is a bit personal.  I've written before about the Farmhouse that we used to go to when I was a kid up in the Catskills mountains.    Generally, whenever I returned for a nostalgia visit, the view that I remembered so well as a child was obscured by fog, but for the trip this year everything was crystal clear.  

The View

10. Using Your Weight - I've had a birdseye view of the new construction taking place at the World Trade Center site as my office is directly across the street.  I've posted a number of pictures taken at various times of the action below in my WTC Down Below, 9/11 View and Three Hundred Feet Above the President posts.  The immediate view out of my office of the Hudson River has now been replaced by the skyscraper rising called Four World Trade Center.  Each day I would track the progress and the installation of the windows finally got to the 32nd floor where I sit.  As they placed the large plates of glass, the technique called for the construction worker to hop up and down to pound the glass into place.  I caught him in mid-hop here.  

Using Your Weight

Those are the Top 10 photos for this year.  For reference, my previous selections go back to six years and can be found here:  2010, 2009, 2008, 2007,2006, and 2005.   

If you'd like to follow my work this year, either subscribe to my StreetObservations.com blog, add me to a circle on Google+, or bookmark my Flickr page.  I think it's going to be a great year.  

Happy New Year!

Passing the Garage

The downtown Post Office's garage exits right next to the entrance to the PATH train station.  So, there is a lot of traffic passing by.  On this particular evening, I setup opposite the garage entrance and watched the pedestrian silhouettes.  I was waiting for a certain pattern or pace or posture or something that seemed remarkable since the background was so extraordinary.  In all, I took 84 pictures.  Here are the ones that I liked best.  The last one is what I will say was the my favorite selection.  

The Panning Technique in the Night

I was out shooting in the evening and it got a little darker than I was ready for.  I prefer not to use flash when doing street photography so to get enough light, I was shooting with a slow shutter speed.  The long exposure leads to blurred action but when combined with panning in synch with the subject it can provide a nice focal point with a streaky background.   I like the impressionistic sense of the subject this creates. 

Here's the first shot.

Here's another.

Then there is this series of a bicyclist quickly going uptown moving faster than the taxis around him.  The third one is my favorite.  

And then this was the final one which is the best one.

Streets in Colo(u)r Interview

I'm excited that I am the featured Street Photographer in this week's "Streets in Colo(u)r" Flickr group. 

Dan Alexander interviewed me about how I shoot, what I shoot, why I shoot... well, you get the idea. 

The questions helped me think a bit more deeply as to why I take pictures and what I'm trying to get out of it.  Also I go through the mechanics of how I shoot. 

You can read the interview and see some of the shots he selected, as well some of my favorites here.

First street shot....

It was around 1980 and I was just starting to understand the mechanics behind taking pictures.  I was taking a photography class where we developed our own film and I started experimenting with different types of shots.  I remember that I had just figured out that a smaller aperture meant a greater depth of field.  And, that a greater depth of field meant I didn't have to concentrate as much on focusing.  This led me to begin walking the streets with a camera that was pre-set for what I now know was street photography.  

This was the first shot that I took that I would classify as a street photography shot.  I developed it and printed it... and scanned it.  It's called "Brick Woman".

Mailbox Dominos

Not sure if the mail was going to be coming... or going.  Maybe the box was full already?  Could there have built multiple stacks, instead of wrapping the bins across the top of the mail boxes?  How much mail would fill up this many bins?  Lots of questions...  Lots of questions...

Art in everyday Life

I've been using the slogan for my photography profile pages of "Looking to capture the Art in everyday life". But, I didn't really literally mean that until I saw this....

Foot Adjustment Stop

I noticed this guy standing dominantly on the steps of the former AT&T building in lower Manhattan. Nice balance considering the architecture. 

Then to fill out the composition of the scene, this guy filled the void:

As soon as he was gone, another person came in to take advantage of this location for a foot adjustment.  

Almost as if they are Greek forms in statuesque positions.

Sold!

The "Wall Street Bull" has been my most marketable picture (sold the most prints online).  I wish there were more sales of my street photography shots, but this one has sold five times more.  To me, it's kind of a commercial, almost touristy shot.  It makes me wonder who is buying it.  Is it tourists, fans of sculpture or... (as I suspect), Investment Bankers who have it on their walls?   

See what else is available on my NEW YORK gallery.  

Unposed

I'm attracted to how certain people on the street may be standing or gesturing.  It occured to me that these poses are actually tried and true positions that are frequently used by models.  Crossed legs, arms behind the head, and props make a picture more interesting.  Here are some pictures I've taken that may look posed but they weren't.  

Here was a smoker on a break.

This woman was waiting for a bus.  

The arm behind the head pose.  

This one is more like a commercial but was totally unposed.

Construction Workers

StreetObservations.com - I am constantly surrounded by construction workers.  It seems the building and rebuilding of New York City never stops.  There are huge holes in the ground for foundations, walls just right for billboards that surround them, cranes, bulldozers and construction workers.  They aren't hard to miss, with their colorful vests and hardhats.  They can even be spotted high above the city as I spoke about in my post Fear of Heights.

Just be careful not to stand behind one on line at a coffee truck at breakfast time.  That worker (I almost said "that guy", but there are more and more women as well)... that worker may be ordering for 10 people.  

My first construction worker shot was taken more than 20 years ago up around 57th street and Lexington.  That building is long finished, as capturing a construction site is a temporary moment in time.

This is the shot.  At one point, an Australian woman spotted the photo on the Internet and wanted to purchase it to market a men's skincare product.  She said, "...it is the intimacy between the two men that you have captured that I want to exploit, as I want to challenge men to cross their comfort zone and come and see me for concerns with their skin, so what I envisaged would have speech bubbles between the two men talking about their concerns with their skin health, and of course reference to me as the person/business to help them."  I'm not sure I see the intimacy, but I can understand they are supervising the job as well as being concerned about their skin.   

Here are few other construction worker shots.  This photo seemed rather musical to me, I called it "Construction Conductor".   

These guys were camped out at breakfast, taking a break from work on the World Trade Center site.  

This is a similar shot, at another historical building, but a later meal since now it's lunch time.  Or, as I called it "It's Only Lunch time..."

I'm not sure if these guys are bonafide construction workers, but they all seem to have an opinion on what to do next.  It seemed to me like they were from the 1920s so I gave them a sepia look.  

I called the shot "Digging Buddies".  It's like they are a bunch of little kids talking about the best way to dig a hole to China.