Film Shoot

Was wandering through Chelsea around 9PM when a large crowd and bright lights were spotted. It was a movie shoot. There were screams from the people on the street surrounding the subjects.

The setup was a car scene, with a hotrod-type car mounted to a moving platform. In the earlier days of movies, there would just be a studio shot with people sitting in front of a projection of traffic behind. I guess the same thing could be done with a green screen, but this certainly ends up being more realistic, I guess. The setup is so elaborate with a camera vehicle and a lighting vehicle preceding the actual actors vehicle. It was a chaotic scene, not to mention the rubbernecking from traffic on Sixth avenue.

I snapped off a few shots, but didn't recognize the actor. He turned out to be Jay Baruchel (never heard of him but he has decent credits). He had a dog on his lap also. A tour bus came up aside of the setup. More screaming, as those up top hovered over the scene. The driving actor seemed to be enjoying the attention and snapped off a wink to the crowd.

I started to move away and then heard that Nicholas Cage was in the car, on the other side (which I couldn't see). I moved closer and saw him, but wasn't able to get a shot. In the past when I've encountered various movie shoots taking place in the City, I was annoyed by the authoritative declarations of crowd control production assistants who always seemed to be Jr. High Schoolers telling you to get out of the way. But, I kind of liked the handler below in the Yankee hat, who gave updates to the crowd, and even gave information about the film and what was happening.

By the way, the film is a Disney movie called The Sorcerer's Apprentice. It's coming out July 16th, 2010.

WTC down below

There is some progress now becoming visible at the World Trade Center site. Some parts of the construction are now above ground level (primarily the Freedom Tower, which has been renamed to "One World Trade Center", it is at the upper right of the picture).

This is what the site now looks like from the building across the street (height 32nd floor). I would need a bit more of a wide angle to get it all in. The square shaped construction with the square metal hole in it is in the footprint of one of the former buildings and will be a memorial. I think the second memorial is part of the square pattern below that area and to the left of it.

Flyover Flew Over

It is Fleet Week in New York City. That's when the Navy hits town with their sailors and battleships. There are boat parades and other events. Scheduled at 11:45am today was a flyover of military F-18 planes which were to head up over the Hudson River at 1000 feet. That's so low that they had multiple announcements to warn the NY public regarding the low flying aircraft.

Since I was well situated on the 32nd floor of a building that looked directly out to the Hudson, I was geared up, excited and ready for the planes to zip by. I pre-set my camera to a fast shutter speed and arrived at the window at 11:40am. I took a shot of a battleship as it went by and waited with a few others for the planes.

One guy said, "You missed it", they went by at 11:35am. He had the air of jocularity and I didn't pay any attention. I saw crowds along the riverfront and on buildings overlooking the water so they would have left if the planes had gone by... obviously.

Well, soon it was noon, and then it was 12:15pm. No planes. Apparently they had passed by already. So much for military precision.

Foley Square

It was wonderful weather and I took a stroll up towards Foley Square. This is the home of the legal system in New York City. There are many court houses in the area, as well as a prison called The Tombs. I've been on jury duty three separate times here (twice on murder cases), so I kind of know the area (which is close to Chinese food - Chinatown).

The primary building has grand steps that people like to stand on as it kills time between court sessions and presents a great view of the surrounding area. The guy below seems like an attorney to me.
There is a bit of a slope in the geography on the west side of Foley Square. This area was called Five Points at one time, and there was a stagnant pond in this area that reeked of odor. Five Points was also the setting of the film "Gangs of New York". They basically demolished the neighborhood and built the courts.

I'm not sure if this slope is related to the prior landscape, but I thought the shot below was quite interesting. From the perspective with the zoom lens, the buff security guard towers over the little walker to the left. He is the giant of the law. Behind, is a swiveling diagonally striped barrier that comes up from the street to block any traffic. It is lowered if you're a good citizen. There are similar barriers around Wall Street. In the picture, you can see the guards checking the underside of the car with a mirror.

By just swiveling in the same spot to the north, the City Clerk building is viewable. This is where marriages are performed. The couple in the picture had just gotten married. I thought this shot was interesting, catching the kiss, but also showing how this little bit of drama is absorbed by the activity of New York City.

Tourists

I spend a lot of time in the neighborhood of the site of 9/11. So much time that it is now a routine part of my life. I regularly take the PATH train that circles the base of the site looking at the active construction. My office has a birdeye view of the pit from the building across the street. And, while I was not in the immediate region during the time of the event, I did watch it as it happened from a distance.

The area is very crowded, primarily by tourists, although there are quite a few business people on the streets as it is in the heart of the financial district. Large tour groups pass through as their guides lead them, holding umbrellas high, looking to be followed through the crowds and back to the buses.

Sometimes there are hundreds of people in a single tour, and they like to perch on the steps of One Liberty Plaza, an office building that overlooks the site, has a nice view, and has steps to rest upon. With the warmer weather coming, there are substantially more people sitting on the steps. Like typical tourists, they pose and take pictures of each other, and chat, listen to the tour guides and mill about. Sometimes there are those who seem to be emotional about the events that happened there, but mostly it is a standard tourist stop.

This time when I passed, there was a particularly large group on the steps and they were clustered in kind of an interesting formation. I took several pictures and thought it was ironic that the tourists are the ones usually taking the pictures and now they were the subjects.

Upon closer inspection, I found the picture above to be interesting. There are several groupings that stand out. And, it seems that this was a particularly emotional group. Looking at the large master, it is pretty much just a group sitting on the steps until you zoom in and look at the gestures and expressions. Here are some of the individual croppings:

A family obviously, the gestures draw attention, the boy pointing towards the site. Either he's bored, or was told something about the event and is making some sort of reference to it. I think more likely he is responding to the many cranes. It is a giant construction site with tall objects and trucks. The father appears to be reacting, perhaps to what happened. But, I looked at subsequent shots in the series and found him pointing and looking up, so I conclude he is also interested in the construction.

This woman is obviously disturbed. Those who are with her appear to be consoling her. A followup shot showed the man putting his arm around her. I believe she may be responding to the site's history.

This woman also seems to be on the verge of tears. A later shot made it more apparent. This is a bit more of a reaction that I commonly see in the visitors. Later in the day, I heard there had been a big crowd of perhaps 1000 people at the site. I did a google search to see if there was some sort of activity taking place but couldn't find anything. An explanation might be that there was some sort of organized 9/11 event happening. This usually happens at the yearly commemoration on September 11th, but perhaps there was something else. I really don't know.

Perspective

Cab Trio
Originally uploaded by John Fraissinet

With a "long" lens, things that are far apart can look like they are on top of each other. This shot is with a 135mm lens.

I took this shot from about a quarter mile away from the cabs down around Bowling Green park at the end of Broadway. The real distance, though, is from the taxis all the way back to the Chrysler Building behind. It looks fairly close but actually the Chrysler is all the way up at 42nd street which is about 4 miles further up the road (I looked the distance up on Google maps).

It still amazes me how close everything appears, and I really like how the three cabs line up so nicely.

Times Square Snow

Times Square Snow
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

The Flickr photography site monitors how many "Views" individual pictures get from their community and assorted search engines. It's interesting to see what attracts the most interest.

After a year, this shot of Times Square has finally taken over the number one spot from one titled "Financial District People". Undoubtedly the jump in traffic at this time is due to seasonal searches.

There was originally a color shot, but there is something about a colorless Times Square that makes the shot unusual.

Posing with the Bull

At the end of Broadway, at the entrance to Bowling Green Park, there is a bronze statue of a Bull. It symbolizes Wall Street. There was quite a story to how it got there, but mostly now it is a tourist attraction. The shot to the right is a rare look at the bull absent of people. It was cold and wet that day absent of the usual crowds.

There are two standard places that people pose with the bull. One is on the front, and the bold ones climb up to sit on his head. The other location is at the rear of the bull. You see, the bull is anatomically correct. So, posing at the rear brings the private parts of the bull into play, photographically that is.

It seems to me that those who pose in the rear are the most fun loving of the tourists. And, I like to watch them as they enjoy their visit. They smile and smirk and joke.

Queen Elizabeth 2

Today was the last day the QE2 cruise ship would ever be in North America. The 40 year old oceanliner is being retired and will survive on as a floating hotel in Dubai. To honor the end of the line(er), a fellow Cunard ship, the Queen Mary 2, joined the old QE2 in New York Harbor and started on a joint trip across the Atlantic. This would be the 806th and final trip and across the Atlantic by the QE2.

I happened to be in a business meeting in a lower Manhattan skyscraper at the time of the engagement of the two ships. I knew that our 37th floor conference room was well positioned to see the event unfold during the 5pm-6pm meeting. I alerted the participants and we would grab peaks out the window as we anticipated the arrival of the ships while we spoke about technology.

First the Queen Mary 2 (above) came into view appearing between the buildings as it approached from the Brooklyn piers. It waited for the QE2 to come down the Hudson for the rendezvous and then head past the Statue of Liberty and out to sea.

While it waited, the Queen Mary 2 spun around in a section of the river that seemingly didn't have room for its size. And, it waited some more. After about 20 minutes, the QE2 appeared between the buildings. Dwarfed in size by the Queen Mary, which a few years ago was temporarily the largest ship in the world, the QE2 pulled up alongside and together they made their way through the approaching darkness and out towards the Verrazano Bridge and to the Atlantic.

The "Old" Yankee Stadium

Bye bye, Yankee Stadium. I first went to the big Ballpark when I was 10 years old and then became a regular. Through Bat and Old Timers Days, and many many regular games, I was there (and I guess Billy Crystal was there).

My father once saw Babe Ruth hit a home run there to right field. I saw Mickey Mantle hit a grand slam home run into the same right field stands. Yeah, my father saw that one also. Once I took a tour and got a chance to take a shot from the Yankee's dugout (left).

Old Timers Day 2001
Originally uploaded by jfraissi

I took the picture to the right at the Old Timer's Game in 2001, right as Yogi Berra was being introduced. You can see his name on the scoreboard if you look close enough, although I'm not sure which dot on the field he is.

My most memorable time at the "old stadium" was during a Sunday doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians in June 1970. There was a potpourri of events (or is it there were a potpourri?).

Most notable, spread across the two games, Bobby Murcer hit four home runs in consecutive at bats (right field, again). Also, Murcer chased down a ball deep in centerfield, when the monuments were still on the playing field, and went between the monuments to find the ball rather than around them. (I saw a replay of this on the recent Old Timer's Day telecast and it really didn't make much sense, but it a pretty cool thing to see).

A bit later, there was a bench clearing brawl between pitcher Stan Bahnsen and Indians star Vada Pinson. Baseball brawls are very exciting.

Still later, a cherry bomb was thrown from the upper deck and exploded near Indian catcher Ray Fosse. From baseballlibrary.com, "There was an odd incident in 1970: A cherry bomb thrown from the stands blew up by his foot, badly burning the arch of (Fosse's) foot and causing a shock. Always tough and determined, he stayed in the game, limping, was hit by a pitch, but played the next day."

And, finally Steve Hamilton, who had an softball-height hesitation loft pitch came in as a relief pitcher. And, he threw this rarely used pitch, which was called the "Folly Floater", to Tony Horton. Horton popped it foul, and dared Hamilton to throw another one. Hamilton accommodated him and Horton then popped out to catcher Thurman Munson. Embarassed, Horton then crawled back to the dugout.

I doubted my memory about the crawling part of the event, so I googled Tony Horton. Not only did I find the event mentioned in Wikipedia, I found a video clip below on YouTube of the actual event (I am in the stands somewhere behind the dugout). So, I guess it was true. Who needs memories when you've got YouTube.

Preparing for 9/11

The park at Liberty Plaza is now a gathering ground and showplace for the annual September 11th ceremony. The park is just opposite from the World Trade Center site, and last year's activities for the families were held here. (This year, I think, the pit of the site is a little bit more prepared for visitors and they will be doing some or all of it down there). At any rate, last year, before the ceremonies a team of workers came to work on maintenance of the embedded lights that are part of the park's floor.

I noticed that the workers have returned, which reminded me that we are coming close to another 9/11 anniversary and another ceremony. Last year I emerged from the PATH train while the ceremony was in process and had this direct observation.

Tickertape Parade

A tickertape parade. I always wanted to experience one, but they are not as common as they once were. There are commemorative strips embedded in the sidewalk up Broadway that record each parade. They were rather regular in the '50s, any visiting dignitary seemed to have one. Lately though, it has only been for NY sports champions.

The victory by the Giants in the Super Bowl, quite a feat as they beat the undefeated Patriots, sparked the parade that I had sought. The crowds started assembling 5-6 hours before parade time. The streets were busy with excitement as the anticipation grew.

While, the focus was on the Giants as they went by in the parade trucks, there was a buzz and electricity on the blocks, called "The Canyon of Heroes". Waves of enthusiastic crowd noise circled up and down the avenue. People hung from balconies and looked out of windows, and the floors were littered.

I started taking pictures as people got ready, then as the parade approached I got a perspective from the 39th floor of an office building. Then descending in the midst of the crowd to see what was going on there. The atmosphere was electrifying.

New Series - Wall Street

There were all taken on Wall Street itself, or within the three block vicinity.

The Wall Street area is an eclectic mix of people, stores and buildings. There are stockbrokers, security police, tourists, TV crews and business people all intermixed in this small area.

Besides the NY Stock Exchange, there is Federal Hall, where George Washington was sworn in as the first president of the US. The steps of Federal Hall are an interesting place to sit and observe people passing by (and eat a sandwich). From this one vantage place, there are views of: tourists posing for each other in their pictures, police patrolling with machine guns, CNBC cameras being setup, and floor traders taking a smoke break while talking on their cell phones.

The major entry roads to Wall Street have security barriers built into the pavement that block traffic. They are raised and lowered like drawbridges to give vehicles access when needed. Otherwise, the core of Wall Street is a pedestrian mall. I made about 5 trips to Wall Street to get this assortment of photos.

Say, if you didn't take a look at the site last month, here are my selections for the best pictures from last year, Top 10 of 2007.

As you might notice, I've been doing more street photography, many of strangers who I find interesting. These work best in black and white.

As an example, I was walking down Nassau Street, and saw a lookalike couple sitting in the window at a coffee shop who I found interesting. This picture on Flickr shows them staring into space, seemingly bored with each other. I really like this one.