A Few Blocks Away in Chinatown

Chinatown and Columbus Park continue to fascinate me. I love watching the residents interact with each other, especially when they're playing their games. Here are a couple from a recent visit there.

People on Phones

The fascination continues......

Girl on Broadway

ISO 400 50mm f/7.1 1/250sec

Girl on Reade

ISO 500 50mm f/6.3 1/160sec

Man on Subway Platform

ISO 800 50mm f/4.5 1/40sec

People and Phones

Did you ever notice that most people are on their phones while walking around the city. I've always noticed this phenomenon, but it's become even more apparent since I've taken up photography. It's almost comical!

 ISO 640, 50mm, f/6.3, 1/640 sec

 ISO 1000, 50mm, f/3.5, 1/80 sec

 ISO 640, 50mm, f/8.0, 1/250 sec

 ISO 1250, 50mm, f/3.2, 1/250 sec

 ISO 640, 50mm, f/8.0, 1/200 sec

  ISO 640, 50mm, f/8.0, 1/200 sec

 ISO 800, 50mm, f/6.3, 1/250 sec

Eye Contact

In my humble opinion, getting your subject to make eye contact with your camera can increase how interesting your shot is. I'm still wading my way through this street photography thing. I have such a desire to capture what's happening on the streets in every day life, yet it can be so scary sometimes. That fear definitely holds me back. In New York City I haven't had a scary situation arise but recently in New Orleans I did. A man noticed that I had been trying to take his photo and he started yelling at me. I kept my cool and pretended I was photographing something next to him. Thank God that worked!

Now that the weather is finally warmer, I'm going to make an effort to try and overcome my fear of photographing strangers. No one wants to see pictures of pigeons, and how many more pictures of building facades and statues can one look at? What is interesting are people and what they do on a daily basis.

These photos were not taken on the same day, but I did manage to get eye contact with my subjects. As I look into the eyes of both of these men, I wonder who they are and what their life is about.

The Blur Before the Polar Vortex

I love intentionally blurred photographic images. I've never tried doing this myself until the day before the polar vortex hit us in NYC. This is by no means an award winning photo - just an image captured while playing with manual focus trying to intentionally blur my view. The photo was taken on Greenwich near Harrison, looking South to the World Trade Center. The sun was creating a beautiful glow between the WTC and the adjacent building, drawing your eye in. The rest of the image would have been pretty flat. The blurred street and car lights add much needed visual interest.

A Rainy Day

Random photos taken on a rainy day.

 Church Street

 Thomas Street

 Broadway

 Broadway

Warren and Greenwich

Clickin Walk 2013

Here are the rest of my favorites from the 2013 Clickin Walk that took place in September. It was a bit challenging at times getting the right settings as we walked from sunny to shady areas. The focus of the day was more about connecting with other women interested in photography and I'm totally cool with that.

 

DUMBO Arts Festival

I recently participated in the Clickin Walk  through Clickin Moms, an amazing website all about improving your photography skills. We began at Grand Central Station and wound up at the DUMBO Arts Festival. I plan on sharing more of the photos from the walk, but wanted to post those from the festival first. So many unique people, and interesting things to see. It was impossible to capture it all!

 These girls were adorable while trying to get phone photos of each other.

 The colors of the dresses stood out and were a nice contrast to the grey cobblestones.

 Love the contrast of the cobblestone and the bright colored tape (which was some sort of game).

 I found the people in the back, although slightly blurred, to be interesting. Especially the beautiful girl with the bright red lipstick.

Her blue pants, orange headscarf and his diamond motiff scarf bring visual interest to the photo.

The Workers

Mr.Chow

 

I've become that annoying person that always has their camera. This was taken while walking home from a date night with my husband. The photo was taken around 7:30pm. This Mr. Chow waiter was standing perfectly, and his white crisp jacket looked great against the old brick and iron in the background. I quickly grabbed my camera and shot without the settings correctly set. The result was an image a bit underexposed but I still really like it. The image would also be a bit better if there weren't the two diners behind him. Taken with 50mm.

Walking Suits

 

These guys caught my eye because one of them was holding a basket which looked kind of funny to me considering they're in suits. I like the leading lines created by the iron facade, and stoop on the left. They seem to balance the men on the right.  I don't mind that we don't see their faces, as it adds a bit of intrigue to the image.

Flower Man

It was midday when this was taken so the sun was especially harsh. To protect the flowers from wilting, a bamboo screen was pulled down with enough room for this man to work. The way the light was softened by the screen, resulted in beautiful light on the flowers and his hand.