Everyday Moments - Light

           "Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are

          worth, and you will know the key to photography.”  - George Eastman

This month our Everyday Moments photography circle has decided to focus on light.  It's been hard to capture anything outside without my hands feeling frostbitten. This month's circle post is a bit of a hodgepodge. There is no theme here, except playing with light. The first photo was taken during the midmorning harsh sun. I liked the shadows created by the fire escape above. The next photo was taken at night while out with Sarah Murchison in Tribeca. Our friend and fellow photographer, Meredith, showed us a new technique called freelensing. It's a fun technique where you remove your lens but hold it up to your sensor, providing you with a dreamy blurred image.

 North side of Duane Street

South side of Reade Street, looking East towards the Reade Street Pub



Please join me around the circle and to see what Jennifer has done this month.

A Foggy Day

The other day we woke up with the neighborhood covered in fog, yet a few blocks over it was clear and sunny. I'm no scientist but I think the fog was caused by the frozen Hudson River melting quickly, releasing condensation into the air. Either way, it created some interesting photo opportunities.

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.

Not Exactly Tribeca - The Guggenheim

I haven't had a chance to shoot in Tribeca and the surrounding neighborhoods recently due to Christmas and travelling. So a recent trip to the Guggenheim is what I have for now. It was a rainy day with lots of clouds and dark skies. This meant using high ISO's which equals grain or "noise". I don't necessarily mind it though. I also felt the photos looked best in black and white with the exception of the one with the red pants. I enjoy the sweeping, curved lines at this museum which take our eyes and leads them in different directions. All photos were shot with a 50mm 1.8 lens.

The artist featured was Christopher Wool whose work made me laugh out loud at times (in a good way). I found myself equally interested in the people milling about at the museum, trying to find some characters to photograph. You know you've been bitten by the photography bug when you can't help yourself from doing that! Thanks for looking.

A Family Affair

This month's Photo Circle assignment was "A Family Affair". Family portraiture is definitely not my talent, but when two friends and my sister asked for photos that could be used for a holiday card I gladly agreed. I need all the practice I can get. I am reading Malcolm Gladwell's, Outliers and learned that I need to get 10,000 hours of practice completed! I thought these portraits were cute. They certainly don't relay the difficulty in getting two parents to look at the camera at the same time, with children NOT crying. Haha. Please continue around the photo circle and see what my extremely talented friend and guru of children photography Sarah Murchison has done for this month's topic. I think you will be truly impressed!

Locations: Jay and Staples Streets.

All photos were shot in jpeg mode, with minimal Photoshop post processing. I'm hoping to graduate to RAW and Lightroom soon.

A Rainy Day

Random photos taken on a rainy day.

 Church Street

 Thomas Street

 Broadway

 Broadway

Warren and Greenwich

Size and Scale

This month's Project '13 Blog Circle subject was size and scale. I really had a hard time figuring out what to photograph. I didn't want to do something staged but then I caved and tried a few things. One of which was photographing one of my son's matchbox cars on a cobblestone but it didn't provide the effect I was looking for. A few days later I luckily came across news via Tribeca Citizen that the underground World Trade Center PATH passageway opened. The passageway links the World Financial Center in Battery Park to the PATH station at the World Trade Center. It is very beautiful and a nice diversion from my regular walk across the West Side Highway (much safer too).

The passageway is a sea of white marble and is truly magnificent. My son calls it "cloud city". It really was the perfect place to showcase size and scale. The first photograph looks East towards the WFC side.

 Very long and steep escalators lead you up to the WFC in Battery Park.

Thanks for taking the time to look at my size and scale post. Please continue around the circle to see what my talented friend Sarah has done this month for size and scale, here.