My tickets are booked to go back to New York for a long weekend in December. So, it seems fitting for me to add what I think is my last photo from New York. I’ll have to resupply on my next trip.
Sep 012012
Mar 102012
Another photo of Times Square. While waiting for something interesting to appear in the road for my foreground I spent quite a while being harassed by a very effeminate man promoting a comedy club. I became the butt of his jokes. At one moment he walked over and said, in a suddenly masculine tone, “don’t worry man, it’s just part of the act.”
This was contrasted with the naked cowgirl playing guitar across the street. I was hoping she’d come my way to fill the foreground of this shot, but the police apparently decided she was too naked for Times Square. Shame, she was hotter than the other naked cowgirls present.
Then, the iconic New York cityscape gained the iconic New York vehicle for it’s foreground and I got the shot!
Jan 312012
On my last night in Prague, nearing the end of my five-hour stroll, I decided to make my way to Charles Bridge from the Old Town Square. I didn’t want to take the same route I had in the past and took off in what I was sure was the general direction of the river. Luckily, I was right. On the way there, I stumbled across this building and a very busy intersection in front of it. At the time I had no idea what the building was, but decided I definitely had to stop and take a photo. As I stood there shielding my camera from all the foot traffic, it was situated about a foot off the ground, the van driving politician cruised through with his music still blaring.
Since getting back home, Google Maps has informed me that this is the Czech Philharmonic at Rudolfinum, which I think is a great name for a building.
Jan 222012
Another shot portraying the hustle and bustle in Time’s Square, New York. It’s very easy to spend hours here, every few steps presents a desirable angle. This is a combination of 7 exposures processed with Photomatix, Photoshop CS5 and Topaz Adjust. I used the de-ghosting tool in Photomatix to select this group of people and to select the streaks for the headlights.
Jan 042012
Another shot from Times Square. My mom is from New York and as a result I’m pretty sure that’s where the bulk of my audience is coming from. So, I’ll try to sprinkle my New York shots around liberally for the time being.
I was heading right through the middle of Times Square a few hours before sunset as I meandered towards Central Park. I came to this corner and decided I liked the lines created by all the poles. I’ve also always liked that Bubba Gump Shrimp sign and couldn’t tell you why – I’ve never even been in the place. Looking at the scene, I thought it would be cool to catch the guy snoozing on his chair, and the vendor leaning on his stand, against the backdrop of the hustle and bustle of Times Square. I stood there for a very long time, waiting for the space in front of them to clear enough. Then, this third guy came and lent against the pole to the right. This motivated me to recompose the shot. I began waiting again. At this point everyone’s attention turned to Broadway and I could hear why. What must have been hundreds of bikers came flying through. It was a trail of bikers that lasted a good few minutes. Some doing tricks as they came through the mass of people. It was shortly after this moment I was able to get the clearest shots of the scene. Even so, I’m not sure how many pictures I had to blend together to hide the random foot, hand or arse captured by the camera.
I used to get uncomfortable setting up my tripod in busy areas, which was pretty detrimental to the results. I’ve decided that the best cure for this in the whole wide world has to be setting up in Times Square. It doesn’t get more crowded than here and setting up here is actually a pleasant experience. The majority of people pay you no mind and you feel like you’re stood there in your own bubble as the rest of the world rushes around you. I reckon that even if you don’t have a tripod it’d be worth finding somewhere to just stand still. It seems like very few people do that in Times Square. On top of this, the few people who did pay me any mind all seemed to have cameras in hand and approached to ask questions about which lens I’m using, or why I’m shooting so many exposures. That’s enjoyable too, and makes me feel far more experienced than I am. I’m sure there are other places in the world that could offer up the same phobia breaking experience if you’re having a similar problem. Feel free to suggest some in the comments by clicking below. My goal tonight is to figure out how to make this button more obvious.
Dec 312011
As it’s New Years Eve it make sense for today’s picture to be at the scene for one of the biggest New Years Eve parties in the world. I took this shot in summer, early in the morning. I’d been in Times Square the night before when it was full of people. It was weird being there when it was just me and the street sweepers. It was nice getting to take my time to set up for this shot without being jostled by the bustling crowd though.
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