I spent a very cold and windy President’s Day weekend in New York. I’ve been now several times, but still struggle to this day to leave with good shots. Urban landscapes just aren’t my strong suit, and it’s something I will consciously work on this year. Most of the photos look better in black and white (most iconic cityscapes work better in B&W, it seems), but that conversion isn’t my strong suit, either. Red filter? Green filter? Neutral conversion? It’s all a guess to me…
By shear luck a friend was playing a show at the Park Avenue Armory (“Tune In”), and I managed to capture a few shots there. The show itself was very cool, a somewhat structured percussion piece, and the crowd was encouraged to walk around all the peformers. It was dark, and my highly versatile, but slow, lens made it nearly impossible to capture anything sharp, even at 1600 ISO. I used that to my advantage in a few shots.
Next time I visit the Big Apple, which will be soon, I will bring the tripod and scout out locations in advance. I probably need to get to the water, capture the bridges, and perhaps go across to Staten Island. It’s time for me to spread my wings and leave midtown…
