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Speaking candidly

unposed shots of people at work, rest, and play
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DSC_9552 book reading in the park
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DSC_9552 book reading in the park

springCentral ParkcandidNYCManhattan

  • DSC_8647 early mornig scene at Clove Lakes
  • I had just spent another day photographing that great blue heron's nest. Whenever I do I always have numerous conversations with many passers by, drawn to me by my fancy looking equipment. Today one of the conversations I had was with a gentleman who told me how he got this great shot of a falcon off on the back road that leads to wards Clove road. <br /> <br /> When I'm headed home after a day of shooting, sometimes I travel down the front road which leads me access to the lake and a lot more human activity as much more happens on the main road that runs along the first lake than the back road that twists and turns 75 to 100 ft. away from the lake. This leaves me far more opportunities to capture a nice shot or two before I leave the park, than if I walk back towards the buses using the back road. <br /> <br /> I probably would have gone down the front road again today, but with the thought of that gentleman's story of the great falcon shot he got while on the back road dancing through my head, I decided that today I was going to travel down the back road too.<br /> <br /> Well I never ran into any interesting nature subjects, however as I was almost past the second large lake while walking down the back road, I looked up and saw a large group of children and a young man standing giving them some sort of instructions. <br /> <br /> I didn't know at the time what this was all about, but I sure recognize a good photo opp when I see one, and pulled my camera back out of my bag. opp when I see one, and pulled my camera back out of my bag.
  • DSC_9366 training the troops
  • DSC_9350 training the troops
  • Turns out it was a track and field coach teaching his batch of young newbies how to run relay's. I did have fun capturing this.
  • DSC_9363 training the troops
  • It seemed he was training them at all sizes and ages. One of his runners was so small she was almost totally hidden in all the previous pictures. Even in this shot you see another body in this photo, but it just as likely to wonder why the girl in the white top grew an extra pair of arms, than to realize that there's another pint sized track star hidden from your view.
  • DSC_9389training the troops
  • DSC_9394 training the troops
  • DSC_9401 training the troops
  • DSC_9413 training the troops
  • DSC_9416 training the troops
  • DSC_9552 book reading in the park
  • I was walking down this famous section of Central Park on this beautiful summer day, I spotted this group of people some with equipment that came close to matching or exceeding mine (at least the equipment I left home today), trying to capture this great white egret. <br /> <br /> I smiled a warm smile both inside and out, for I knew instantly from looking at the sun and time of day how hard a task they had in front of them to capture some quality images, given what equipment they had to work with.<br /> <br /> Four in the afternoon on a summer day is not a flattering time to try and capture a lot of shots unless you've got some kind of shade to work with. Given the location where the egret was hunting in and the available spots to stand to capture it, they were all standing in as good spot as they could if they hoped to capture him. However they probably would have been better off with at least a 400mm or more telephoto lens rig setup mounted on a gimbal head, sitting on top of a mono pod, then go for some back lit head shots. Those could have been great shots. But with the focal lengths they were working with, not much better than the 200mm I had in my bag, the potential for really nice shots were slim.<br /> <br /> But when you live in Manhattan shots like the ones they were getting were about as good as they could hope for, unless they made a concerted effort to come here every week and stalk this bird constantly. Then they would surely run into it at some point in favorable lighting and better locations composition wise. But if photography is a hobby for them as it is for me, then when your free time lands you an opportunity to capture some bird far more regal than our ubiquitous pigeons, you take what you can get. <br /> <br /> Now as I have lived in Staten Island since 87' and have easy access to Clove lake I've already captured a dozen shots of great whites better than anything they were going to get today, and probably will get another dozen in the future, so there was no incentive for me to walk up to their location and join in on the shooting.<br /> <br /> However pulling up and capturing their attempts to photograph this elegant avian fisherman with it's beautiful white plumage, was something I found myself very motivated to do.
  • DSC_9566 nature photographers
  • DSC_9586 nature photographers
  • DSC_9618 performing in the park
  • There are lots of ways to get around in the big city, some are more eco friendly than others
  • DSC_0155 fishing hole
  • DSC_0253 fishing hole
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