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Speaking candidly

unposed shots of people at work, rest, and play
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With my latest fall day spent in Central Park coming to a close, I was finishing up my meandering path which started at the most southern edge of the park, and was going to end at it's most northern - the gateway to Harlem. Just as there is a large pond (photographed a million times before, by a million different people) that welcomes you into the park on 60th street, so too is there a large pond that bids you goodbye on the way out - the Harlem Meer.<br />
<br />
 As I was walking down the road that circles the Meer I spotted two woman cleaning bags of beans in the lake. Just loving to capture images that one doesn't normally expect to find in our urban jungle, I sidled over and recorded the scene, a task made rather difficult because of the bright sunlight in my eyes. Even looking through the viewfinder didn't help all that much. The sun was so bright that looking at the first shot of her on my superb high resolution rear screen, couldn't clue me in as to whether the shot was a success or not. But I didn't need to look at this image on the screen to know that my bean cleaning friend was too heavily back lit to take the shot as is, so I popped up my built in flash and captured this photo just as she was finishing up. Looking into the sunlight my aim wasn't perfect, but luckily I just barely managed to not cut off her hand and basket, as there was no time for a retake.
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With my latest fall day spent in Central Park coming to a close, I was finishing up my meandering path which started at the most southern edge of the park, and was going to end at it's most northern - the gateway to Harlem. Just as there is a large pond (photographed a million times before, by a million different people) that welcomes you into the park on 60th street, so too is there a large pond that bids you goodbye on the way out - the Harlem Meer.

As I was walking down the road that circles the Meer I spotted two woman cleaning bags of beans in the lake. Just loving to capture images that one doesn't normally expect to find in our urban jungle, I sidled over and recorded the scene, a task made rather difficult because of the bright sunlight in my eyes. Even looking through the viewfinder didn't help all that much. The sun was so bright that looking at the first shot of her on my superb high resolution rear screen, couldn't clue me in as to whether the shot was a success or not. But I didn't need to look at this image on the screen to know that my bean cleaning friend was too heavily back lit to take the shot as is, so I popped up my built in flash and captured this photo just as she was finishing up. Looking into the sunlight my aim wasn't perfect, but luckily I just barely managed to not cut off her hand and basket, as there was no time for a retake.

candidHarlem MeerfallCentral Parksld1

  • As the crowd around this scene grew by the second, people were asking what happened, where the accident took place, and if I was with the press. I walked and talked, tried not to speculate, and mostly kept looking for openings in the crowd to get a clear shot from.
  • I hoped against hope that she would be alright, but when I finally found the story online when I got home, I found out she didn't survive. My prayers go to those she left behind.
  • After leaving the scene of the emergency crew trying to revive that woman who fell off the ferry, I rushed southward to the scenic location I really came to Battery Park City to photograph this evening, but the extra time I spent recording that life and death scene meant not getting there in time to capture the lighting I wanted for my scenic shot. So it would not be a total loss of effort, I did take a few test shots of that interesting spot, upon which I decided I should try again, but instead, probably during late day under cloudy  conditions.<br />
<br />
After that I packed up my gear certain that the acute shortage of available light would allow my camera to take the rest of the night off. But deciding to walk to the ferry instead of catching the bus on this beautiful evening led me to come upon this interesting scene. This time of night is really beyond my camera's abilities to produce quality images under available light, none the less, I pulled my D300 out of it's premature slumber and immediately pushed it to limits I've never tried to before hoping to capture this unique scene. But forced to use ISO 5000 meant not doing this image justice. Oh what I could have done with this scene if I owned a D3...
  • No matter which pond, nor what time of year, nor whether the visitor be young or old, the Koi of Brooklyn's Botanical Garden's are always a source of visual delight.
  • DSC_4944 fall scene at the Japanese Gardens
  • Coming to the end of the day on this cloudy fall afternoon, on my last vacation of the year, I started to head for the exit when I came across these vine / hut 'thing-a-ma-bobs', and  I was really taken in by them. Huge and hard as stone I'd never seen anything like them here before. As I walked in and around them for a bit I could see I wasn't the only one enamored with these natural shelters.
  • As you can see I wasn't the only one who thought these huts were really cool.
  • DSC_5019 isn't this thing cool
  • Neat! It even has a kiddie entrance...
  • Requested months ago from my job, I saved this, my last week of vacation for the year to capture the autumn colors of our fair metropolis. But the color show has been pretty mediocre this season. When I'd find a beautiful grouping of color, it was set inside of a poorly composed scene. If I found a beautifully composed scene, then the colors were drab and dull. Finally today walking through the large tree covered roads of Battery Park City I found a scene that had both excellent composition AND nice fall colors. I thought to myself "all I need to do now is to wait for a nice grouping of people to come along to complete the picture." "Ah this pair will do nicely..."
  • Since I've gotten back into photography 3 years ago I've often passed through here, and thought it would be nice to capture several shots of people playing chess and checkers amidst the splendid colors of the fall in this, the worlds most famous park. I think this shot is a good one to start off with.
  • This shot I simply couldn't resist taking.
  • Early on, dazzling colors this fall have been far and few between, but as early autumn flowed into late, the splotches of eye popping colors have noticeably increased. Still these superb color explosions weren't simply everywhere you turned your head. So finding sensational ones that were also in a spot that would allow for capturing in a well composed manor, was still a little more challenging this year than in the past few. With that in mind it was not surprising that this tree stood out more brilliantly than any other within a mile, and naturally you could see more than a dozen people taking pictures of it, or beneath it as friends took pictures of them smiling under the magnificent maple. I on the other hand, was hoping to capture this tree in a fashion that would show a tad more panache.
  • DSC_5763 cycling through the park
  • DSC_5950 cleaning food the old fashioned way
  • With my latest fall day spent in Central Park coming to a close, I was finishing up my meandering path which started at the most southern edge of the park, and was going to end at it's most northern - the gateway to Harlem. Just as there is a large pond (photographed a million times before, by a million different people) that welcomes you into the park on 60th street, so too is there a large pond that bids you goodbye on the way out - the Harlem Meer.<br />
<br />
 As I was walking down the road that circles the Meer I spotted two woman cleaning bags of beans in the lake. Just loving to capture images that one doesn't normally expect to find in our urban jungle, I sidled over and recorded the scene, a task made rather difficult because of the bright sunlight in my eyes. Even looking through the viewfinder didn't help all that much. The sun was so bright that looking at the first shot of her on my superb high resolution rear screen, couldn't clue me in as to whether the shot was a success or not. But I didn't need to look at this image on the screen to know that my bean cleaning friend was too heavily back lit to take the shot as is, so I popped up my built in flash and captured this photo just as she was finishing up. Looking into the sunlight my aim wasn't perfect, but luckily I just barely managed to not cut off her hand and basket, as there was no time for a retake.
  • A simple scene, yes but there was actually something very humorous going on that you didn't see in this picture. Now there was these 3 guys fishing at this spot by the lake (the youngest is sitting to the left on another folding chair about 12ft away). Then there was also this group of geese off in the not to far distance, one of which had absolutely NO fear of people WHATSOEVER. It kept sneaking up around them trying to steal some of their bait. It was a stitch! But in between constantly chasing off the bold bird every few minutes, one of them actually succeeded with what they came out here in the first place to do.<br />
<br />
If I wasn't lugging my large wheeled camera bag behind me, I would have run and captured the fun. But while this bag is great for lugging lots of stuff great distances it's not made for quick access or movement. If I had come here looking for candid shots today I never would have brought the big bag. So now when I look at this shot I always chuckle to myself and think about the unseen story.
  • The fall colors at Snug Harbor weren't rich and plentiful this week, but a few choice spots were exceptions. This one provided a natural photo opportunity.
  • Here I am again back at the Games workshop on 8th street. My best friend Scott told me he was still painting that large imaginative model of his, and from our phone conversations I was sure he was pretty much down to painting the fine details on it. This would allow me to get some closeup shots of him painting it which I still hadn't been able to do during my earlier trip here last month.
  • As I mentioned the last time I was in this store, Scott custom made this scale tank / ship by combining dozens of basic Warhammer model kits and accessory pieces and making one massive tank. Being that it is a scale model he made it not just to look at but to actually use as a playing piece in battle. As such when it he puts it on the playing field the underside will be hidden from view, but paying attention to details is one of Scott's strong points, and not surprisingly he even gave attention to the one part of the model you'll never normally see in battle. He took the barrels from a pair of large cannon's and combined them to create the drive train for the tank. The lower tank body itself was made by combining two really big Warhammer tanks and turning it into one Goliath tank (classic kitbashing).<br />
<br />
 Here he's starting to paint the drive train finally giving me that chance to get a nice close up shot of him painting the tank itself and not just one of the accessory pieces that go with it, something I was hoping to do the last time I was here, but never got the chance.
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