Random NYC Stroll
Random morning/afternoon stroll in NYC enjoying the sunlight
Explored some morning and afternoon sunlight in NYC recently. All photos = Fuji Xpro2 + Canon 1.2/50 LTM
Fujifilm
After four years of nothing but film and abstinence from digital, except for the occasional iphone photo, I’ve decided to give digital a go again. I’ve settled on the Fuji Xpro 2 and 35mm f/2 lens. This combo nicely compliments my film setup.
After four years of nothing but film and abstinence from digital, except for the occasional iphone photo, I’ve decided to give digital a go again. I’ve settled on the Fuji Xpro 2 and 35mm f/2 lens. This combo nicely compliments my film setup.
Below are a couple of recent snapshots from my test drive. All photos are sooc jpegs (using the in-camera film simulations).
Coney Island On Ektachrome
Here are a couple of (test) photos that I took during a day-trip to Coney Island. My first roll of Ektachrome. Enjoy! I am pleased with the results and the film / photos turned out exactly as expected. Some of them have that color pop vintage feel.
I’ve been on a “slide trip” lately. It all began back in June while vacationing in San Francisco. I shot a roll of expired Fujichrome Provia 400X - rest in peace. I only had one roll, rest were expired Portra 400NC, and the results blew me away.
I am not the biggest color film fan. The majority of my work is black and white, mainly so I can develop and print (darkroom) at home. Also, Kodak Portra 400 and Fuji Provia 400, or any other C41 films for that matter, are all great films; however, they only work in certain locations/situations for me. In New York, for example, Kodak Portra 400 isn’t my cup of tea. I’ve seen great results from other photographers, but I am not a big fan of it for my NY photos.
On to slide…. I purchased a couple rolls of Provia 100 and used them throughout the summer here in NY. The results were stunning; New York plus perfect summer sunshine pops on slide film.
Summer is long gone and Kodak finally released / reintroduced Kodak Ektachrome E100. Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyways), I had to have a few rolls to try out the new stock.
Here are a couple of (test) photos that I took during a day-trip to Coney Island. My first roll of Ektachrome. Enjoy! I am pleased with the results and the film / photos turned out exactly as expected. Some of them have that color pop vintage feel.
Film developed at a local lab here in NY and then scanned at home. Keep in mind that I haven’t calibrated my scanner yet for Ektachrome; calibration targets are on the way. I didn’t do any color correction, only applied sharpness, exposure and crop edits. Some photos were also taken with ND filter on my lens. The light wasn’t the greatest either that day. (Ok, enough with the excuses)
High (Up) in N.Y.C.
Sometimes you have to be spontaneous and just go for it without thinking about it for too long. That's exactly how I felt about a week ago (Saturday 8/27). "It" in this case was booking a spot on a door-less New York City helicopter ride with FlyNYON.
Sometimes you have to be spontaneous and just go for it without thinking about it for too long. That's exactly how I felt about a week ago (Saturday 8/27). "It" in this case was booking a spot on a door-less New York City helicopter ride with FlyNYON.
I've been on helicopters before (Grand Canyon flyover and on other occasions); however, FlyNYON promises the ultimate helicopter experience - a ride on a helicopter with no doors. As you can imagine, access to a helicopter with no doors is a photographers dream, and an even bigger one if it involves New York City.
Not sure what triggered it. One minute I was talking to my fellow photog friend Ray who decided to buy one of my NYC prints, and then the next minute, out of the blue, I decided to check if FlyNYON had any available seats. A couple of clicks and forms and before you know it I had a seat booked on the 7pm flight the next day (Sunday).
I picked 7pm on purpose. Shooting film means I need light, but at the same time I also wanted to capture the light of the buildings, the switch from natural to artificial light in the city. Sunset was scheduled for 7:30pm on Sunday, so a 7pm take-off and 30 minute trip time meant that I would have enough natural light, as well as the buildings lit.
The rest of the evening I spent researching the topic "taking photos out of helicopters". I've taken plenty photos in the streets of New York City, and plenty photos from top of the Empire State Building, One WTC and Top of the Rock. However, taking photos out of a moving helicopter is a different "beast". I also revisited fellow photog Riley Joseph's New York helicopter experience .
In the spirit of sharing, following is a list of the equipment and settings that I used, and a few tips.
My equipment and camera settings:
Hasselblad Xpan, 45mm lens and Cinestill 800 film; lens at f/4 and shutter at 1/125
Leica M-A, Summicron 35 and Cinestill 800 film; lens at f/2 and shutter at 1/125
Leica MP, Summicron 50 and Kodak Portra 800 film; lens f/2 and shutter at 1/125
Metering:
I didn't bother metering during the flight. I metered about 30 minutes before the flight using my incident light meter, as well as right before take-off using the spot meter of the MP.
A couple of quick tips in case you plan on going on a similar helicopter ride, whether it is in New York or some other city:
Go "wide", both lens and aperture. See above, I took all my photos at f2 and my lenses ranged from 35mm to 50mm max. Being on a helicopter with no doors means high winds and vibrations that you have to battle with. I doubt you want to stick a 300mm lens out of the helicopter. Good luck holding it steady and getting sharp photos.
You don't need the fastest shutter speed, 2 or 3 times the lens' focal length is enough. I took all my photos at 1/125.
Learn how to focus your lens manually. In some cases it doesn't really matter anyways, just turn off autofocus and set your lens to infinity.
If you shoot film, use 800 ISO film and take advantage of the film's latitude. Flying around sunset time also means that light will vanish quickly.
Know your camera and lens, as well as settings by heart. This way you can switch quickly up there. You don't have a lot of time and in some cases you only get a certain viewpoint/perspective once and only for a few seconds.
Know what you want to take a picture of before take-off and know the layout of the city.
Try not to lean against anything in the helicopter to avoid/reduce motion blur in your photos from vibrations.
Limit the items that you plan to take. Any loose items, i.e. lens caps, lens hood and filters, are a "no no". All items that you take must be secured. I took three cameras with me and quite frankly it was one too many. Two cameras should be enough for film shooters and I dare to say that one camera with a decent 24mm to 70mm is enough if you use digital.
Once in a while put the camera down and enjoy the view.
All photos developed and scanned (Noritsu) by Richard Photo Lab. Amazing 24h turnaround by the lab.
N.Y.C. - 042316
First weekend in ages without any work or particular plans. What better way to spend a sunny spring day than riding through NYC on my bike and explore? Here are a couple of snapshots I took this weekend in Brooklyn.
First weekend in ages without any work or particular plans. What better way to spend a sunny spring day than riding through NYC on my bike and explore? Here are a couple of snapshots I took over the course of the day. Rode my bike from Grand Central to the East Village where I had breakfast, and then to Brooklyn to watch the Gowanus Grind 8 skate event. The day start of slowly with some rain, but luckily the sun came out in full blast.
b&w. - Kodak Tri-x, Hasselblad Xpan + 40mm lens
c41. - Kodak Portra 400, Leica MP + Summicron 2/50
All photos developed (Xtol, Tetenal C41 kit) and scanned (Pakon) at home. First set of color photos is a bit off. Something was wrong with the developer which resulted in a color shift (blue cast), and I had a tough time fixing it in post processing. Mixed a new batch and second set (subways) came out much better.
We Own The Night
A few snapshots taken from the observation deck at the Empire State Building earlier in the month. All photos were taken with the Leica MP, Zeiss Sonnar and Kodak Tri-X 400.
A few snapshots taken from the observation deck at the Empire State Building earlier in the month. All photos were taken with the Leica MP, Zeiss Sonnar and Kodak Tri-X 400. Majority of the photos are 15 seconds exposures. Developed at home using Xtol and scanned using the Pakon.
NYC Graffiti Walk
“Graffiti is art and if art is a crime, please God, forgive me”
— George Lee Quiñones
“Graffiti is art and if art is a crime, please God, forgive me”
I commute daily into New York City from Connecticut, and even on the days that I am off I try to spend as much time as possible in the city. NYC is blank canvas that never stops changing, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. There is always a new place or corner to be explored and it never gets boring. Change is good, but it's sad to see some of NYC's old architecture fading and being replaced with new architecture.
This past Monday, November 23rd, I spent my day off walking around the East Village, Lower East Side and Soho with my camera and captured some of the street art that is all over Lower Manhattan. As mentioned above, NYC keeps changing quickly and graffiti has an even shorter lifespan. Up on the wall one day, gone the next. Some see it as vandalism, I see it as art and something that gives NYC its identity. I've had a fascination with graffiti dating back a long time to my teenager years back in Germany. I even tried it out myself, but saying I had any talent for it would be a huge overstatement.
For years I wondered what sparked my interest in graffiti and New York. All I remembered was a scene from a movie that I watched when I was very young, not even in my teens yet, and back in the days when I lived behind the iron curtain in Halle (Saale) in East Germany. I vaguely remember the movie being about graffiti and hip hop, and that it played in New York City. I must have watched the movie once (back then we didn't have a VCR and there were no repeats), but it had a huge impact on me because for years I would remember a particular scene from the movie.
The scene played in the NYC subway. I remember one of the main characters painting one of the subway cars, an altercation with another character, and the main character being electrocuted by the third rail. For years and years I tried finding the movie, unsuccessfully. Well, I finally figured out the name of the movie. Seeing all the graffiti in the city earlier in the week sparked my curiosity and I did some more research. The movie is called "Beat Street" and it was released back in 1984. Needless to say, I went straight to iTunes and bought the movie. Doing some more research I also found out that the movie was very successful in Germany, both West and East Germany, and it is being credited with introducing the hip hop and graffiti culture in Germany.
I am biased, I am an 80s kid, but if you like movies and documentaries that were filmed back in the days in NYC, I highly recommend "Beat Street", "Wild Style", "Style Wars" and "Deathbowl to Downtown". They are certainly on my Thanksgiving movie list this year.
“Cause each and every time you touch a spray paint can, Michaelangelo’s soul controls your hands”
Locations: East Village, Lower East Side, Soho
Tip: If interested in skateboarding, be sure to check out Shut at 158 Orchard Street, my favorite skateboard shop and a NYC original
Camera: Leica M-A
Lens: Leica Summicron 2/35
Film: Fujifilm Superia 800 and 400
Metering: Film metered at 200
Processing: C-41 press kit
Scanner: Pakon
“Should I die on the train track, like Ramo in Beat Street”
Random night on Tri-X
A few random snapshots taken on a November evening in and around Grand Central Terminal.
Camera: Leica MP
Lens: Zeiss Sonnar T*1,5/50
Film: Kodak Tri-x metered at 400
Processing: XTOL, pushed one stop
Scan: Pakon
A few random snapshots taken on a November evening in and around Grand Central Terminal.
Camera: Leica MP
Lens: Zeiss Sonnar T*1,5/50
Film: Kodak Tri-x metered at 400
Processing: XTOL, pushed one stop
Scan: Pakon
Coney Island
Coney Island, home of the (in)famous Cyclone roller-coaster and annual world famous Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. Difficult to imagine, but this past Memorial Day was the first time that I ventured out there for a visit.
Coney Island, home of the (in)famous Cyclone roller-coaster and annual world famous Nathan’s hot dog eating contest. Difficult to imagine, but this past Memorial Day was the first time that I ventured out there for a visit. I had seen and heard about it many times on TV, in photos, and read about it in the newspaper, but never had the urge to visit. When my mum came for a visit we decided to head out there. She has seen the majority of NYC and I wanted to show her something new. It was well worth it.
It was quite an interesting visit. Walking along the boardwalk from one end to the other, we sometimes felt like we were back in Eastern Europe. You could hear the random people passing us speak their native tongue (Russian, Czech and Polish). Slowly, minute by minute, the beach and boardwalk woke up and filled with more and more people. It was fascinating to see how Coney Island “woke up”.
Following are a couple of photos I captured. To avoid the crowds and traffic jams we ventured out to Coney Island (from Connecticut) early in the morning, arriving at the boardwalk around 8am. Surf Ave was still empty so we were able to park close to the boardwalk. After a quick lunch at 1pm we drove back home to Connecticut. I highly recommend heading there early in the morning to enjoy the relatively empty boardwalk, because in the afternoon it gets really crowded and parking is really difficult to find. If you are heading there from Connecticut you also have to be mindful of the JFK and Whitestone bridge traffic. Coney Island can also be reached by subway from Manhattan, however, it is quite a long journey and I believe it is the same line that people take to JFK.
All black and white photos were taken with the Leica M3, Summicron 50 (Rigid) and Kodak Tri-X 400, developed (XTOL) and scanned (Pakon) at home. All color photos were taken with the Leica M-A, Summicron 35 and Cinestill 800, and developed/scanned by Richard Photo Lab. The sun was blasting full power all day, so most photos were shot at f8 or f5.6 and 1/1000 shutter speed. I am quite happy how well the Cinestill 800 performed.
One World Trade Center
We remember
We rebuild
We come back stronger
– President Obama (Message left on One World Trade Center steel beam)
We remember
We rebuild
We come back stronger
– President Obama (Message left on One World Trade Center steel beam)
That last sentence by President Obama is spot on. New York City came back stronger, One World Trade Center and the One World Observatory is quite impressive. Almost 14 years later after that fateful day on September 11th, 2001 One World Trade Center opened its doors to the public for the first time. What an impressive accomplishment by the men and women who build the tower. I was fortunate enough to go up there on opening day. It was a long wait, but it was well worth it. If you are visiting New York, definitely take the time to visit One WTC and the Observatory. You’ll have three floors (102nd, 101st and 100th) to explore magnificent 360 degrees view of the city.
Below are the photos that I took with the Leica M-A, Summicron 35/2 and Kodak Tri-X 400. The photos were developed (XTOL) and scanned (Pakon) at home. It’s somewhat ironic, because I bet that prior to 2001 most photos that were taken on the old observation deck were with film cameras. It’s tough to take a film camera with you nowadays, because it has to go through an x-ray machine for security reasons. Luckily none of my photos was impacted. Some of them show a bit of window glare/reflection.
