NYC Experience – Oculus

In yesterday’s posts I left you with a small riddle, asking whether anyone would recognize the building were I shot the abstract fine-art architectural shots. While no-one came up with the right solution (Oculus – World Trade Center Station in New York City), a few readers correctly recognized the work of architect Santiago Calatrava. Today, continuing my series “NYC Experience” from our trip to the Big Apple in 2018, I show you a bit more of the outside and interior of this new iconic NCY landmark.

Continue reading “NYC Experience – Oculus”

What she stands for

Statue of Liberty
Lady Liberty

Whenever I’m in New York City, I try to visit the Statue of Liberty. Like last in April 2018, when I took this photograph, on a less than clear day. And whenever I see her, I’m always awed by her sight – and by what she stands for:

Peace – Hope – Unity – Dignity – Equality- Respect – Solidarity – Tolerance – Dialogue – Friendship between Nations – Liberty – Justice

These values should apply to all members of the human family and are the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Let us all not forget that.

I wish all my American friends a peaceful 4th of July. Stay safe!

Marcus

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America the Beautiful

NYC Experience – Lady Liberty

Tallinn Explored – Patarei Prison

NYC High Contrast Monochrome

Mysterious New York City

Empire State Building
Empire State Building

I’m in a bit of a gloomy mood today, not only for yesterday’s depressing World Cup loss of Team Germany, that was well deserved and does not leave much room for any hope of going very far in this tournament.

I had this post on my launchpad for quite some time now. Trying to look at New York City in a very different way, I took a creative approach in post-processing. After monochrome conversion of my Olympus RAW files in Lightroom Classic CC, I played with selective blurring and darkening to create this moody series about some ironing NYC sites. To see them all continue after the jump…. Continue reading “Mysterious New York City”

NYC Experience – Memories

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Resilience | New York City | 2018

Day 2 of our week in the Big Apple was full of memories for me. We took the subway downtown to the World Trade Center. As a seventeen year old exchange student in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, my host family took me to my very first visit of New York City, back in 1984. My host-dad was a sheet metal worker, and I vividly remembering him taking me up to the observation deck of the Twin Towers and telling me full of pride how he helped build the towers. I’ve returned to NYC many times, and each time I see the skyline I miss the elegant silhouette of the Twin Towers. During my last visit in 2012, the new One World Trade Center was almost finished, the memorial fountains in the footprints of the old towers where already there, the 9/11 museum not yet open. To see how it looks today continue after the jump… Continue reading “NYC Experience – Memories”

I wanna be loved by you

Love Attack
Love Attack | New York City | 2018

Those commuters for sure seem totally ignorant about that love attack from their right side. Or maybe nobody dares to look anymore? I took this is the new subway station below the Oculus near the new World Trade Center. Image specs are 1/125 sec @ f/4 and ISO 250. After RAW conversion I corrected the white balance in Lightroom CC, so it correctly shows the white marble of the station, not the yellowish color that the automatic white balance gave me. A good example why shooting RAW makes so much sense, when it comes to correcting the white balance in post processing. No chance to get this straight in jpg. While the AWB typically does well outside, indoors with artificial light in often is lost.

Another point fo discussion in this image is whether to clone out the tubes of the roof construction that are visible in the top right. Cropping does not work here, as you would lose the leading lines of the walkway and the electronic billboard. So either leave them where there are, or take the work laborious approach to clone them out, without disrupting the lines of the marble tiles. I decided to leave them. Although a bit of a disturbance of the otherwise clean composition, the eye doesn’t really notice them. I would be interested in your opinions, leave them in the comment section.

Have a great Sunday!

Marcus

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My New York City Eye Opener

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Lines

NYC Experience – DUMBO

Across the Aisle

Across the Aisle
Across the Aisle | New York City | 2018 | 1/60 sec @ f/4 and ISO 3200

Although a short week, due to a public holiday in Germany, I’m glad it is over. Looking forward to a weekend of rest.

Across the Aisle
Across the Aisle | New York City | 2018 | 1/125 sec @ f/4 and ISO 3200

Shooting street photography in a subway is not so difficult, and there are always interesting characters sitting across the isle. Everybody is either half asleep or occupied with the smartphone. A great place to shoot inconspicuous street portraits. Be ware to get at least 1/60 sec of shutter speed, as the trains are always moving and rumbling on their tracks, so make sure you dial in a fast enough speed, at least 1/60 of a second to avoid motion blur.

The photos were taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4. RAW conversion and post processing in Lightroom Classic CC.

If you want to pick up your camera this weekend and are still looking for some fresh inspirations what to shoot, visit my free Learning Center .

Wish you a great weekend!

Marcus

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NYC Experience – Empire State Building

Empire State Building 06
View towards North East

This episode from our week in NYC I takes you up one of the most iconic buildings in the world, the Empire State Building, located on the west side of Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets. The Art Deco skyscraper was completed in 1931. Including the antenna it has a height of  1,454 feet (443.2 m). For a bit about the building and more photos continue after the jump… Continue reading “NYC Experience – Empire State Building”

NYC Experience – Day at the Museum

AMNH NYC 08
Watch your back | New York City | 2018

One of the largest museums in the world is the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City. It is situated across the Central Park in the Upper West Side of the Big Apple. Opened in 1877, the museum contains over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains and cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. If you have seen the 2006 movie “Night at the Museum”, you know that this exhibits can come to live at times. For more about the museum and more photographs from our visit continue after the jump…

Continue reading “NYC Experience – Day at the Museum”

Wait a moment

Emergency
Emergency | New York City | 2018

When shooting Street Photography, sometimes it is worth waiting a few seconds, observing an interesting scene. Below is the first photograph I took of that scene I observed in a New York subway station sometime after midnight. It was the high heeled lady holding the flowers that first caught my eye, standing elegantly in front of the rugged backdrop of the subway exit.

I moved to the front a bit, as I wanted to align the red flowers with the likewise red emergency exit sign behind her, wanting to create a visual line between the red and black subject (lady) and likewise red and black background (exit gate). The all of a sudden her companion put his hands in front of his face. Realizing this gesture I pressed the shutter once more, capturing a street photography with both visual interest, lots of gesture and a story behind (guess for yourself….)

Photo was taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M1 and the mZuiko 12-100mm F/4. Image specs are 1/80sec @ F/4 and ISO1600, 75mm focal length. RAW conversion and post processing in Lightroom Classic CC.

P4103875

If you are looking for inspirations around photography for the weekend, check out my free Learning Center .

Wish you all sunny Sunday 🙂 !

Marcus

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A Street Photographer’s Dialogue

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