The NYC Subway Entrance

Posted on September 1, 2010 by admin

Subway Entrance

Continuing with my recent NYC photo series, this image explores the subway entrance. I have taken many photos from the underground subway station but this is the first of the surface entrance.

This image was made framing the man beginning his way up the steps. There is a bit of mystery about the man. Who is he? If you look closely (click on the image to enlarge), he smartly dressed.

Subway entrance in B & W

I intentionally enhanced the color image with a bit of detail enhancement with Topaz Adjust 4.

But is the color version just a photo? Does it look better as a black and white? It is a stronger image? The grittiness of subways is emphasized, I think.

Again, compare the two images up close, by clicking on them to make larger. Comments always welcome.

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“AW, Do I have to?”

Posted on August 31, 2010 by admin

Aw, do I have to?

I could not believe my incredible luck in this image. As I often do in “street” photography, I hold the camera at waist height and with the 17-50mm lens, shoot at wide angle (in this case, 37mm). Most decent images are pure luck. You never really know what you are going to get until you see the image afterwards.

But these candid photos sometimes prove very interesting, as it did in this striking image of what appears to be a mom, son and daughter caught in a all too real pose. The boy is perfectly framed by the adult (mom?) and girl (sister?). I can only imagine that the boy is saying, “aw, do we have to (you fill in the blank)”?

What makes the image even more striking is the two women not only have the same mirror-image pose, but look alike. Converted to black and white in LR3.

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Bagels

Posted on August 30, 2010 by admin

Bagels

Bagels anyone! This photo was taken on the corner of 33rd and Eighth Avenue. Food vendors (pushcarts to you) are on almost every corner in NYC.

Taken with the Tamron 17-50mm lens and post-processed in Lightroom 3.

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Cohoes Falls

Posted on August 29, 2010 by admin

The Cohoes Falls is on the Mohawk River in the city of Cohoes, NY. The falls were used at one time to provide power for the Harmony Mills complex which made cotton. Cohoes Falls is wider and higher than the American Falls portion of Niagara Falls and more water pours over it, as well.

This image is a panorama taken today mid-afternoon. It was stitched together from multiple images using Photoshop CS5. It no doubt, would be better at sunrise or sunset!

Cohoes Falls

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Main PO

Posted on August 29, 2010 by admin

Steps at the NYC Main Post Office

This image was made at the main post office at 31st-33rd Streets and 8th Avenue in New York City. Officially called the James Farley Post Office, it was built in 1912 and is an architectural fixture in midtown Manhattan.

The famous phrase,

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

is engraved on the building (it is not the official motto of the USPS but put there by the building’s architect).

The steps in this photo extend the entire length of the building ending in the Corinthian columns (only one of which is seen here). Notice the figure entering the building at the top of the stairs – at the 31st Street end of the building. I created this image to give the feeling of how the building might have looked in the early 1900s rather than in the 21st century.

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Bargain Dogs

Posted on August 28, 2010 by admin

Bargain Dogs

This image was made in New York City looking into a food stand. This is typical of the many such places in Manhattan. The sign says it all.

The photo called for a graphic feel. It was initially processed in LR 3 then taken into Photoshop CS5 where a modified preset filter of Topaz Adjust 4 was applied. This enhanced the highlights and color.

The image was next processed with an action in Photoshop that produced a sketch look. Further modifications were made to get the color and sketch balanced and the final output here.

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Harvester Butterfly

Posted on August 28, 2010 by admin

Harvester

Further along the trail, we spotted this Harvester butterfly (Feniseca tarquinius). They are found in swampy and woodlands areas all along the northeast US and Canada.

Unlike Murray (our monarch butterfly) who has five instars, Harvesters catepillars are hungry larvae and only go through four instars in about 8 days.

The adults feed, on among other things, aphids. This one appears to be a male.

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Ladybug

Posted on August 27, 2010 by admin

Lady Bug

I went on a walk along a trail with my three grandsons today. They acted as my spotters – finding this colorful ladybug on a branch.

The ladybug is actually a beetle from the Coccinelidae family.  There are a large number of species represented in this group of insects. This one is Coccinella septempunctata.

According to some sources, the “ladybug” or “lady beetle” was called “beetle of Our Lady”. It was named after the Virgin Mary, since at one time she was depicted wearing a red cloak. These insects eat aphids as well as pollen (as this guy seems to be doing).

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Charcoal Rose of Sharon

Posted on August 27, 2010 by admin

Charcoal Rose of Sharon

This image is also a Rose of Sharon taken from the center of the flower.

It was taken into the Topaz Adjust 4 plug-in in Photoshop CS5. I used a special version of one of the presets that I devised for this rendition.

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Rose of Sharon

Posted on August 27, 2010 by admin

Rose of Sharon

This image is a close-up of the petals of a Rose of Sharon. It was shot with the Canon 300L IS at 1/640 sec and f4.

The Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is not a rose, but a flowering shrub classified as deciduous. This means it will shed its leaves in the fall. It typically has white, light blue, lavender or in this case, red blooms.

The name, “rose of sharon” appears to have originated from the biblical Songs of Solomon (“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lilly of the valleys”).

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