Thursday, March 29, 2012

Far and to the end...



Today's post is about yesterday's trip to Far Rockaway and back... Not surprisingly it's quite a trip out to the end (or beginning) of the A line... But I wanted to see what things looked like out there... I ended up walking a lot but had a good time... Not all is subway related, but still wanted to share...

The image on top shows the end... Not the end of my trip or the blog, but the end of that street... Still sounds final... Looking out towards JFK...



Took quite a while to get to Howard Beach / JFK where I started my excursion on foot... Love the presence of this man...



Arriving at Howard Beach Station... Lucky to catch a train with loads of travelers with luggage... What better to illustrate the importance of this station?



Getting out of the station to street level...



This is what I was looking for... Capture the New York City subway in a clearly not urban setting...


I'm fascinated by things that are unfamiliar to me... I guess that is a natural thing... Coming from mainland Germany I'm just not used to boats parked on streets...


Lovely, lovely weather for this set up...


Not sure this image really works, but it somehow reminded me of a series of images that I took when applying for my apprenticeship way back... Those were of a white plastic chair in an urban rundown area... I guess not much changed then... ;)


Truly fascinating!


Shot this with both the Canon and the Sony... Liked the Canon one a little better... Not by much though...



On the train from Howard Beach to Far Rockaway... What a face...



Playing around trying to incorporate the different elements... Subway, beach and rain... Might be one of my favorite images of this trip... Want to get one of those while going over the Manhattan Bridge some day!


This is on my walk south on Far Rockaway... Love this kind of weather...


There were two of those buildings... Couldn't make that image work though... And the subway way is running above ground here... Unusual for me as I have spent most of my time in areas where the subway is actually underground... 


Nice curves! ;)


And suddenly the weather changed...


Less close up version of opening shot...


A train crossing the bridge in the background...


 Is this it?


S (shuttle) train crossing the bridge...


More walking... Tracks splitting off...


On my way back close to Broad Channel station...


Quite a while later... My walk from Broad Channel station to Howard Beach Station triggered quite some thinking... "Why did I take all this stuff?"  "Is a tripod really necessary?" and so on... All in all the images I got were a great pay off though...


A train crossing the bridge at sunset...


Recycling station and tree...


Me playing with shapes...


Different approach with plane making its way into JFK...


Emergency call boxes were lining the whole trip...


Train crossing in the back... Love how silvery it looks reflecting the setting sun...


I had never gotten out of that station on this side before so I was pleasantly surprised to find this arriving back at Howard Beach Station last night...


Not in service trains are usually quite annoying especially when you've been waiting for a while...


A train leaving Howard Beach station... Love the shot, bummer though that I had to wait quite a while for the next one then...


Waiting for the train home...



Love when elements in the image tell a story... Back home at 125 Street station...

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Stark contrasts...



One thing that I realized when I came to NYC first was that it is truly a place of high contrasts... Super rich in glitzy limousines passing by homeless people on the street... All that a lot closer than I had seen it before... Contrasts even show in the subway... Of course that makes for great images... But at times it's tough to take as well...

In this image happy kids are passing by a possibly homeless person sleeping on a bench with bags... But maybe that's just me perceiving stark contrast everywhere today...


Rushing back home...


These sequences are great... 


Focus and subjects shift in an instance...


Waiting...


Love all those expressions... Contrasts again!


Almost everyone is looking down...


Back home: 125th Street...

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Experimenting...

 

I'm additionally taking a longer lens with me now and it's interesting to see that it changes things up a bit... But see for yourselves...
Advantages: The images quality is better, it enables me to shoot with faster shutter speeds and get more close up images... Disadvantages: Harder to get in focus images (as it's less of a wide angle), motion is emphasized and more tricky to aim in quick situations...

Love this image... Lucky how the light still catches his eye...


 Walking, walking, walking... Times Square at rush hour...


Very happy with this not too happy image...


Intense...


Depth... And longing?


Am actually curious to see that movie, but really like the woman in front of it... 


 Today's person with shades...


Full profile...


Love her hands and how her face renders out of focus...


A little different in feel...


Getting of the train sequence #1...


And #2...


"Train is held in the station momentarily..."


 Foreground / background: Melancholic solitude versus joking group...


Similar, but with different people...


 Coming up the stairs...


Great eyes...


From the S (shuttle) train...


Feels like an Anton Corbijn image to me... Love, love, love when stuff like that happens... I tend to like when things go out of focus... Sometimes I even think that it shows things that an in-focus image wouldn't... Makes the mind see somehow... The brain lacks proper input and the image works on deeper levels then...


 Love the foreground background relationship here as well as the colors...


 Could be sharper... But I like it... Even better maybe... Blurry, in dreamlike motion...


 Wow!


 Let's go!!!


Don't know, but I like it!


 I wasn't sure if the white / light gray hair would render well in this shot...


Man with great face...


 Same...


Excited...


Somehow I keep thinking vampire... Can't help it... Great style though!!!


Invasion of color!


Similar yellow...


Concerned?


Love this... One of three frames of this situation...


Overwhelmed I would guess...


Great wrap around glasses...  


I think I did 3 passes to get him in action: Preacher man #1.



On one of the passes back... Preacher man image #2.



Time to go home!