taking pictures on-the-go during an impulsive trip to new york city

You’ve got to work with what you’ve got. Whether that means a less than stellar camera, or eye and skill. I’m probably going to lose credibility here; these weren’t my best. I didn’t expect to go to New York, it was a last-minute impulse decision. I’m constantly planning trips that are on my “eventually” list, forever the window shopper. Except this time, I pulled the trigger with 48hr notice. Was this the best way to go about it? No. Did this feel worth it after? Yes.

I have the bad habit of immediately wanting to go back where I’d just been. Sometimes you discover places to see or things to do on your trip, but you don’t have the time. Trip has been planned, time has been allocated, you kind of already made your choices. I do give myself time for exploring but it’s often only enough to find out more places and things to do.

the hail mary for “bad” photos – go black and white

You’ll notice that most of these pictures are in black and white. Since I’m always learning, black and white is my hail Mary for saving missed opportunities. And the higher the contrast, the more saving it needed. You’ll see plenty here. It’s usually due to photos being blurry because I was on the go, or the original looked messy in color. And this is where i began telling myself, it must be the bad camera.

As I love to do touristy things, these were taken during a night bus tour. Open roof and everything. Swooping by, some of the pictures were things I took intentionally. This was a semi-busy street, traffic was beginning to pick up. Locals were walking on the street to go around the tourists. Some tourists noticed this and started going on the street. Some blocks that was okay to do since they were blocked off by giant planters, this street was not. The buildings were tall, the headlights beaming, so I shot.

Other pictures, I was just seeing what I could get. I remember the pizza place image thinking; that didn’t work. This was more in between landmarks, so the bus moved swiftly. I was trying to get little peeks of the city buzzing around. Given these were at night, the lights gave a nice little pop in places.

finding peace in black and white photos

Other times, black and white emphasizes the subject more. Some of the originals felt flat, and I wanted to minimize the distraction from the foreground. I found a peaceful vibe on this pier. The lack of color is also doing a good job of hiding the fact people weren’t doing much. If anything, their silhouette against the water showed up nicely in this image.

This building is near the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, and right next to the mall, Westfield WTC, they’ve  built. The architecture is dramatic, and playfully makes me think of an insect or small animal. I took pictures of the mall head on, and then went straight from the far left for more. Taking a break of that, I was looking around at all of the buildings. I looked straight up and found this. Can’t decide if this is better in color or black and white. They’re both great shots. For your viewing pleasure, you can play with the slider and decide for yourself. It’s funny when you’re looking all over the place for pictures and sometimes you just have to stop and look up. This was my favorite shot that day.

I took a ridiculous number of pictures of that mall.

photographing architecture: Keep your head up!

But practice makes decent, and you’ve got to put in the time and effort. Perfect won’t come anytime soon. Hopefully I’ll be able to tell what’s good or not on sight to save myself time later. Even with a bad camera.

In case you’re wondering, the little wisps came from the mall. Notice Freedom Tower in the back.

And Freedom Tower from the ground. I think the lack of color looked interesting because I personally don’t see it a lot for architecture.

And now in color. Because geometric lines are fun to see in real life.

This was the largest brick building I’ve seen. I noticed the roof from a distance and focused on that. From where I was coming from, the landscaping was somehow too aware. It’s completely covering the building, but I liked that. Perfect headway for the roof. If you think this is a little awkwardly cropped, keep scrolling. I wish I got the sidewalk too but…people. a single person stands out much more than if there are a sprinkling of people, which is more anonymous.

missing out on the big stuff

This building went on and on, I couldn’t believe it. Also, a major miss. There was traffic running through and I noticed at the base of the building there some fencing. As I obsessed about the building, I eventually caught sight of what all the fuss was about.

I didn’t get in line. It hurt a little. I forgot where I was going but couldn’t take too much time in line and I’m glad I went for the building instead. Not sure what I would’ve got with the bull either. Probably nothing new. You have to make choices because some things feel like you have to do it out of popularity. I made mine.

But finding even better stuff – The New York Times Building

And ending with one of the coolest things I saw there. Slide around to see which you prefer. I grew up hearing about the New York Times and found this landmark iconic. I was stunned as I approached the building unexpectedly. Coming from Chicago, it was the Sun Times versus the Tribune for us. My family was blue collar, so we went with the Sun Times. As a child I asked about the Tribune, but my father just gave a stern side-eye.

By the time I was a teenager, newspapers and magazines were in a losing battle with the internet. Printed that day and somehow, still outdated. The internet reigns. I’m a little sad about it. Yes, newspapers and magazines still physically exist. But the cultural aspect is gone.

So this was not my, I went to New York post. Clearly. But I wanted to start with these images. I can’t even think about this trip without mixed feelings on the pictures. In case I haven’t mentioned, this is all smartphone photography. I’m sure some of you caught that. This was a Samsung Galaxy A50, which randomly died on me six months later at a very inopportune time. But that’s a story for another post.

Looking back, I enjoy these images but now worried it was a “bad” camera. Or maybe it’s not the camera. Maybe looking back at my skill level at the time is what bothers me. I remember what I was going for and see the missed opportunities. And the Naïve choices, loads of mall pictures. As my introductory trip to New York, I was very pleased. There’s so much to do and see. When I go back, I’ll be bringing to a better camera. And the skill to back it too.