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A Different Central Park

The last photo I posted was from Central Park in New York City. I’m a little amused because I just realized that this is from a different Central Park; this one was taken in Canada. This is from a Central Park in Burnaby BC, near Vancouver.

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A Different Central Park
A Different Central Park – Burnaby, British Columbia

Like it’s New York namesake, the Canadian version is in the heart of a sprawling urban setting with towering buildings and residences on all sides. However this park is densely populated with tall spruce trees. As soon as you walk a few meters, the sounds of the city are shut out by the thickness of the forest. Everything changes from one extreme to another.

On the outer paths like this, morning commuters walk to and from the train stations on their way to work. Deeper inside there is a rich diversity of flora and fauna. One thing that strikes me is the boldness of the squirrels. They’ll stand before you on the path demanding food. It seems that people feed the creatures because it shows in their behavior. A local also told me that songbirds will land on your outstretched hand near one of the ponds here.

more images from parks

Most people think of mountains and the ocean when you mention British Columbia. But even in the heart of its biggest urban areas are settings like this that keep city dwellers connected to nature. I suppose you could say the same thing for the New York version.

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Saxophone in Central Park

I’ve seen this guy playing the saxophone in Central Park several times before; he’s what I’d consider a permanent fixture. I stopped to take his picture and then left a few dollars in his case. When I was here about five years ago I saw another guy playing the guitar. I was at a train station in another city and someone was some guy playing a didgeridoo. No far beyond were other musicians waiting their turn.

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Saxophone in Central Park
Saxophone in Central Park

That got me thinking about how they stake out these popular spots. I imagine it’s first come first serve. For prime locations like this in Central Park you probably show up early and once you start playing you don’t stop until you’re done, then the next guy takes over. It’s a dog eat dog world for buskers.

Recently I was walking along a street and there was a lone piano chained to a lamppost. When I walk back later a lady was playing a sonata as only an accomplished musician can do, it was stunning and several of us were stopped in our tracks listening to a recital.

more street photos

Subways and tunnels are the perfect location because they concentrate people in confined spaces and you have a captive audience. Quite frankly it’s where I’ve heard some of the most talented musicians. What better way to practice than to perform in a public space? If I could play music I’d be out there too, but I take photos so I’ll just stick to what I know.

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Salt Lake City

A few months ago I was in Salt Lake City visiting some close friends. I am not Mormon but my ancestors were and so are my close friends. So while there I took the time to visit the temple grounds and took a tour of the convention center. This panorama I took while standing on the convention center roof.

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Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City panorama

My ancestors were the original settlers of Salt Lake City. So we also visited the cemetery to see where they were buried. Through help from my friends and a little sleuthing we found the graves where my great-great grandparents were buried. They’re in the Salt Lake Cemetery, which is the resting place of many of the original pioneers.

It was for me an amazing experience because I came away learning about my heritage that heretofore I’d only heard from my grandmother before she died. It goes without saying the Mormons are big on ancestry and so they were more than happy to help me fill in the gaps. I am fortunate to have such a recorded history and now that I know a little more I’m eager to share it.

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Back home the other day I was taking some photos along the waterfront. Two Mormon missionaries approached me and rather than ignore them I engaged them in conversation. I pulled out my iPhone and shared this photo and told them about my experience and ancestors. They seemed genuinely surprised to meet me and equally happy to see a picture of their main temple. It was a fun encounter. While I am not planning to convert to the Mormon faith, there are many things we share in common. And for that connection and fellowship I am truly grateful.

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Study of Light and Impressions

This is a study of light and impressions from familiar scene; it’s a public boat dock along the river. Folks sometimes dock their boats here and walk over to the nearby restaurants. In reality it’s not used all that much. More often people come here to sit and watch the water. It’s a regular stop for me when I’m out walking with my dog Mr. Wiggles.

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Study of Light and Impressions
Study of Light and Impressions

I’ve taken a lot of pictures of this location at various times of the day and night and from different angles. So I guess you could say this is a study of how the scene changes each time. It’s also how I practice, by shooting the same subject slightly differently and then working with it in post. In this case I noticed the lights just as dawn was breaking from the east. It was a quick shot that I hadn’t preplanned.

But later I’ve spent hours working on this. As you know, images out of the camera do not always reflect the mood or scene as we remember it. Our images seem to come out flat and a little boring. So I’ve done a lot of things in an attempt to being back that feeling. I’ve enhanced the lights from the lampposts and I’ve saturated the colors to accentuate the reflections on the water.

More images from Riverwalk in Bradenton

So does it work? It’s all completely subjective; I’ve created something partially resembling what I saw yet something completely different. In the end it is what it is, a study of light and impressions from a familiar scene.

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Central Park South

My last night in Manhattan I spent exploring Central Park and taking a lot of photos. The park is well lit with street lamps along the paths and people milling about just as they do during the day. This is in a section known as Central Park South, which is bordered by the towers of midtown to form a surreal backdrop.

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Central Park South
Central Park South at night

This is thirty-second exposure and it appears a little brighter than it actually was. As a result I didn’t notice the people to the right until about halfway through the exposure. I think they had the perfect setting for an evening picnic.

I rented a bike so I could cover more ground and even at midnight on a Sunday there were people riding bikes alongside me. Maybe I’m naïve but the park seemed safe. Historically the park has had a bad reputation after dark, but it seems to have shed some of that that over the years. There are lights everywhere and paths filled with people enjoying the setting, not to mention an abundance of security.

more New York City photos

If the park didn’t close at one in the morning I could have stayed all night. There are endless compositions for photography. But alas I had a plane to catch in the morning so it was just as well. But now I know that the next time I come back I can plan on getting very little sleep, at least at night.

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A Recent Trip to the Beach

I took this photo on a recent trip to the beach. It was right after a tropical storm and the waves were a little larger than normal. Mind you, they are small compared to other places but still fun to watch.

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A Recent Trip to the Beach
A Recent Trip to the Beach on Anna Maria Island

I know an emergency responder who works at the beach and there is no shortage of stories about people miscalculating the waves. Even though they look small there are rip currents just like everywhere else. Normally the waves are so small it looks like you could swim way out, but apparently that’s not a great idea.

I cannot get enough of the beach. When I visit places away from bodies of water it seems something is missing. Of course that’s not true, it’s just a perspective I’ve acquired by living so close. Yet there is something in our psyches that’s attracted to bodies of water and we feel that with images like this. For some reason we like pictures that include water. It could also just be our primal need for it.

more beach images from the gallery

There is something rejuvenating about oceans, lakes and rivers. Why else would we spend our money traveling to these areas for vacation? We have holidays at a cottage on a lake, go for cruises on a boat, or just hang out at the beach. I am writing this on a Friday, all of those things sound especially good to me right about now.

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Bayfront Park on Longboat Key

Here is a shot of my wife Crystal and our dog Wiggles at Bayfront Park on Longboat Key. The few times I’ve been here it’s usually empty. It’s a nice place to visit if you’re looking for that kind of thing. We stopped in on the way to dinner at St Armands, Circle; a little village just south of here. A few minutes later when we got to St Armands, the sun was setting so I quickly double-parked and ran out on to the beach to grab a few shots. That’s the problem with sunsets, they always occur around dinnertime. It helps to have a patient family.

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Bayfront Park on Longboat Key
Bayfront Park on Longboat Key

Back here at the park we were watching a manatee just off one of the piers. He was just resting in the water, blowing bubbles and coming up for air every few minutes. Manatees and dolphin sightings are common in this area. They’re fun to watch but I’ve not had a lot of success in capturing them in images.

more images from Longboat Key

I took a lot of pictures in the few minutes we were here, including some from the drone. We were just heading back to the car when I noticed the long shadows. This is an example of just trying to be aware of scenes as they unfold and going with the flow. I had other shots in mind but this ended up being my favorite. It was completely unplanned yet somehow wins the day. That’s pretty much how every outing goes, I may get several shots I like, but usually there is just one that stands out, and this is that one for me.

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West 54th Street

Here is an interesting shot down West 54th Street. It’s actually two photos of the same scene blended together. One was taken around midnight and the other around dawn. I setup my camera on a tripod and took a long exposure before falling asleep. I left the camera in place on the tripod and when I woke up several hours later I took another. Later I used the lighten blend mode in Photoshop to combine the two.

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West 54th Street
West 54th Street from high up on Broadway

I also used a lens skirt, which cuts out the reflections; it’s indispensable when taking photos through windows. In fact, while on the same trip, I took it to the observation deck of the One World Observatory; it worked wonders with the floor to ceiling windows.

We were lucky with the hotel; it has excellent views of this section of the city. When I’m traveling I never know what I’m going to see. So with respect to photography, and life in general, I try to be flexible and go with the flow. It’s a constant theme and sometimes struggle to let go and become aware of things around you. Sometimes I recognize cool images and other times I walk right past them.

It seems we covet high floors in the buildings of large cities, certainly I do. As a photographer I’m looking for the perspectives above the fray. More and more that can be achieved with a drone, but good old fashion brick and mortar buildings are the best if you can gain access. A drone can fly for only so long and is usually restricted in busy cities.

more NYC photos

Maybe the day will come when we have personal drones that can hover for hours like a car. When that happens I’ll be hanging out in cities like this and I won’t even need a highfalutin hotel room.

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Walking Down Broadway

This is a shot that I had a lot of fun making. I went walking down Broadway late at night in the pouring rain. Shooting street scenes in the city is fun enough, but add the lights reflecting on rain slicked streets and it takes it to a whole new level. And of course, being New York, there are always people out walking regardless of the weather.

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Walking Down Broadway
Walking down Broadway in the rain

I was a block from Times Square and there were lights everywhere. The colors of this scene were so vivid it almost looked unreal. At the time it seemed normal, but that’s what happens when you’re in the middle of the city, wild lights everywhere start to seem normal.

I had my camera covered with plastic and I was wearing a rain poncho. I must have been quite the site, but then maybe not. What could look more normal than someone with a camera in Times Square? I wasn’t the only one; I saw one or two others looking for cool shots as well. Rain seems to bring out the photographers, at least the ones that are visiting.

more street images

I was out for a couple of hours and people kept emptying out of bars and walking around looking for places to eat. That was me back in my twenties. Now I’m content just to take pictures of people doing what I used to do. In a way I think that’s kind of funny.

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Gotham City

It’s been so long since I was here last that I had forgotten where everything was. So it was a nice surprise when I “found” the Jackie Kennedy Onassis reservoir late at night on a bike. This is from the north side facing back towards midtown. This night scene with the clouds reminds me of Gotham City.

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Gotham City
Gotham City at night

I rented the bike for the evening as a way to get around Central Park. I got a basket so I could carry my tripod, as I’d need it for long exposures. The park is open until one in the morning and it was a nice surprise to find so many people out at such a late hour. For me, nighttime is the best time to take pictures here because of the overall moodiness. I stopped so often to set up my tripod that I could have easily been here all night. It was very quiet and I was in the zone.

This panorama consists of four vertical long exposure images, each thirty-seconds long. The clouds were heavy which added to the drama of the scene. They are especially illuminated above mid-town, as you would expect. My guess is that the light given off by Times Square is easily visible from space.

more panorama images

It still amazes me that Manhattan has such a big park in the middle of the city. It’s a vital organ of the city; I think the lungs. Whether you are running, cycling or just sitting on a bench, this is where you come to breathe in, breath out and reconnect.