Mermaid Dress

Making A Statement


Wow! What an outfit! 

It must have been difficult to walk in that fancy dress.

Mermaid Dress

I like the expressions on the faces of the people crossing the street.

Do you suppose that this lady realized that her dress would be dirty by the time that she arrived at the event?

Perhaps no one will notice. They'll all be hypnotized by the headpiece.


Camera:    Nikon D800E
Lens:        Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2015 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Columbus Circle

Pulse Of The City

Columbus Circle is in constant motion. It's one of the most dynamic intersections in the city. Life races through here twenty-four hours a day.

Would you like to get a sense of what New York is all about? Do you have only a short time? I suggest that you begin at Columbus Circle. Stand here for a few minutes watching.

Watch the traffic. Watch the shoppers. Watch the taxis, the busses, and the seasoned pedestrians.

Watch the tourists try to negotiate the complex crosswalks. Watch the expensive cars and the guests at the grand hotels. Watch the performers at the edge of the park. 

Columbus Circle At Dusk

Spend some time in Columbus Circle, the ultimate gateway to the New York experience.


Camera:    Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens:        Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

New York - City In Motion - Guggenheim Museum

Honoring An Architectural Classic

Frank Lloyd Wright's "temple of the spirit" was built in 1959 and became an instant classic of inspired contemporary architecture. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is one of the most elegant and recognizable buildings in all of New York City.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - New York - City In Motion

Tourists and photographers flock to the Guggenheim. It's stunning in every season. Photograph it once, and you'll want to come back and capture it at some new angle or at a different time of day.

This photo of the Guggenheim is my favorite so far. It's the very first photo that I took for the City In Motion collection, and I think that it was a pretty good start!



Camera:    Nikon D800E
Lens:        Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2014 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Jazz Guitarist

Concerto Impromptu

I heard the sound before I saw him, the delicate chords of a jazz guitar ringing out with warmth and clarity, strummed with the precise touch of a gifted player. A player like Robert Conton.

As I rounded the corner I found him playing for a dozen or so onlookers. The guitar was new, purchased minutes before from a music store down the street, but she came alive in Robert's hands as though they had been together for years.

I asked if it would be okay if I took a few photos. Robert nodded and grinned warmly.

Jazz Guitarist Robert Conton in New York

I took about six shots. I didn't want to go crazy and have the click of the shutter disturb the music. I put the camera away and just listened for a while.

The music was beautiful! The tone of Robert's guitar is so rich and full. Complex chords and dreamy melodies flowed effortlessly from his gifted hands. 

There is nothing like music, good music, produced before your eyes and ears by the hands of a musician of the highest caliber. It's like the moment when a woman falls into your arms and gives you her heart. And you want that moment to last forever.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon 24-105 f/4L IS

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2014 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

The Other Side of the Island

The Charm of New York's Neighborhoods

Skyscrapers. High-rise apartment buildings. Landmarks, lights, and sights - New York has it all. Tourists flock to Times Square and Rockefeller Center, stroll along Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, and aim their cameras at the Chrysler Building and the World Trade Center. The grandeur can be intoxicating. The experience, unforgettable.

New Yorkers and frequent visitors enjoy the famous sights just as much as the tourists do. But there's a more intimate side of the city - neighborhoods that retain the charm and character of decades past. 

I love to photograph New York. A big part of that adventure is discovering the city's hidden secrets, lesser known places that still catch the eye and captivate the imagination.

City In Motion - Classic New York Architecture

The photo above shows a style of architecture that I have come to appreciate while meandering through the busy streets of Manhattan. These four or five-story building typically feature shops on the street level, apartments above, and intricate iron fire escapes.

The façades can be quite colorful. I love how direct sunlight - which hits this row of buildings for at most only a few minutes per day - brings out the colors, textures, and details.

My first attempt at this shot didn't work out well. I realized afterward that I had forgotten to put a memory card into the camera. The images vanished as soon as I turned the camera off.

I returned a week later, wedged my tripod between a couple of parked cars (one of which was waiting to pull out!), focused, finalized my exposure settings carefully, and clicked six or seven shots as cars passed by in various patterns. I like this one the best because of the even distribution of the passing cars across the frame.

Unfortunately, these lovely buildings are disappearing. Each year, many of them are torn down to make way for large and more modern structures. I look forward to photographing more neighborhoods like this one - before they all disappear.


Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2013 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

City In Motion - The Inspiration Behind The Photographs

Reflection and Possibility

Urban photographers like to work with reflections. Modern cities are endowed with a generous supply of glass panes and shiny surfaces.

One evening in the summer, I noticed a black marble wall. I pulled out my camera and experimented with shots of the reflections of passing people and the vehicles.

Empire State Building - New York City in Motion

It was an interesting idea, it presented technical challenges. There wasn't much light at that hour, and the dark surface absorbed most of what was available.

Even with a highly sensitive modern digital camera, I was struggling to set a shutter speed that would freeze the motion of my reflected subjects. 

My mind began to search for solutions. I considered trying again with extremely fast lenses and using special noise reduction software.

And then I said to myself, "Stop!"

I realized that I was thinking in a habitual ways. I was solving the same problems in the same way, using the same thinking that I had been using for years. It was time for a break, time to set my automatic responses aside and approach the problem from a new perspective.

Grand Central Station - New York City In Motion

What if I couldn't freeze the motion of passing objects? What if I let them blur on purpose?

Legendary photographer Ernst Haas used motion blur creatively in his images. Search online for a copy of his photograph, La Suerte De Capa, captured in Pamplona, Spain in 1956. It's one of my all-time favorite photographs in part because it defies common practice. Instead of freezing the motion in the frame, Haas enhanced its impact on the final image. 

I began to the see a possibility. I didn't necessarily have to fight to freeze my subjects. If I cold capture motion effective in the frame of a still photograph, I could use it to show the dynamic pace of life in New York City.


Empire State Building: Nikon D800E, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5

Grand Central: Canon EOD 5D Mark III, TS-E24mm f/3.5L

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

New York - City In Motion - 11/12/13

See the World. Differently.

Well, the date is finally here, and after three months of shooting, I am proud to announce the debut of New York - City In Motion. 

Busy Intersection - New York City In Motion

This collection attempts to capture the dynamic, fast-moving pace of New York City in creative ways using the unique qualities of still photography.

Forty Yard Line - New York City In Motion

I'll be writing extensively in the coming months about the making of this collection and the inspiration behind the images.

To view the entire collection in high resolution, please click here. 

Thank you as always for your continued interest and support!

Busy Intersection: Nikon D800E, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5

Forty Yard Line: Canon EOD 5D Mark III, 70-200 f/4L IS

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Sun Dial and Tribute Beams

9/11/2010

The massive, seven-foot tall sun dial was designed by sculptor Robert Adzema. Its location on the Hudson River provides unimpeded views of Lower Manhattan.

Sun Dial and Tribute Lights, 9/11/2010

Blue tribute lights beam skyward each year on the 9/11 anniversary. Visitors line up at the edge of the river to pay their respects and snap photos of the lights and the New York skyline.

It's amazingly quiet here at dusk in mid-September. There's a prevailing sense of reverence and an appreciation for the value of life.


Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS 

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2013 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Red Cube And White Tile

The Search for Fresh Perspectives

Red Cube, a familiar New York landmark, was created by sculptor Isamu Noguchi in 1968. Its location just one block from the World Trade Center complex draws a lot of tourist traffic.

Is it possible to capture a unique view of an object that is photographed hundreds, perhaps thousands of times every day? Creativity is a vast universe. Why not give it a try?

After snapping some rather mundane shots of Red Cube, I decided to look for a more interesting perspective. Young men were skate boarding in the area, and I took a few shots with them in the frame, but nothing special materialized. Daylight was beginning to fade, and I hadn't captured a single decent photo.

Red Cube White Tile - New York

I noticed that one of the plaza tiles was lighter than the rest. Perhaps the original tile had to be replaced by a newer, less weathered slab. When I walked over to the white tile, I noticed that the line adjacent to it (to its right in the photo above) led directly toward the center of the cube.

When I noticed this geometric relationship between the tile and the cube, my creative mind launched into a virtual orgasm. I couldn't wait to take the shot.

A wide-angle lens would make all of the lines in the plaza to converge toward the sculpture, effectively linking cube and tile. I mounted a special tilt-shift lens that would prevent the distortion of vertical lines and keep both the tile and the cube in sharp focus. (This feature isn't available on most lenses).

I leveled the camera on the tripod, focused and metered carefully, spent a few minutes fending off a polite but unhelpful security guard, and captured the shot seen above.

Red Cube and White Tile is one of my favorite images of Lower Manhattan. It took a bit of time to get all of the pieces lined up and in focus, but the final image turned out even better than I had anticipated. The lone white tile and the convergence of lines toward the center add an interesting dimension to an oft photographed object. 


As with all of the photos on this blog, you can view larger, more detailed versions on my website. Please click the link below. You'll find this image in the 28 Days Sharper Portfolio 


Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II (tilt and fall movements applied)

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2013 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Pretzel Girls

Capturing The Moment

As a rule, I avoid photographing children whose families I don't know. Society has become hyper-sensitive to any activity that could be construed as child exploitation. And for good reason.

Having a cute-kid-holding-a-lollipop photo in my portfolio isn't worth the hassle if the parents get the wrong idea. In most cases, I see the kid, but I just keep walking. There are plenty of other subjects.

Children doing something interesting in a group, however, is generally a safe exception. I think of it more as shooting the activity than photographing any particular person. I don't care who is doing the activity; it's the activity itself that's interesting.

When I noticed this group of young ladies eating soft pretzels on the steps of Federal Hall on Wall Street, I made a quick decision to grab the shot. The camera was on and hanging from my neck, so all I really needed to do was positioning myself, frame, focus, and shoot. It all happened in three to four seconds.

Pretzel Girls - New York

The lady on the right moved into the frame just as I was getting ready to shoot, but I managed to capture the photo of the kids before she impeded the shot further.

This is one of my favorite "people in the street" shots. It's colorful, fun, relaxed, and relatively unique. It's not often that I see six nicely dressed children eating pretzels together. I'm very happy that I decided to take the shot in the fleeting moment when it was available.

'Pretzel Girls' was part of 2012's 'Summer in New York' photo exhibition.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon 24-105 f/4L IS

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

The Painted Piano

On Rating One's Own Work

Part of the lure of photography is the surprise factor. Sometimes things work out better than we might expect and sometimes less so.

I spend time each week reviewing, rating, and categorizing my photos. I want to understand what differentiates an outstanding or exceptional image from one that is merely competent. I figure that the more I know about what makes a meaningful image, the higher the probability of capturing more of them in the future.

I came up with the following rating scheme to help identify my best photos, the good ones, the not-so-good ones, and the inevitable turkeys.

No Stars - A flawed or otherwise unimpressive photo. I might keep it in my files for historical purposes only, but I wouldn't show it to my friends.

1 Star (*) - A well-executed photo without discernible flaws, but one that I need to spend time reviewing before deciding whether to publish it. I may have a better version of the photo, but I'm keeping this one as an alternative.

2 Stars (**) - A strong image with definite impact, an image that I would be proud to print or display on my website. This is the level where people start to say "Wow!" when they first see the image.

3 Stars (***) - An outstanding photograph with all of the qualities of a two-star image plus a uniquely impressive or interesting quality that makes it stand out in a collection.

4 Stars (****) - All of the qualities of a three-star image, but with some rare or remarkable quality. For people, it might be that one shot with the perfect expression or a spontaneous gesture that increases the impact of the image.

5 Stars (*****) - A rare gem. An image that captures a very special moment or situation and depicts it splendidly. A photograph that could not be improved in terms of impact.

The Painted Piano

The Painted Piano qualifies as a five-star photo on my scale. It represents a unique and precious moment. I don't see painted pianos on the street every day.  In fact, it happened only this one time. I could walk the streets of the city for the next twenty years and never see anything like this again.

The gentleman playing the piano while wearing his New York Yankees hat and T-shirt had a wonderful expression, his eyes looking off into infinity. The colored paint on the piano adds to the uniqueness of the image, and the light was supportive and had just the right amount of contrast.

This wasn't a technically perfect capture. I had to crop out a pedestrian and a garbage can. (That can happen when you work fast.) Luckily, there was enough frame left over to yield a moving and memorable image.

I'm glad that I decided to take a walk that day. I'm glad that I decided to carry my camera with me. I'm glad that I stopped by to take a picture of the man playing his painted piano.

I'll treasure this image forever. It's one of those nice surprises that exemplify the joy and magic of photography.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Lens: Canon 24-105 f/4L IS

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2013 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved