Door With Graffiti - New York

Making The Best Of A Bad Situation

Graffiti has made a rampant comeback in New York over the past few years. Bare wall space attracts the attention of aggressive taggers. Even pristine brick buildings get tagged; it's almost impossible to remove paint from brick.

Graffiti tagging doesn't cause bodily harm, but it's more than a petty nuisance. Graffiti tags are unsightly, destructive, expensive to repair, and blatantly corrosive to the ideals of society. Communities thrive on a sense of mutual respect and shared purpose. Graffiti signals the erosion of these values.

Door With Graffiti - New York

Leave it to photographers to find the bright side of a bad situation. Urban blight is visually intriguing. Walk through a run down neighborhood, and you may walk away with some interesting photos. Exercise caution, of course. And be aware that copyright infringement could be an issue in some circumstances. (The graffiti could be considered a protected work of the visual arts.) But as long as you're not shooting an ad campaign, graffiti can provide ready-to-shoot backgrounds for your urban images. 

You might even consider making the graffiti your subject. The decaying plywood wall in the photo above has been bombarded by layer after layer of paint. The layers blend into a dadaist explosion of color and texture. (The fish is my favorite bit.)

When I walked past this wall, I felt compelled to do something with it. Initially, I envisioned a wider shot to capture more of the wall. But when I returned to the scene with my tripod, I had to work around some trash and the make-shift bed of a homeless person. I wanted to use a tripod, because this spot is under some scaffolding, and there isn't much light available. Eventually, I chose a portrait-oriented composition of only the door section. 

I'm pleased with the image. I think that it turned out well. Photographers know how to make something good in a bad situation. From chaos, composition!



Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2016 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

View From Madison Square

Evening's Golden Glow

View From Madison Square

A unique mix of modern and pre-war architecture photographed in the golden glow of sunset.


Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        Nikon PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2016 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Color Of Night - Blue Fountain

Night At The Museum

Color Of Night - Blue Fountain

Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2016 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

The Color of Night

Grand Church

Grand Church - New York City

Camera:    Nikon D810
Lens:        Nikon PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5D ED

Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!

Copyright 2015 Daniel R. South

www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

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