March Super Moon (月球)

Tonight the moon will be closer to Earth than at any other time during the past 18 years. The apparent size of the moon varies because of the oval shape of the moon's orbit. And tonight it will be particularly close--appearing to be almost 15% larger larger than normal (and 30% brighter). You can more about the phenomenon at NASA's website.

Even yesterday the moon was incredibly bright. I shot the photo above using Canon's 70-200mm at f/10, the shutter at 1/500 and ISO at 400 and cropped substantially. Not exactly astrophotography gear. Even a slightly longer telephoto lens would have helped a lot.

Steve Martin at the Highline Ballroom (史提夫·馬丁)

Did you know that Steve Martin is a Grammy award-winning banjo player? Turns out he's something of a renaissance man (actor, novelist, screenplay writer, and, yes, banjo-player). On Monday, he played the first of several shows in New York City with the Steep Canyon Rangers at the Highline Ballroom. And he pulled off a fantastic and very funny show.

I photographed the show for Time Out New York (you can see a brief write-up at their music blog the Volume. It was my first time at the Highline Ballroom and I liked the intimacy of the venue.

For more photos see this set on Flickr. Or continue below the fold for a shot of Steve with his iPad setlist.

Empire State Building at Dusk

Winter finally seems to be losing its grip on New York. The light at dusk was beautiful last night and I went out to shoot a bit in the East Village. The shot above is taken on the Bowery near Houston. I would have loved to get to a higher vantage point for this shot and cropped quite a bit to take out the traffic lights.

Waiting for the F Train

Another subway shot using manual focus on the 50mm 1.4. I like the determined, impatient look at the person's face. That train took a while to arrive.

Window

Someone was up late on 6th Street and 1st Avenue.

I've past this building several times at night lately and am a bit intrigued at this point: there's always light on in the same window. The building has a very dark, even haunting presence at night. I will have to go back with a tripod and a wide-angle lens to adequately portray how dominant the building is (I shot the above with the 50mm 1.4).

Out and About in Newark, New Jersey

A man waits on the intersection of Broad and Market Street in Newark, New Jersey on February 17, 2010.

I was in Newark last week for a quick trip and snapped some photos on the way. You can see a few more in this gallery on flickr. I was struck by the number of "for rent" signs" and deserted buildings in the downtown area. The architecture suggests a vibrant past and it's sad to see how rundown the city center is today.

About to Board

I haven't had a chance to go out and shoot much lately. Work has kept me busy and so most of my recent shots are from my commute. The results is more shots from the subway--like this one. I like the scene since it's such a familiar feeling. Rushing to the train with too many things and yet trying the best to multitask. I shot it with the 50mm 1.4 at 2.0.

Reader at 42nd Street

A woman reads a magazine at the subway stop at Bryant Park and 42 Street on February 3, 2011.

Another shot with manual focus with the 50mm 1.4 opened all the way. Besides the concentrated look of the subject, I like the contrasting lines of lights in the background.

After the Snow

The beauty of snow in New York last about a day. After that salt, cars, and snowplows turn the picturesque into a slushy mess. Or maybe it's just more challenging to find the beauty. Here, two people are struggling to cross a street on the Lower East Side in New York City.

Snow on 42nd Street

During this week's snowstorm I tried to get a few shots as the snow was coming down. It was pretty miserable shooting under those conditions. Besides the cold and the wetness, it was dark and difficult to focus.

Above is a shot from 42nd street. I don't think I have ever experienced the street so quiet and empty.

Close Read (and a bit about manuel focus)

I've been spending some more time with the 50mm 1.4 lens lately--it's size, wide aperture, and focal length make it a convenient choice. But the slow and inaccurate autofocus continues to bother me. To try to get around this, I've begun focusing manually, especially in low light. The upside is that relying on manual focus has made me better at predicting the focus distance. I'm nowhere near perfect but my success rate has been improving. Knowing the focal length well, this has allowed me to compose shots fairly accurately without using the viewfinder.

I'm pretty happy with the result here. Using autofocus and composing through the camera, it would be difficult to get a picture like the one above.

Newspaper Reader

I've been spending some more time taking photos of people reading. There's something very calm and soothing about this compositions. I also like the way the pictures demonstrate how people can relax and focus on a book, newspaper, e-reader or what have you in even a busy street or a loud subway station.

Many of my pictures of readers are from the New York subway. With a full-time job, I simply shoot whenever I have a free moment (and a camera). For more photos of people reading, see this set on flickr.

Chelsea

Sometimes focus isn't everything...

Great Jones Alley at Night

Here's a night shot of one of the few alleys in New York City. Closed to the public, Great Jones Alley stretches only one block (between Great Jones Street and Bond Street) near Broadway. It's shot at 17mm with an apature of 6.3 on a tripod. I like the perspective and the distortions add to the composition.

For some history on Great Jones Alley and some other New York City alleys, see this post at Forgotten New York.

Shoes above Houston

A pair of shoes hang above the intersection of Houston and Elizabeth Street in New York City. The shoes appear to be part of an art installation by the street art collective, Smart Crew. Not much to say about this other than it probably was a bit too bright and the light a little too harsh (I shot it just around noon). I used Canon's 70-200 2.8 and shot it wide-open.

Snow

It was a snowy day in New York today. Once the snow hit the ground, it didn't impress much but as it was falling it made for some beautiful sights. Here, the snow comes down between two buildings near Bowery and Houston Street.

Waiting

A wide-angle shot at 17mm from the 42nd Street, Bryant Park Station. A tighter composition and less distortion would do a lot to improve the image. I would love to bring a medium or large format camera in the subway one day.

Washington Square at Night

I spent some time shooting with Canon's 17-40 4.0 lens last night. There are a lot of things to like about this lens. At 17mm, the lens offers a dramatic perspective as shot above illustrates. It's also very light, produces some very sharp images, and is fairly inexpensive. An obvious drawback is the narrow apature and for night photography a tripod is generally necessary. That said, I shot the above photo handheld at 1/40 seconds and an ISO of 3200.

Rue Vieille du Temple

A night scene from Rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais neighborhood in Paris on December 28, 2010.

I shot this with Canon's 50mm 1.4 at 2.8. The 50mm is pretty sharp when it's stepped down a bit. The exposure is 1/15 and I rested the camera against a doorway to make sure it didn't shake. I waited around a bit to get the right composition of people. I'm pretty happy with the result although I would have liked to have the person on the left a little further away from the edge of the photo and avoided the car in the distance.

Haderslev Pond

Haderslev Pond in southern Denmark at 3.30 in the afternoon of December 21, 2010.

An advantage of photographing closer to one of the poles is that the natural light for much of the year is rich and warm. With the sun at a low angle and lingering sunsets and sunrises, there's a lot of time to get some great shots.