If you look through my portfolio, you will certainly notice a pattern.  I shoot a lot of landscapes and cityscapes.  Waterfalls are common themes in my photos, as are flowers.  Macro photography and water drops too.  But the one thing that is often missing from my photos are the people.  Very, very few of my shots have people in them.  Part of that is certainly attributable to the fact that I happen to enjoy landscapes, waterfalls and flowers.  But, if I’m truly honest with myself, part of it is because I’m not confident in my ability to make people look their best in photographs.

The great thing about my usual choice of subjects is that they don’t complain.  If I need to take fifteen minutes to set up a shot properly, the trees won’t be standing there, impatiently looking at their watches wondering when I’m going to finally be ready.  The flowers are never going to say to me “Oh, don’t use that shot, I don’t like how I look.”  I can count on the fact I’m not inconveniencing the waterfall when  I want to capture it ten different ways.  So, taking the path of least resistance, I gravitate towards these as subjects.  No potential conflicts (especially in a person who is as conflict-averse as I am) is a win.

If all I ever desired to do were these types of shots, then perhaps things would be fine, but the truth of the matter is that I want more — and that more often will involve the human element.

Lately, I’ve been giving some thought to visual storytelling.  The idea that I can convey a story through a single frame is intriguing to me.  I like to write short stories and, with writing, I can write whatever I want and am not constrained by anything.  Need more character development?  OK, just add a few paragraphs here and there.  Need a deeper plot?  Just through in a few more paragraphs.  Need to cut a subplot?  Just highlight and hit the delete key.  In other words, I don’t have any constraints (other than self-imposed ones) on the dimensions of the story.  The length, the number of characters, the number of sub-plots and the intricacy of those subplots?  It’s all malleable.

Telling a story with a single photograph is much different.  I have the one frame, and that’s it.  My characters cannot speak (or if they do, you certainly can’t hear what they’re saying) or even move.  The only action that they can perform is whatever I capture in that brief fraction of s second that the shutter to my camera is open.  Other than what you can visually see in the frame, I can’t provide any character history or development.  I can’t tell you why they’re doing what they’re doing.  All I can hope for is to construct something whereby the viewer can infer for him/herself who the characters are and why they’re taking these actions.  It’s a much greater challenge, in my opinion.

However, if I want to grow in this direction; if I want to become more skilled at this style of photography, I’m going to have to step out of my comfort zone.   I’m going to have to face my fears and my lack of self confidence.  I’m going to have to step out of my comfort zone, take a path of greater resistance and overcome.  If I don’t do this, then I just fall back into the rut of taking nature/flower/city photos and never broadening my horizons.

In that vein, here’s a shot I took last week whereby I try to tell a story using only one frame.  I created it for 52Frames for the theme “Books.”

Was I successful?  Well, that’s up to you.  Did you get the story I was trying to convey?  Or did I miss the mark?  Those are things that I can’t judge.  Only you can tell me.

So, what do you think?  Please feel free to let me know.

Zev

I bought a dozen roses — eleven white and one red.  After arranging them, I took the shot.  I wanted to emphasize the red while downplaying the rest of the picture.  One way I could have done this was by using selective coloring to turn the entire picture black and white and then restoring the color to the red rose.  However, I’m not really a fan of selective coloring, so I decided to try a slightly different approach.

After performing some basic enhancements, I reduced the saturation of the entire photo except for the red rose.  I then bumped up the saturation of the red rose so that it further stood out.

What are your opinions about this shot?  Would you like me to put up a tutorial on how this shot was processed?  If so, please let me know.

Zev

In the end, I narrowed my choices down to two pictures.

The first, titled “Freedom’s Arrow” is a shot taken from the base of the new One World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan.  I stood at the base of the tower and simply pointed my camera up.  This was the result:

The other shot that I liked was one that I took from the Brooklyn Bridge.  There are lots of things to focus on while on the bridge, but I was out looking for patterns and found something that appealed to me:

I like this shot because of the repeating patterns and the leading lines that lead you straight to the center portion of the arches and the flag.

In the end, I chose the tower picture.  I like the simplicity of it and the blue of the sky and the tower windows.

What do you think?  Did I make the right choice?  Or should I have gone with the bridge shot?

Zev

When you ask someone to name a famous place in New York, I believe you’ll find that most people will respond with one of three responses…. Times Square, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty.  Those are, in my opinion, the “big three.”  That’s not to state that there aren’t other places that people would mention — New York has lots of great places, but I believe those three would dominate the answers given.

That being said (and the fact that I work in Times Square), I figured that Times Square would be the best bet for a photo.  As it is, I’ve had some success shooting in Times Square in the past.  In fact, one of my favorite photos was taken two years ago in a snowfall in Times Square:

There is so much constantly going on in Times Square that there are plenty of different ways to shoot the scene.  You could focus on the people, telling their stories.  You could focus on the brilliant signage, instantly recognizable anywhere.  You could focus on the buildings and the famous brands that have storefronts there… and on and on.

I didn’t have a chance to shoot during the day… during the winter the day is short and I’m usually stuck indoors working during the daylight hours.  So, considering I was going to be shooting at night, I decided to focus on the colors and lights and activity of Times Square.  I was going to try to soak up as much color and light as possible for my shot.  I found a spot off to the side of Broadway (you can’t shoot in the middle of the street at rush hour!), attached my camera to my tripod, zoomed my lens out as wide as it would go and shot.  In the end, I shot from several locations around Times Square and came away with two shots that I really liked.

Here’s the shot I submitted:

Times Square on a winter evening.

Here is the one I did not submit:

I would have loved to submit both, but in the end, I had to pick one.  I asked several people for their opinions and most of them chose the top shot, which is the one I was leaning towards too.

What do you think?  Did I pick the right shot?  Or do you like the lower one better?  Let me know…

Zev

It’s funny how life can be charging along at full speed, everything going right (or about as right as it usually goes) and then, when something happens and everything comes crashing to a halt.

I had personal goals set for the year – goals related to work, goals related to photography, goals related to other hobbies that I have.  For example, I belong to a weekly photography group called 52 Frames.  I managed to have a perfect submission record in 2013 and 2014 — and I stared that way in 2015 as well… until my mother died in February – and then my life came to a crashing halt.

It took me longer than I expected to get back into my routine.  Needless to say, I did not maintain my perfect submission record.  In fact, there were times, even months afterwards, where I just didn’t feel motivated enough to take and submit a picture.  Even when I began to emerge from the mourning, I still wasn’t always 100% motivated to be creative.  As a result, my photography suffered.

That’s not to say, of course, that I didn’t produce anything of value over the last year.  I have a number of shots (see below!) that I’m extremely proud of from 2015… it’s just that I think that, had circumstances been different, I could have done far better.

Well, 2015 is just about done and I’m ready to face new challenges.  I’m looking forward to submitting to 52 Frames all 52 weeks of the year, as well as try some new, personal photographic challenges.

All that being said, let’s take a look at what I did do in 2015, and some of my favorite shots from the past year.

Macro and floral photography have always been among my favorites.  There’s just something about a beautiful flower, bursting out in color, that puts some life back into the spirit.  In addition, it’s always refreshing to see them in new ways, from angles and perspectives at which you don’t usually see them… and there are two such shots from this past year that capture those ideas.

The yellow rose is a standard macro shot.  I really like the detail that you can see in the rose petals in that shot.  Most of us don’t really stop and really look closely at roses and other flowers and I always marvel at the beauty contained in them when I do.

The second shot is a daisy shot from behind.  When we look at flowers, we generally look at the front — and for good reason.  But every now and again, it pays to look at them from the other side.  Sometimes, the shift in perspective is interesting in and of itself.  And, again, I love the detail that can be seen on the back of the stem.  Details in pictures are, to me, like sweet maple syrup on pancakes… you could live without it, but why would you want to?

The next two shots are from the city that I call home – New York City.  New York City is famous for lots of things including it landmarks and skyscrapers.  Of course, as a New York resident, I try to photograph them as well.  However, as with the flowers, sometimes you need to find a different way of seeing them, a new angle to explore.  I tried to do that in these next two pictures.

Downtown Manhattan as viewed from Brooklyn Bridge Park

Nightfall on the Hudson

Both of these shots are of structures that, if you’ve seen pictures of New York City, you’ve seen lots of times.  We’ve all seen shots of New York’s famous skyline and I’m sure many of you have seen the George Washington Bridge before.  However, hopefully, these shots are different than the ones you’ve seen before.

The first of these shots was a lucky accident.  I was on a date with my wife down by the Brooklyn Bridge when we stumbled across this view of downtown Manhattan.  Naturally, I went down to photograph it.  Lucky for me, my wife is a very good sport regarding my photography and was willing to put up with me taking the time to grab a few shots of the scene.  I liked the way the wooden remains of the old pier seemed to “point” right at the southern tip of Manhattan.

The second shot, too, was a lucky accident.  I was shooting up in Fort Tryon Park on the northern end of Manhattan, when I decided to head over to the river and see if I could spot (and maybe photograph) the famous Little Red Light House.  While hiking on a path near the river, I found a clearing that offered this view of the bridge.  As it turns out, it was just about sunset then as well, and I figured that this was the perfect place to capture the bridge as night began to fall.  This shot was the result.

This next shot was shot off of Red Hook in Brooklyn.

A sailing ship in New York Harbor, shot from Red Hook, Brooklyn.

I went to Red Hook to take sunset pictures of the Statue of Liberty.  Unlike other parts of the city and surrounding neighborhood, you can see Lady Liberty’s face from Red Hook.  I got some interesting shots of the statue, but this shot turned out to be my favorite one of the night.  The schooner (at least, I think it’s a schooner — I’m far from a naval expert) happened to pass right under the sun so that the sun was setting right on it’s mast.  The red glow of the sunset just filled the frame with this wonderful color that made this my favorite shot of the night.

Billings Arches at Fort Tryon Park

This shot was taken on a trip to Fort Tryon Park.  Part of the park used to be the estate of the Billings family once upon a time and this arcade, which leads to the Henry Hudson Parkway (and served as the entrance to the estate), is among the last of the remnants of the Billings house on the site.

Another shot that I’m proud of is this one:

Patriotic water drop refraction

When I started posting this picture in Facebook groups, lots of people asked me how I did it.  I happen to love water drop refraction photography (you can see some of my other refraction shots here) and I’m always looking for something new to try in this area.  The idea here is to focus on the water drops and not on the background.  I did this on July 4 (hence the patriotic theme) and almost everyone I showed it to really liked it a great deal.

The last three shots were all taken on the same day and, oddly enough, I have my boss to thank for it.

My birthday is in the autumn and I love to take pictures of the fall foliage.  The colors are simply amazing.  As it turns out, my boss suggested that I take my birthday off and do something fun.   So, I took the day off and went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Central Park in Manhattan.  These shots are the results:

The first two shots were taken in Prospect Park.  I couldn’t help but shoot the leaves on the ground and the puddle.  The third shot, taken in Central Park, is a long exposure shot of the Lake and the San Remo, taken just as it was getting dark.

So, those were my favorite shots from 2015.  On to a new year and new adventures!

Zev

For 52Frames, the weekly assignment was Street Photography and, truly, if there is anyplace in the United States that is idea for street photography, it’s Times Square.  The choice to shoot there was made easier by the fact that my day job is right in Times Square, on the corner of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue.  Street photography isn’t as much about the street itself as it is about the human condition, about capturing people in their “natural environment,” without the fancy poses and lighting and all that.

I had a plan to try to shoot Times Square empty of people.  You might ask how I could possibly do that, since there are *always* people in Times Square, 24 hours a day.  Well, there is a way you can do it by taking a series of photographs and, using the magic of Photoshop, edit the people out.  Unfortunately, for technical reasons (including my failure to think it completely through!  ), it didn’t quite work out.

Nonetheless, I still had a bunch of shots that I took that day.  If I couldn’t get rid of the people, I reasoned, perhaps I could combine the shots.  I found four shots that showed interesting people in Times Square and blended them together.  I believe this shot shows not only the hustle and bustle of the city, but also how people — residents and tourists alike, enjoy being at the Crossroads of the World.

Zev

P.S.  If you like photos of New York City, please be sure to check out my New York City photo gallery!

It also makes a great photography subject, especially in droplets.

There are two main types of water drop photography.  The first is where the drop falls into a bowl of water (or some other liquid) and the splash makes an interesting shape which is then recorded at high speed by a camera.  The other is where light is refracted through the water drop to display an image behind the drop.  I’ve done some work on the latter, but none on the former.  At some point I may do actual water droplet photography, but for now, I’m sticking with refraction.

Until yesterday, I hadn’t actually taken a refraction shot in over a year.  However, when I saw that this week’s theme for 52 Frames was “Water,” I figured it was a good time to pull out the eye dropper.    So, in honor of yesterday being the Fourth of July, here’s the shot I submitted to 52 Frames.

Patriotic water drop refraction

This shot was a bit unusual for me, in that my usual subject for such pictures is flowers.  Here are some of the previous shots I’ve taken of this type:

What are your thoughts?  Do you like water drop refraction shots?  Let me know in the comments.

I chose to try my hand at the Tiny Planet technique.  This is a technique where you take and bend it upon itself (that’s the best way I can describe it) to create a panorama in the middle with the sky all around it.  You can see examples of this sort of thing here.  I decided to try something like that, but to do the opposite — where the panorama is on the outside and the sky is in the middle.

The first step to doing this is to create a 360 degree panorama.  I chose to create a 360 panorama of Times Square (shown below) .  Times Square is such a vibrant and active place that I was sure that this would be a great subject for this type of shot.

A 360 degree panorama of Times Square.

Afterwards, I took it and imported it into Photoshop.  After fooling around with it for a bit, I came up with this image:

As always, comments, criticisms and critiques are welcome, encouraged and appreciated.

Zev

As always, comments, critiques and criticisms are welcome, encouraged and appreciated.

Zev

Despite what you would think, there are quite a few places in New York City where you can get decent nature shots.  The city is blessed with several large parks where nature shots can be found and even some of the smaller parks can give you a decent nature picture if you choose your angles correctly.

One of my favorite places to shoot in Manhattan is the North Woods, located in the northwest corner of Central Park.  When you walk through the North Woods, it’s very easy to forget that you  are smack dab in the middle of the busiest island in the US.

I happen to love waterfall shots and, as it turns out there are some waterfalls in the North Woods.  Towards the northern end of the woods, you can find this idyllic scene, which is the shot that I submitted:

When the weather gets a bit nicer and as the woods blossom with their spring green, I’ll have to go there again and spend more time shooting in the North Woods.

What do you think of this shot?  Comments, criticisms and critiques are always welcome, encouraged and appreciated.

Zev