Times Square, Night Montage

Times Square, Night Montage

liner notes for this image:

Camera: Leica M3, Film Tri-x. 2006

o.k. possibly i was trying to be funny saying this was taken with the M3 and Tri-x. four different cameras were used to make this picture. two different film stocks. the pictures were taken over a period of about ten years. the skyline is from Sedona.

none of that matters. what does matter is that i felt from the beginning that times square needed to be like a big garbage bin filled to the brim with shiny things to keep the natives happy.

it should feel like a giant headache.

it was too big to fit in one frame. it really needed to be faceted. three different perspectives of the marine recruiting station.

times square is now: MULTI-NATIONAL CORPORATION AMUSEMENT PARK.

this is simply a big showcase for the biggest corporations. and it feels like Las Vegas - which is how the tree skyline made it's way into the shot.

I think I'm going to hang out there more often and do some more Times Square montages.

Another Stop

Another Stop

In my never ending quest to photograph every subway stop in New York - here's another station. This was on the way out to Coney Island, and I actually got off at about six stations because they looked interesting. I suppose this is a harmless sort of fanaticism.

Come to think about it - I always liked movies about trains. Did you ever see The Train with Burt Lancaster? That's what this shot reminds me of. Another great one, maybe the best film ever made where the New York City Subway was the star: The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3. Final frame for you trivia buffs was what?

In case you care about such things: HP5 with the Hexar Classic.

5 minute snow

we had a five-minute snow storm. i looked out the window and was startled to see big flakes. frankly, i have had enough snow but then matt called and said he was outside and this was the big-flake flurry.

i was warm and cozy and finally getting around to matting some prints, just about finished for a west coast customer, but i haven't been shooting much and so even though i had put the big yellow parka away yesterday - i pulled it out and downstairs i went.

the storm lasted about 5 minutes. the snow flakes were massive, maybe 5 inches wide (at times) and i stood on the corner and tried to do things with the trees that were in bloom, the guy trying to hail the taxi (impossible in this weather), and the big gusty flakes.

i decided to shoot at as high a shutter speed as i could manage because this time i was out to freeze those frozen flakes so I shot wide open at f2.0 and 1/500th. sometimes i need some quasi-tech thing like that to get me going. one shot intrigues me - as i bent down to tie my laces and may have pulled off this sidelong shot of a woman in black with a strange curved hat, against a black umbrella and the fluffy blizzard-looking scene. but who knows.

did the best i could in the new york minute snow. now back to matting.