Category: New York City

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Living Memories New York City Television

Remembering: The Price Is Right

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Host Bob Barker‘s recent passing at age 99 brought back memories of my experience on The Price Is Right stage as a ten-year-old in the late 1950s.

Our family would visit relatives in New Jersey during our vacations from our home in Ohio. In those days, shows like The Price Is Right were filmed in New York City studios. Like others have recently commented, watching The Price Is Right on TV is what you did if you were home sick from school or if school was closed for a snow day.

Somehow my Dad qualified to be a contestant. He won big on the first day, so they brought him back for a second day (where he won nothing more). At the end of day one after the cameras were off, host Bill Cullen had me join them on stage. Cullen then asked my Dad to bring me back for day two – that’s when I was on the show. I remember my Dad needing to wear a blue shirt for the show – white shirts were too bright for the cameras!

A few months after we returned home, Dad bought an audio recording of the show on a 78 rpm record which was mailed to him. We had fun listening to the scratchy bidding replay on our record player, though there was no video back then.

One item my Dad won was an upright Sohmer piano, shipped to our Ohio home. I wasn’t thrilled about it, as my parents immediately pushed me to take lessons! Like many forced into childhood piano lessons, I wish I had practiced more and truly learned to play.

It’s funny what sparks these old memories. Bob Barker and The Price Is Right take me back to a simpler time.

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Before and After Black and White Lightroom CC Monochrome Photography New York City Photography Photography - Black & White

Before and After – That Glance

Just around the corner from Bryant Park is the main branch of the New York Public Library – the one with the lions out front! Inside is a nice small cafe – it was a lovely place for a couple of tired street photographers to rest their legs for a few minutes and enjoy a bit of liquid refreshment.

While we were waiting there, this lovely young woman came in and sat down across the room from us. The final image above – in black and white – was edited in Lightroom on my iPad, exported to the Camera Roll, imported into Snapseed, tweaked a bit further using Snapseed’s vignette and framing tools and then exported for posting on Instagram. This workflow took about 5 minutes start to finish.

Below is the original image in color straight out of my camera. It’s lovely on its own – and the slight tilt actually adds a bit of drama to the image. But I prefer the more portrait look of the black and white image.

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Before and After Black and White Lightroom Lightroom CC New York City Photography Photography - Black & White

Before and After – Ping Pong in Bryant Park

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One of my favorite places to photograph people in New York City is in Bryant Park. Over in one corner of the park there are a couple of ping pong tables which are usually occupied by enthusiastic players. Just watching them play can be mesmerizing! Trying to capture a good image from the scene can be challenging.

In this before and after sequence, the final black and white image above was created from the original below by editing in Lightroom on my iPad. I converted the image to black and white, adjusted the color sliders to get the tonality satisfactory to my eye, and then cropped and straighten the image to eliminate the distracting elements and focus in on just the player and his intensity – about to hit the ball back across the net.

Continue reading “Before and After – Ping Pong in Bryant Park”
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New York City Photography Street Photography

Amazing Grace

John Boyd - New York - 2015
John Boyd – New York – 2015

I came upon a magical moment last June in New York’s Central Park. We were walking through the park and came across this underground pavilion – with beautiful voices filling the chamber.

Turns out the Boyd family is known for singing their best in this space. It was magical to hear John sing Amazing Grace in this place – something I’ll carry with me as one of those memories you try to go back to when you just want to settle your mind down!

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New York City Photography Street Photography

On the Grand Stage

On the Grand Stage - New York - 2015//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

While I was in New York last June participating in a street photography workshop led by Peter Turnley, a couple of us wandered by New York City’s Grand Central Station. It’s a beautiful place of architectural wonder – and we were lucky to be there on a day when the sunlight was beaming down brightly onto a tiny portion of the floor.

This wedding couple was posing for their wedding pictures – and, of course, we also joined in taking our own shots as they were chatting in between shots.

I love the light in this image – it epitomizes Jay Maisel’s manta – Light, Gesture, Color!

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New York City Photography Photoshop CC

Life’s a Rowboat

Life's a Rowboat - New York - 2015

Here’s an image from June 2015 – walking through Central Park in New York City.

As I processed this image, I first brought it into Photoshop CC 2015 and then used Topaz Simplify 4 to create a black and white simplified later – which smoothed the water and the foliage. Next I used a luminosity mask to have the simplified layer apply primarily to the darks in the image – having the lights and a bit of color punch through.

I like the effect – hope you do too!

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iPhone 6 New York City Photography

Room with a View in New York City

Room with a View

I’m just back from a quick trip to New York City. No time for any decent street photography – unfortunately – but I caught a couple of fun shots including this one looking out my hotel room window shot with my iPhone 6.

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Black and White Fujifilm X100T Monochrome Photography New York City Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X100T

Rebecca

Rebecca - New York - 2015
Rebecca – New York – 2015
I took this image on the last morning of our Peter Turnley workshop in New York. Rebecca was looking out the window and the natural light was just perfect for a portrait.

Shot with my Fujifilm X100T.

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Black and White Fujifilm X100T Monochrome Photography New York City Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Fujifilm X100T Street Photography

Abraham

Abraham - New York - 2015

Last Friday, in New York’s Central Park, we came across a father and his two sons singing hymns in this underground terrace. Their singing was majestic – and I captured a few images of them singing. This is one of my favorites – Abraham.

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New York City Photography Photography - Black & White

With Peter Turnley in New York City

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Last week I participated in one of Peter Turnley’s Streets of New York Workshops. I’ve been to a number of photography workshops over the last few years – but this one with Peter was quite special.

Peter’s workshop was all about celebrating life – and using the camera to capture life as it evolves right in front of you. As one who has shot a lot of street photography, I appreciated his distinction between street candids – shot anonymously from a distance – and street portraits that are shot while directly engaging with the subject.

I spent the first two days of the workshop frustrated – as I wasn’t confident enough to engage with anyone on the street. On the third day – our trip out to Coney Island – it all clicked for me and I had a great time interacting with people who were just enjoying themselves – as I was – at the beach. I was pleasantly surprised how New Yorkers were open to talking and having me make their portrait!

Watching Peter work, he brings a wonderful balance to his approach – one that both is disarming in how he approaches someone on the street and then very serious as he does his work – shooting perhaps 20-30 images once he’s secured their agreement.

Peter brings his life experiences as a photography into the workshop – adding real depth and meaning to the experience. This was a beautiful workshop experience for me – one that I highly recommend. You can view my images from the workshop here on Flickr.