The Big Apple

In the past few years, we've made two trips to New York City - one for a weekend to hit the major tourist attractions in August 2005, and last winter a few weeks before Christmas we went up to see Rockefeller Center and to skate in Central Park. I didn't get nearly as many decent shots as I would have liked; I was just getting to know my EOS 20D, and digital photography, for that matter, in '05 when we went. My shots from atop the Empire State Building a few summers ago were the most disappointing of all. I did the best I could, but the day was impossibly soupy, with horrific humidity and a dull haze that enveloped the entire city. So, I won't be sharing those shots. This fall, when the heat dies off a little, I want to go back to hit some of the major attractions again. Now, I have much better lenses and a better camera, so with better tools, I should have no excuses.

This photo obviously needs no introduction. I took this in early afternoon in impossible heat. The statue itself is now closed - the closest you can get are her toes. But, I got some pretty good shots walking around her, and this is one of the best. I used a Tiffen circular polarizing filter to deepen the sky, but the light was still not ideal.

Canon EOS 5D, Sigma 24-70 f2.8, ISO 100, exposure unrecorded.

Besides the tree at Rock Plaza, skating in Central Park was the highlight of our trip last December for me. However, the lighting conditions were less than ideal, even with a 2.8 lens wide open. And I just didn't want to go to higher than ISO 1600 because of image quality. (I have to confess, I have not shot my EOS 5D at ISO 3200 yet, but I will this weekend or next week.)

So, the best shots from Central Park were when I decided to improvise to cover up camera shake from slow shutter speeds. I decided to do some panning, one of my favorite things to do in low light.

Canon EOS 5D, Sigma 24-70 f2.8, ISO 1600, exposure unrecorded.

I like how this turned out - zooming out (or in) just as the shutter clicks. It's very easy to do, but it took me a shot or two in order to get the hang of it with my current camera. Chalk it up as one more great thing about digital - if you don't like how it looks, trash it and click on.

Canon EOS 5D, Sigma 24-70 f2.8, ISO 1600, exposure unrecorded.

The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza is simply gorgeous - there's no other way to say it. I couldn't stop clicking - I must have taken 40 or 50 shots. Lighting was a bit better than I expected, so I managed to get decent shots by hand holding the very heavy Sigma 24-70 f 2.8 lens. I mention this not to brag, but because it's typically a rarity for me. I have always had a problem with camera shake, probably more than most people. Image Stabilization lenses were made for someone like me.

Canon EOS 5D, Sigma 24-70 f2.8 (at 24 mm), ISO 800, exposure unrecorded.

This is a shot of Sak's Fifth Avenue at the other end of Rockefeller Plaza. I brought my lens back to 24 mm and tried for about 15 minutes to get the shot I wanted.

Canon EOS 5D, Sigma 24-70 f2.8 (at 24 mm), ISO 800, exposure unrecorded.

This is the view from our room at the Marriott on Times Square. Talk about a room with a view! The hotel and the staff there are incredible. We love hotel points. This shot was obviously taken at 24 mm, as you can see some distortion at the edges. Some photographers have beefs with that distortion, but more often than not, I love the effect.

Canon EOS 5D, Sigma 24-70 f2.8, exposure unrecorded.

I nearly killed myself to get this shot of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Well, that's overstating it a bit, but not by much. I just haad to be the show-off photographer ~ across the street, there's a pretty large statue of a man holding a huge ball over his head (the name escapes me). A few people hopped up on the bottom shelf to get better shots. Not to be outdone, I had to climb up to the top of it. When I got to the top, I quickly realized the hazards - lots of "potholes" for spotlights, etc. I'm not afraid of heights, but as soon as I got to the top, I realized this was not a good idea. But, I figured, while I'm up here, I might as well get the shot. I no sooner snapped the one above and another one that was composed horribly, and I lost my balance. Thank God I managed to stay upright - I jumped down to the next ledge, and, still off balance, on top of a bunch of street barriers bunched together, and then to the street - EOS unharmed. That last point is the most important one - broken arm be damned - had I dropped my camera... Well, you can just imagine the pain THAT would have caused.

About this image - I snapped this at 800 ISO, wide open at f2.8. I like it, except for that annoying street light, but obviously there's nothing that can be done about that. I touched this up in Photoshop CS3 to eliminate unwanted background objects.

Canon EOS 5D, Sigma 24-70 f2.8, ISO 800, exposure unrecorded.