New York City - A retrospective

Eight years ago I visited New York for the first time, a city I had been enamoured of for most of my childhood. It also happened to be my first overseas trip, and the only camera I had with me was my iPhone 4.

This year, I took my Fujifilm X-T20 on its first overseas trip to Canada, a vastly satisfying experience with endless opportunities for photos. I decided to end the trip with a return to the Empire City as I was excited to find out how different the experience would be with a bit more wisdom and a real camera.

Although I wasn’t intending to, I did end up returning to many of the places I visited the first time. However, I did not see this as a waste of time, I used it as an opportunity to reminisce and practice my skills with subjects that interest me.

While reviewing my photos after getting home, I kept thinking about the photos I had taken almost a decade ago and how some concepts were fairly similar. I thought it would be interesting to pair up some shots of either the same subject or same location and talk about how they compare in terms of composition, technical quality and circumstance.

Brooklyn Bridge

A good place to start - the gateway to Manhattan.

The obvious difference here, and will probably be a common theme throughout this piece, is the weather. My first visit was in March while this year’s was in May. However, I often feel like a neutral, washed-out sky is a perfect fit for New York - compared to the completely clean, blue sky that almost feels ironically dull.

I am a sucker for symmetry, I will almost always be trying to line up right in the middle of a subject - and I certainly did that again this year - but I wanted to create something a bit more dynamic and really paid attention to the people rather than the skyline. Waiting for someone fashionable to walk by to add some colour to the scene really makes a difference.

Manhattan Bridge

Almost more iconic than the Brooklyn Bridge is its neighbour, Manhattan Bridge, perhaps only when viewed down Washington Street. This is a perfect example of the benefit of a longer focal length. It goes without saying that the iPhone shot has too much dead space and the bridge is dwarfed by the surrounding buildings. By zooming to 55 mm on my 18-55 kit lens, I could enlarge the bridge, making it tower over the scene. Naturally, with the RAW file I was able to capture much richer colours and better dynamic range, though that was a bit easier given the clear sky.

What was fun about coming back to this location was that everyone getting their photos were huddled near the end of the road while I stayed back a couple blocks. Conveniently, a roadwork truck had parked in the middle of the street so there was no traffic to stop me from standing right in the middle for as long as I liked. The workers even offered to let me climb up on their truck to get a better angle.

Washington Square Arch

The arch is just one small part of what is perhaps an underrated park to visitors. Directly adjacent to NYU, Washington Square Park is usually brimming with activity, but maybe not so much in the winter.

I do often like to incorporate people into my photos, especially if they seem more natural and less touristy. Springtime however was a much more rewarding season to visit, many of the NYU students were actually celebrating their graduation in the park and all over the city. Of course, when the sun’s out, why not play some music. I had to crouch down and prop my back up against the fountain to get the right perspective, which was further helped by the geometry tool in Lightroom to get those nice, straight vertical lines.

Flatiron Building

Although it’s not the only one of its kind, it’s arguably the most perfect example of a triangular skyscraper. Its narrow structure however makes it somewhat awkward to find a flattering angle, especially with all the foreground obstacles. If you wanted a perfectly centre-aligned composition, you’d have to wade through a sea of tables where people are just trying to enjoy their lunch. This is perhaps one of those situations where I’d rather just admire the architecture than try to take a perfect photo.

On the day I returned to it, I had my 14 mm wide angle prime on. I had been wandering around the area trying to find interesting angles, when suddenly this classic car pulled up and perfectly complemented the spring sky. In this moment, the Flatiron took a back seat (pardon the pun) and became a background for the antique vehicle.

Empire State Building

The Art Deco masterpiece is probably one of the main reasons I fell in love with architecture - so simple and clean, yet majestic and commanding.

Although the street on the north side is quite wide and would make the composition a bit easier, unlike Australia the buildings are typically lit from the south, so to catch the sunlight you have to navigate the much narrower 33rd Street. It is technically a three-lane one-way street, but there is almost always an array of parked cars on either side.

For the first attempt, I think I was perhaps too timid to set foot on the road, hence the tree encroaching the frame. The second time around, I wouldn’t let a van get in the way of my centre-line composition. I practically stood in the middle of the road, periodically glancing from the viewfinder to see if there was any oncoming traffic.

Time Square (Daytime)

There are countless things to photograph in Times Square, but perhaps most memorable are the bright red bleacher seats above the ticket booth in Duffy Square, beneath the iconic Coca-Cola sign. The general colour of the clothes might give you a hint as to what day it was.

Although I found it quite interesting to capture the three men at the base of the statue, it felt a bit intimidating to venture into the crowd. Street photography - something I’m not exactly experienced with - requires a lot of confidence, so being a bit older empowered me to subdue my conscience and close in to complete strangers. In a place like Times Square, however, there are so many people that nobody is really bothered.

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (Carrier)

I am a huge aviation nerd, so naturally the Intrepid museum is one of my favourite places in the city. I couldn’t possibly travel to the other side of the world and not pay it another visit.

This shot shows that the effective focal length of the iPhone 4 and the 18-55 mm at 18 mm are fairly similar - their full-frame equivalents are about 29.5 mm and 27.5 mm respectively. The slightly wider field of view on the kit lens allowed me to fit the whole carrier in from what I recall was basically the same position.

I did have to rush a bit because it was nearing closing time, otherwise I might have set up a long exposure.

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (SR-71)

To some it’s a futuristic spy plane, to others it’s the X-Men plane - to me it’s a marvelous hybrid of art and engineering.

On the deck of the Intrepid, it’s difficult to capture a single aircraft without others creeping into the frame or bending them horribly by going ultra-wide. With my iPhone, I was resigned to simply try to capture what I could, which typically meant a photo of the front and a photo of the back. Even with my X-T20, there weren’t really many opportunities for full-body shots, so I decided to zoom in for some detail, using elevation to aid the composition.

Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle is a major intersection of Broadway, 8th Avenue and 59th Street at the southwestern corner of Central Park. Most people making their way towards the park from Times Square will just walk right past, and I honestly wasn’t really an exception during my first visit. I would typically just take photos to document a location rather than try to create anything artistic.

There is value in sometimes just taking a moment to stop rushing through trying to cover as much ground as possible. I wasn’t in a particular rush that day this year, so I decided to explore the area, something I neglected to do the first time. I made my way inside Time Warner Center opposite the park and noticed the incredible view through the glass wall at the entrance. I found a balcony upon which I could set up my Leofoto mini tripod and managed to use the interior architecture to frame the vibrant cityscape.

It was a fortuitous decision, not only for the resulting image, but as I was packing up a passerby commented on my camera and we started talking. He was also Fujifilm user who does a lot of professional video work and we ending up discussing photography and marketing for some time. These moments can be far more rewarding than taking a snap of a popular landmark.

Bethesda Fountain

Believe it it not, this is springtime in New York - well, the very beginning of spring to be fair. Over winter in colder climates, fountains will be shut down either for maintenance or just to prevent them from freezing over. Either way, it meant I was presented with a dry, concrete disc against lifeless trees. Don’t get me wrong, Central Park is probably incredible in any season - you could easily spend a whole day in there - but it was a bit disappointing.

My determination was rewarded, however, when I returned this year. The trees were lush and green, there were people everywhere in colourful clothing, and the fountain was running. I was luckily able to secure a spot on the terrace overlooking the plaza, right in the middle as always. I experimented with as many compositions and settings as I could while I still had time, because there was a storm rolling in fast.

When the first drop of water hit my lens hood, I instantly started packing up. Within about two minutes, it was chaos. Crowds were dashing for the streets all around and I headed straight for the nearest subway station where I stayed for about half an hour until it cleared up. My camera isn’t weather-resistant, but my bag does a great job of keeping the contents dry, and it wasn’t the worst it had faced.

Hansom Cab

I’ve never really liked the idea of animals being used for labour or sport, though these horses in particular hold so much historical and cultural significance. They are as much a part of New York as the skyscrapers and the subway.

Animals can come in so many different shapes and sizes - humans included - but one thing that almost all species share are our eyes. I believe they can always communicate what a lack of vocal or visual language cannot.

I think the main difference in these shots is the time I took to appreciate what I was capturing. I seem to recall just walking around with my phone out, snapping at anything that seemed interesting and moving on. What I have since embraced is the ability to put the camera down and capture your own memories. Take a moment to understand what you’re actually taking a photo of.

Grand Central Terminal

Whether or not you’re catching a train, Grand Central always just feels like a natural gathering place. The ceiling is a work of art - literally and figuratively - but I think it can mislead you when it comes to composition.

With my phone, I naturally shot in portrait so I could capture the people on the ground as well as a large portion of the ceiling. However, this reduces the space and deceptively portrays it as quite confined. By shooting in landscape, you can show the entire floor and much more accurately illustrate just how grand the structure is.

Once again, I was incredibly fortunate to get the prime position in the middle of the staircase landing and did not waste the opportunity.

Times Square (Nighttime)

I think every visitor of New York explores Times Square more than once, and day and night are two completely different experiences. During my first visit, they were actually filming the movie New Year’s Eve, so they had a big crowd gathered and they pretended to celebrate New Year’s Eve, complete with countdown and Auld Lang Syne. It was like a special mini celebration.

As this congregation of intense lights was something I had not really experienced before, I think I considered them the subject, with everything else in the frame just being incidental. Being able to return with a fresh perspective, I spent more time looking closer to the ground, trying to pick out interesting people or objects.

I was just about to call it a night because it was starting to rain, but then I noticed the rickshaw parked in the middle of the road. I knew I was going to struggle to capture a properly exposed image at night, even with all these lights, so I had to find a spot for my tripod so I could slow the shutter down a bit. The shot I came away with was taken from on top of a traffic barrier.

One World Trade Center

It was difficult to fathom that the attacks had already been ten years ago at that time, and the new One World Trade Center was five years into construction. The memorial was also under construction, so the entire area was blocked off.

I’m glad I was able to return to properly pay my respects and appreciate the scale of the towers. Although I love architecture, when I visited the memorial pools I felt the most moving subjects were the flowers placed upon the names of the victims. Shooting in portrait allowed me to isolate the flower and the Trade Center, juxtaposing past events with future progress.

I was a bit ambivalent about taking a photo of something that’s deeply sentimental to someone else, but I think in photography we sometimes have to cross that line to convey a message.

Charging Bull

There are some places you just have to accept will always have people getting their photo taken, and the Wall Street Bull is no exception. Anyone who has been there knows it’s actually a fairly dangerous location - on a busy day traffic can be a serious hazard.

You basically have two options when it comes to people in your photos: use them to your advantage and incorporate them into the image, or have a lot of patience and Photoshop skills. You could probably set up a tripod, take dozens of exposures and blend them together, masking out the people. I didn’t have time for that - the sun was setting and I had more important places to be. I just put my tripod down, set a 30 second exposure, got the shot and left. This was the only photo of the Bull I took.

Statue of Liberty

I took many photos of Lady Liberty that day in March. I took the ferry to the island only to learn the statue, like the fountain, was closed for maintenance. The opposite view back towards the city was actually bright and colourful, but I found this scene to be much more breathtaking. The iPhone could only do so much to deal with the dynamic range, however for what it was, I was pretty impressed with the composition and the silhouetting of the statue.

When I went back, I had no intention of going anywhere near it - the closest I got was from Battery Park after chasing an incredible sunset. I saw her out in the distance, so I decided to throw on my 55-200 mm and punch it all the way. It’s quite surreal when you realise the second shot is a tiny subsection of the first. The power of telephoto lenses for landscapes should not be underestimated.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of New York from two different time periods and that perhaps you found some of it inspiring or educational. I’m looking forward to being able to do a similar piece when I inevitably return to Japan.

Thanks for reading.