Behind The Shot: Tribute In Light

As you know, NYC is known for its spectacular skylines. When it comes to photography, there is no other place like NY. New York City is an unparalleled photographic location.

For many people, a beautiful landscape image serves as an escape to a peaceful place away from the noise, congestion and stress of civilization. As I’ve mentioned many times before, photography has been an excellent therapeutic outlet for me. For several years, I've been trying to capture a good picture of the Tribute in Light in Manhattan, (lights aiming skyward in two column as a remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks).

In 2016, I captured the Tribute in Light from Brooklyn Bridge Park, the DUMBO neighborhood near the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn. There were hundreds of photographers lined up in a small park along the water between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge. I was happy with one of the final images of the New York City skyline that night.

The following year, I took the afternoon off work, and headed to New York City to try capture the Tribute in Light from the Exchange Place Waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. This was a once a year photo opportunity, the 16th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

I arrived early in the evening, there was still plenty of daylight to find a good spot and setup my gear. To my surprise, as you can see in the image posted at the bottom, only a handful number of photographers were lined up at the Exchange Place Waterfront waiting for the blue hour.

As soon as the Tribute of Light illuminated the NYC skyline, I took dozens of images hoping to capture at least a couple of good pictures, then catch the PATH train back to Manhattan. I didn't want to miss my Greyhound bus back to Philadelphia.

The bus ride took two hours each way. Once I arrived home that night, I selected a couple of images for post-processing editing to give my images a crisper vibrant look. The final image was edited using Adobe Photoshop Elements with the Topaz Adjust filter applied. I am quite happy with the final result.

The trip was all worth it, and I had tons of fun! Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday

This picture is a throwback from my first year trying to learn photography quickly; basically going into photography full time. As you know, practice makes perfect. To reach my goal I traveled to New York City almost every other weekend to sharpen my learned skills. It's been a fascinating journey from which I hope to continue to grow and improve my photography.

The Wow Factor

This is the best example that I can provide anyone about the importance of photo editing, and creating a composite image that pleases me.

You probably already know that a composite photo, is the combination of two or more images or photos to create a new one. Realizing that I am my own worst critic, to me the second image looks rather plain, and lacks the "wow" factor.

All pictures were taken the same day, June 2018 from Governors Island in NY. The last picture is a composite created a year later when I was bored and began tinkering with a few old pictures using my favorite photo editor, Adobe Photoshop Elements. For the final image I replaced the dull plain sky, and added a water reflection to the Hudson River in New York Harbor.

Some hardcore purist photographers criticize composite pictures. They argue that it is not real photography because the image has been manipulated. I am not a professional photographer. As long as I like the final result, I am having fun and not hurting anyone, that is all it matters to me.

They're Real And They're Spectacular

This week marks seven years since I bought my first Nikon DSLR. It's been seven years of learning by experimentation. To be honest, t’s been more complicated than I previously thought. I am still learning.

The following year, I attended an introduction to DSLR photography class. It was an excellent workshop. On my way home after the class, I remember thinking, "from this point forward, my pictures should look a lot better".

A few months later, I wondered if I could take pictures from top of the Brooklyn Bridge boardwalk very early in the morning. I finally did. Imagine my surprise to see groups of runners and bicycle clubs riding up and down the bridge, at five o'clock in the morning. It was difficult to hold the camera and tripod steady in the pedestrian walkway, (which is a boardwalk like no other). The boardwalk vibration caused by the runners/cyclists ruined most of the pictures. Only two or three images were worth using.

If you've never been to the Brooklyn Bridge boardwalk, it is one of the best sights and landmarks in New York. Walking across the bridge you can experience spectacular views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Lower Manhattan and the East River. It is safe to say, the NYC skyline views are real, and they're spectacular.

Composite Photography

As a fairly newbie at creating composite images, I am amazed as to why I didn't tried this method before. For the first time, I am having a lot of fun digging deep into my portfolio to find some of my old dull images, replacing the boring sky background and adding a more dramatic sky. Combining some of my old images with a new background, its giving these images a new lease of life, so to speak. 

According to the internet, composite photography is the use or combination of two or more different images to create a new one. Composite imagery is photography, computer-generated images, and/or stock photos that are blended together to create hyper-realistic or fantastical results. 

It all started with my recent trip to Biloxi, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana at the end of October.

Realizing that I am my own worst critic, I was very disappointed with the final version of the New Orleans picture. I'll spare you the details, but I went through a lot of trouble to get that picture of New Orleans skyline from Algiers Point Historic District. After all the hassle, to come home with a boring and dull image and knowing that there is a high probability I would never visit New Orleans again, I finally decided to try to combine two images to create the one I was looking for. I was so impressed with the final result, that I am now doing the same with a few pictures taken years ago. 

The first image was taken from Algiers Point Historic District in New Orleans at the end of October. I wasn't happy with the sky, so I just added the dramatic clouds background. This picture has become very popular on my Flickr account. The second picture, of the Philadelphia skyline, was taken three years ago from the South Street Bridge. I simply added the lightning background for dramatic effect.  The Boston Harbor image was also taken three years ago, but I found the original sky to be too boring. And finally, the One World Trade Center was taken from Jersey City in 2018. As the other images, I thought they were great pictures, with a cloudless sky.

I am very happy with the final results, especially when some of us don't have the time or finances to return to a location several times expecting to capture the perfect photograph under excellent weather conditions. In my opinion, the sky replacement looks great and it gives the photographs a whole new meaning.  

Discuss. 

New York City : Skyline At Night

Two years ago, as I've done many times before, I rode my motorcycle to Jersey City and the Exchange Place Boardwalk in New Jersey to try to capture a light-painted image of my motorcycle using the amazing New York City skyline in the background.

Jersey City, Hoboken, and the Exchange Place are some of my favorite locations to photograph the Manhattan skyline, especially at night. After finding the perfect spot, I waited one hour before sunset to shoot several pictures of the intense blue color of the Manhattan Skyline. Afterwards, I left the camera setup in the same location in the boardwalk, and waited hours for the sun to go down below the horizon.

There are lots of restaurants near the boardwalk. I decided to kill some time and had dinner on the boardwalk, before the Manhattan skyline lighting was optimal for the type of shot I was looking for. I had my favorite flounder, shrimp and fries platter. The food was delicious.

Finally, it got dark enough to allow me to use a shutter speed of up to thirty seconds for light-painting my bike, and to capture the skyline night silhouette background. I took lots of pictures, hoping to catch at least a few good images.

As the title of one of the songs of my favorite band Linkin Park says, "In The End", I was very happy with the final result.

Discuss.