#project365 [day 81] Upstairs, Downstairs at the NYPL

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Another product of my wanderings along the Stephen A. Schwarzian Building of the New York Public Library, in Midtown Manhattan. And another stairwell, but this building is full of lovely details it's hard to stop rising the camera and creating another image. When I stopped here, there was a lot of people going up and down the stairs. So I waited a while until I had the stairs completely empty, but felt that the image was too sterile. After a few more minutes I could get a single figure walking up on the opposite side, this gave the scene some scale and a bit of movement. This only lasted a few seconds, as more people followed him. Here we have some very tricky lighting to contend with. The artificial light coming from the chandeliers is not strong enough to light the whole scene, and the natural light is very strong at the window, but very faint everywhere else. So I used exposure bracketing to try and get as much of the scenes details exposed correctly and some very light HDR techniques in post-production.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 80] Hello, from the Grand Central Terminal

Late morning commuters hurry about NYC's Grand Central Terminal trying to get to their lines, or getting out of the station. These public telephones are ignored by everyone that passes by.  In some ways akin to fossils, a remnant reminder of an era long gone. A time where thinking about carrying your own phone seemed futuristic or just ludicrous. Even when mobile phones started to appear most people couldn't afford their price, or would refuse to carry around a briefcase sized phone that weighed more than most briefcases. Before the ubiquitous pervasion of the mobile phone, these would be essential and almost mandatory in all places where groups of people would gather. A lifeline at times, or just to tell your significant other that you would be late for dinner. I loved the golden color of the metal plates where the phones are secured to, making them feel high end. And also the lack of signs of use on the handsets, that seems like they have just been refurbished. Probably a side effect of the lack of usage, since no one approached any of them while I was there. Not even to check for leftover change from previous users. 

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 79] World Trade Center Memorial

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Visiting the World Trade Center site in NY is a bit of surreal experience. Doubt that anyone in the world hasn't been affected in someway by the tragic events that happened more than 14 years ago. Even for those of us that had never visited the Twin Towers when they existed, the NY skyline seems to miss something. In their place two gaping holes exist extending to the former foundations. Transformed into two great fountains, surrounded by the names of all who lost their lives in the horrible attacks. This is a place of remembrance, a certain quietness is easily felt across the whole site, although it was still a construction site when I was there. And towering over it all the new One World Trade Center building, showing that the spirit of the city refuses to be broken.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening and colour blending
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 78] Manhattan from the porthole

Taken from the Brooklyn Bridge Park, in NYC, looking over downtown Manhattan. I have described this view a couple of times before, but I really wanted to show it again with this image. It's not really taken through a porthole, just a cheap variable Neutral Density filter that was not big enough not to block the extreme wide angle field of view of this lens at 10mm. But it did allow me to get an exposure time of a couple of seconds at the middle of the day, which in turn allowed for a softer water, it was very choppy this day, and also a blurry New York Water Taxi coming in from the right. Thankfully I had my trusted MeFOTO Backpacker with me, It was actually brand new at the time, a very nice little travel tripod that has become a fixture of my camera bag. I will do a small review of the tripod very soon.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Fujifilm XF10-24mmF4 R OIS
MeFOTO Backpacker Tripod 
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening, colour blending and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 77] love-locks at Brooklyn Bridge

Walking over the Brooklyn Bridge I made an unexpected discovery. Thousands of padlocks with romantic inscriptions scattered around the length of the bridge. These are called love locks which sweethearts lock to a bridge to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials are inscribed on the padlock, and its key is thrown away to symbolize unbreakable love. Since the 2000s, love locks have proliferated at an increasing number of locations worldwide. They are now mostly treated by municipal authorities as litter or vandalism, and there is some cost to their removal. But saying that, they provide some interesting photos, either by creating a different perspective of a known subject or by becoming the subject themselves. I had these four photos, which I couldn't decide which one to show, since I didn't think any by itself would convey message I was trying to get. So combined they clearly show a collection of details that frame the iconic bridge and these locks.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Compositing, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 76] Down the stairs at NYPL

Wandering through the Stephen A. Schwarzian Building of the New York Public Library, in Midtown Manhattan, was one of the unexpected pleasures of this years visit to the Big Apple. The building has great architectonic details that really impressed me, and being surrounded by books is always a great feeling. This is a detail of one of many stairs that you can find inside, this is not the most ornate one, but the clean lines and elegant curves really appealed to me. That and also the symmetry, including the double light lamp beneath me.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 75] NY City Hall Park

This 8.8-acre downtown park is the perfect spot for afternoon lunch meetings as well as people-watching—newlyweds coming from the new Manhattan Marriage Bureau are often seen strolling the grounds. The park is home to more than a dozen monuments, and its bike path leads to the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1999, a $34.6 million project not only added a central walkway and gardens but also helped to bring a restored Jacob Wrey Mould fountain back to the park from the Bronx's Crotona Park. Almost all other photos I could  find of this fountain show it with flowing water, but I guess that because of the harsh winter they have cut off the water and treated it as a garden. The Bethesda fountain at Central Park was also dry at this time of the year.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening and colour blending
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 74] Fifth Avenue Presbyterian

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Fifth Avenue at Midtown Manhattan, NYC, is known worldwide as the epicentre of designer shops and luxury retail. But like many other idiosyncrasies in the city, you can also find some sanctuaries for the soul. Here is the Presbyterian Church, located on Fifth Avenue at 55th Street. In 1875, when it was dedicated, it was the tallest building in Manhattan with its steeple rising 87 meters high. Designed by Carl Pfeiffer, whose engineering skills are evident in the technological innovations he introduced in the sanctuary. Wooden louvers installed beneath the pews allowed warm air to rise into the sanctuary from steam pipes in the basement. On warm days, enormous blocks of ice were delivered to the basement, where fans blew cooling air upward. The Sanctuary did not have modern air conditioning until 2003. 

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Manual layer blending, sharpening and colour blending
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 73] Ghosts of Grand Central

Mid-morning on a Tuesday. The Main Concourse of NYC's Grand Central Terminal is bustling with commuters, tourists and assorted people in transit. The natural sunlight coming from the huge windows located on either end of the concourse is balanced with the warm artificial light emanating from the huge chandeliers that decorate the side walls. This is a cavernous space, 84 m long, 37m wide and 38m high, and always filled with crowds of busy people.
Photographing this beautiful station is usually on the list of everyone visiting the city, and you should expect all the usual locations to be filled with camera, smartphone and tablet wielding people. At this time of the day, the natural light is exceedingly strong and hard to balance with the interior lights, making the stone floor very bright. It took me about 45 minutes to take all the shots that make up this image, 20 of those just to get the spot I wanted on the stairs that lead up to the Apple Store. And then, over the course of 25 minutes, proceeded to get exposures for all the light levels, and also to remove most of the stationary persons that wore standing in the middle of my composition. The final image is made up of 12 photographs and took me around another 45 minutes to compose with a mixture with HDR and layer blending techniques.  

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Manual layer blending, sharpening, colour blending and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 72] Dusk to the West, from the Top of the Rock

Night settles down in New York City with a clear sky, and from the Top of the Rock the views turn from stunning to spectacular. From the viewing platform to the West the last rays of the sun are still visible, but the city lights are what catches our eyes. From here you can see the rooftops of Hell's Kitchen and the skyscrapers of Midtown, after that the Hudson River and then West New York. 
This a must for anyone visiting NYC, seeing sunrise and/or sunset from the top of the Rockefeller Center offers you with some of the most spectacular views over the whole of the city. You need to plan it well, since it is one of the big tourist spots and always crammed full of people. Also no tripods are permitted, otherwise it would be impossible to walk around, so be inventive and try other ways of stabilizing your camera. Also the viewing platforms are completely enclosed with security glass, with some small gaps between each pane where only small lenses can fit.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Fujifilm XF10-24mmF4 R OIS
-- Post
Lightroom : Panoramic photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening, colour blending and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction