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

November 19, 2015

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

November 18, 2015

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

November 17, 2015

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 75] NY City Hall Park

November 14, 2015

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

November 13, 2015

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

November 12, 2015

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 69] Little Italy

November 8, 2015

The late Italian Food Center, now Gelso & Grand, in the middle of NYC's Little Italy is one of those iconic Lower Manhattan buildings that shines. With it's distinctive, and possibly soon to be extinct, external fire escape, beautiful red brick facadeand the glass frames on the ground level. The rusted sign left by the new owners adds a lot to the character of the whole building.
Little Italy itself is changing a lot, what was once known for its large population on Italian, is now being taken over by the expanding neighboring Chinatown, with only a few Italian stores and restaurants still surviving.

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

#project365 [day 66] The Helmsley Building Entrance

November 5, 2015

The location of this building baffles me, as it sits in the middle of Park Avenue, but for today the focus in on it's beautiful main entrance. Built in 1929 and designed by Warren & Wetmore in the Beaux-Arts style, this was a created as a showpiece by the New York Central Railroad Company. That shows of in its ornate entrance and is carried on in the grandiose lobby that is marked by a beautiful row of chandeliers, the first of which can be seen here.

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

#project365 [day 65] the Rink at the Rock

November 4, 2015

The ice rink at the Rockefeller Center is a New York City Winter tradition. In the heart of Midtown, steps from Times Square and the Theater District. And thankfully it was still going in the end of March for it makes a wonderful focal point for this view of the Rock. In the foreground you can see the back of the statue of Prometheus, probably the most photographed monumental sculpture in all of NYC. Created by Paul Manship, an American sculptor, it has become the main attraction of the Lower Plaza. Behind it there is an inscription, not seen here, that reads: "Prometheus, Teacher in Every Art, Brought the Fire That Hath Proved to the Mortals a Means to Mighty Ends." by Aeschylus a Greek dramatist on the 6th century BC.

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

#project365 [day 64] Revolutionary War Veteran

November 3, 2015

Scattered throughout the cemeteries located in church grounds I kept seeing these medals. Being something I never came across before they intrigued me, and this one even had a tiny flag next to it which made for an irresistible target for my camera.They are in fact grave markers to distinguish the brave souls who perished in the call of duty. This one is dedicated to a soldier of the Revolutionary War, better known to us as the War of Independence. You can find a number of other markers for most other wars that the US fought in and even for Fireman amongst others. This one was found next to Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

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