Under

The steps up to the West Farms Square platform number 100 or there about. The street level view places you under the rail line. This is a stop I come to twice a week. 

The rail line crosses over the road and in true NYC style pedestrians take their life in their hands and cross against the lights over three lanes of traffic going in either direction. When going to the school on the other side of the road I am amongst those rushing jay walkers.

Sidelight

When the light source is directly to the side of your subject, you get side lighting. A light source to the side is ideal because it produces tiny shadows that give your subject some texture. Food photographers base their entire business on creating side lit images with barely perceptible shadows. That’s what makes the nooks and crannies in food photography look so delectable.




Side lighting is also perfect for portraits. Many photographers shoot indoor portraits using some kind of side lighting. When they don’t bring their own professional gear, they rely on their camera-mounted flash. Wouldn’t that produce front lighting? It would if you were aiming the flash directly at your subject. The pros, on the other hand, know that you get a much better effect when you point your flash head at the wall behind you and bounce the flash off of it. This not only makes the light less harsh and direct, it also lights your subject more from the side.

Having now done a little research about the photos I have tried to take ones making use of practical and house bound decisions given the light ...

With the sky..

Apartment living is fabulous- the convenience, the feeling of being looked after by the surrounding environment...
Living on the 16th floor is vastly different from living on the 37th floor not just the height and the views but living here I feel cradled by the surrounding buildings...living the the middle of Manhattan skyscrapers.

On the 37th floor there were wonderful reflections but here on the 16th floor they take on different perspectives ...  I am facing north and for a while I thought I wouldn't see the sun directly





The reflections change with the changing light...depending on time of day- I see nothing reflected and then the angle of the sun changes and there is the sky and the clouds and the colour and the reflections....

The variety is endless...except perhaps on a cloudy day...

Light

 Tricky today to take photos that captured light the way I like to when there was really no sunlight. I tried a little self portraiture using the timer setting on my camera-once I found it. I should try using it more often :). 
A fun way to start a Sunday of a long weekend.

Late in the afternoon it began to snow and so the change in the plan was to find light and photos.

How the water tanks work:
- A water tower is a simple device that uses gravity to provide water pressure.
- They provide water for domestic uses and fire supply.
- Most municipalities have tanks that can hold a day’s worth of water for their population.
- Many New York City buildings exceed the height the infrastructure’s water pressure can handle.
- Most structures taller than six stories need some sort of water tower and pump system of their own.
- Water is fed to buildings through pipes in the basement.
- Electric pumps push the water from the basement to roof.
- It takes 2-3 hours to fill the average 10,000-gallon tank.
- From the roof, gravity sends water to pipes throughout the building.
- As tenants use the water, the level in the tank goes down and, just like in a toilet, a ballcock lets more in.

Then there was the effect of snow and the light in and around the "pencil" building

It defeated me...

 The challenge for the photo today was sepia. Despite lots of research and exploring all effects and processes on both cameras I have to give up on the challenge of sepia but not on getting a photo done. :)
I had the photos all ready to try to make them look like old NYC but in the process I was looking at buildings and things differently or at least more intensely and noticed for the first time the Colbert sign on the Ed Sullivan building..

... not the one on the awning but the vertical one that clearly says Colbert...the thing I noticed was Colbert has the same number of letters as Sullivan ... does that mean that Stephen Colbert was destined to take over the show??

So now my photo for the day is one I took from my balcony window- the light and the sky and the clouds caught my eye- thank goodness i grabbed my camera

The blue sky didn't last long but i managed to capture a couple of aspects of it, as I whiled my day away doing some crafting :))).

A lovely guilt free day

A Treasure

On the cruise to the Balkans with Anne-Marie and Sharan and Peter we went to St Petersburg and in the gallery shop at the Hermitage this treasure caught my eye. The colour the intricate art work and the pearls embedded in the lid...I looked at others...the price was higher than I thought I'd spend...but as Anne-Marie said how often will you be back in St Petersburg...the joy from this treasure is truly worth it.

Black and White

The challenge of taking a photo each day (and for me reflecting and documenting them) is supported by this article from the Digital Photography School.

If you let yourself play with your camera for just 10 minutes a day, you’ll feel different and see the results right from day one. Remember that you learn your camera in order to forget it’s there, so you can focus on your photos.

This self-tutoring plan is based on natural human curiosity, and on the fact that muscle memory can do a better job than brain memory in performing manual tasks, such as setting the desired shutter speed. Once you have created a link between your vision, and the finger that turns a dial, or presses a button on your camera, it will stay in that finger’s muscle memory for good. Then, next time you think about that function, it will happen magically by itself.

The choice of shots included the view from my kitchen window- the fire escape on the building near by.

My brushes stand which is a sugar mold. And one could hardly resist some of my snow domes :)