Defend

Exceptionalism

Probably my best photo from NYC-IV, but I still wish I had waited just a moment longer.

FDR and East 49th Street

I've quirked my way into a couple of erratic traditions with this photo blog over the years. Using photos of strip clubs to commemorate New Year's is one, and photos like this is another.

After 2836 days – 405 weeks, 7.77 years – this is my 999th post.

Figuratively speaking.

Flatiron

This is one of the iconic buildings of New York – people who have probably never heard of Alfred Stieglitz were bringing out their cell phones to take photos of it. But it's also a very cluttered urban environment, and getting a clean view of it is exceedingly difficult.

Putting this much emphasis on the corner of the frame isn't usually a sensible thing to do with Nikon's AF-S 50/1.4, even at f/5.6. In this case I've processed the photo through DxO Optics, a badly named program that does a very good job with correcting lens deficiencies. It makes a noticeable difference on the architectural details in this photo.

28 St Station

Photographing the subway station signs in New York should be exactly my kind of thing, but for some reason I hardly ever do it.

What should I have said?

Yes, I spent the day in New York City, and used it to take a photo of a paper bag.

Blue-Green

I liked this photo from the first time I saw it, but it took a while for it to reach the point where it looked the way I wanted it to. Not so much in terms of distance, in the sense of changes from its original scan to its present appearance, but in time for me to see what I liked and add a certain subtle emphasis.

This photo is also why I'm still willing to put up with the additional hassles of scanning colour film, instead of relegating my film cameras to only using XP2 and keeping colour in the digital realm where everything is so much easier.

It's also interesting to me to look at this post and the two previous ones, and see which two forms a natural set. Sometimes content isn't character.