Street Fashion

Today we are joining Yuval on a fashion project that is a little different from any of the past fashion shoots I've done. In this case she played the role of model, stylist and director for the whole project. The idea was to do something that looked candid but also high fashion. The sort of shots a good paparazzi would get of a supermodel while she is shopping in Paris. 

To make things feel more European we needed a location that looked classy and didn't scream it was shot here in Tel Aviv. So I did what a photographer should always try to do, and went location scouting a week before the shoot. 

A good friend from Tel Aviv helped me find a string of cool locations, starting from some new buildings with a wooden deck floor around them, through some renewed buildings in the gentrified part of south Tel Aviv, and finishing on brick road streets on the edge of old Yaffo. 

Our model/stylist had several looks to go through and we managed to get quite a few shots for each of them until sunset. 

New York City 2015

This time around in New York City, I was going to focus mainly on the people. On my first trip to New York I was overwhelmed by the towering skyscrapers and parks and neighborhoods and I didn't really take many portraits. Two years later, I had already realized that travel (or landscape) photos are almost always more interesting with people in them... 

Very early in this four-day stay I had purchased a new 50 mm lens, this time at f/1.4 (refurbished or used I don't remember). That didn't seem like much of a step up from my older f/1.8 lens, on paper at least, but in reality, the quality gap was pretty big. This new lens gave stunning results, and could be opened up to f/2 before getting soft. My old $100 lens could barely stay sharp at 2.8, and at those apertures, every stop counts. I was also carrying around my trusty 105 macro and the Tokina 11-16 ultra-wide, a DX lens that's also FX "compatible" so that zoomed-in the dark corners were pretty small and could easily be cropped out. That's what you get for going to full-frame before having enough money to buy a full set of new lenses. 

Madison (why I love my new Nikon)

I haven't been uploading recently, and there's a ton of new stuff waiting to come up to this blog. I hope I will get it pretty much in order, and anyway, it's better late than never.

So, going back to May 2015 I had flown to Wisconsin for a conference and some work with the collaboration I was part of. Like every trip abroad this is a chance to see and photograph new sceneries and people, and to act like a tourist and take pictures of absolutely everything.

This was my first chance to try out my new Nikon D610, which performed beautifully and, even though I still love my old D90, did let me do some new things I couldn't get away with using the old technology and crop sensor...

So just a small selection of images from the lovely Madison, WI. If you like this kind of thing, I will link to a few facebook albums with some more images.

NYC: Staten Island Ferry + bonus

My last day in New York was a long one indeed. The first thing on my plan for the day was the Staten Island ferry. The ride takes about an hour, passes next to the Statue of Liberty (which was obviously on my todo list) and best of all: it is free-no-charge.

So I wanted to have some sort of chance to take the shuttle before it got crowded, so I got there pretty early. It was still pretty much full. I also discovered that you need to wait around an hour for the ferry on the way back. While there, I started to notice something weird was going on that day... but more on that later...

NYC: Central Park

 Central Park. I think more than anything this was the most impressive site in NYC. I find it hard to comprehend how the architects of New York could have imagined how important it would be to save such a large part of the city for this purpose.

The park is enormous. It's really gigantic, and you can get lost walking its trails. Some parts of it are well traveled and see countless visitors every day, other parts are distant and out of the way and mysterious. All around it, like a wall, are tall buildings to remind you that this piece of real-estate is among the most expensive in the world. Still, the city of New York, with its costly skyscrapers and bustling businesses, does not creep into the area of the park. The welfare of the citizens outweighs the economical pressure. As I've said: truly amazing.

NYC: Downtown and Union Square

After taking a stroll through Brooklyn bridge park, I had come back to downtown Manhattan. The day was looking like it would clear up, and I still had many hours to go.

So street photography. Again. Quite a bit of architectural shots, too.

The shot on the left is city hall (I think). It was quite impressive.

I had walked north up to union square (about thirty blocks). There it was like paradise for finding interesting looking people to photograph.

But more on that below...

NYC: Across the Water

The third day of my NYC trip started with surprisingly good weather. I was still riding the jetlag, getting up at 5:00 in the morning (which felt more like noon because of the time differences). This, of course, is photography magic-hour. The streets are empty, the temperatures are still cool, and most importantly, the light is amazing.

I decided to head off by foot from my hostel in Bowery to the Manhattan bridge. I thought I could make a short trip in Brooklyn (the park near the bridge) and if weather wasn't good move on to the neighborhoods instead of landscapes.

Turns out the weather cleared up, and I had the time to see Brooklyn bridge park, and walk back again into Manhattan before 9:00.

NYC: Day One

It's been a while...

Flying to the US for a work (or study) related trip, naturally I took a few days in New York City to photograph the attractions, the streets, and the architecture. Naturally I got some new lenses while I was there.

Three weeks over there, and as it usually goes: I take pictures on a trip for X days and then edit them for 2.5 X days after that. I have finally come to my senses and decided to upload some photos even before I finished editing the whole enchilada.

Below: several images and a few words regarding my first, oh-so-busy day in NYC...

Recent Work: November

This week I have decided to get back to basics, meaning the original reason I opened this blog: to share recent work. Although I haven't got a real theme like most of the post until now, some common threads may be found in the pictures to follow (hint: its cats).

Also, I have moved my camera to a new shoulder bag, this time one that doesn't look like a camera bag (i.e. not Lowe Pro) which makes it much less conspicuous when shooting on the street.

The idea is to be able to draw quickly but not look like I was there to spy on anyone. This works a lot better with a small 50mm prime but if I am quick enough, I can get away with larger lenses as well (large lens = longer focal length. Sometimes).