Image of The Moment Monday: “The 5 Points.”

“The Five Points.“

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5

10 images taken going from left to right with my Nikon D200 and then stitched together using autostitch are what created this image.

A Graffiti Mecca, The 5 Points in Manhattan, New York showcases some of the finest graffiti work in the world.
The was no other way to describe how much works of art are on display for anyone and everyone to see here.

No single image of a single piece of art on display here could completely show how incredible and amazing The Five Points are to behold in person.
As much as I tried, I couldn’t find a single image that I felt would be satisfying enough for me to display the staggering amount of work on display to any and all.

So I decided to pull out a tripod to capture an image of all the artwork =D

Happy Holidays Print Giveaway!

Click on the Facebook logo to get to my fan page and sign up for a chance to win an autographed 16″ x 24″ print from me!

For the next 3 weeks people that are members and sign up and become fans on my Facebook Fanpage will have the opportunity to win a 16″ x 24″ print from me!

I’ll be picking a winner every Friday from December 18th-January 1st from my fanpage list and contacting them to let them know they’ve won.

The winners will have these choices for prints:

“A Lonely Heart Beats”

“Love at 75 Miles Per Hour.”

“One Morning In Brooklyn.”

“Ground’s Eye View.”

Click on the Facebook logo to get to my fan page and sign up for a chance to win an autographed 16″ x 24″ print from me!

Image of The Moment Monday: “The Skyline.”

“The Skyline.“

From the same shoot as “Nothing Else Matters.” and “The Proposal”.  This couple was so much fun to work with and willing to deal with my experimenting =P This shot was a simple 180 degrees behind the camera front of the bean where the “Proposal” was shot.

Camera:  Nikon D200

Lens:  18-70mm f/3.5-4.5

Using software that stitched images together, this is actually about 5 shots placed together from a tripod.

Happy Monday!!!

TGIF: Request Day

“The Proposal.”

This is for Emma who requested an image of Millennium Park’s Cloudgate, better known as “The Bean” to Chicago locals.

This is from the same shoot as “Nothing Else Matters.”

Camera:  Nikon D200

Lens:  18-70mm f/3.5-4.5

For those of you that want me to photograph something for them please leave a comment below!!!

=)

Image of The Moment Monday: “Ground’s Eye View”

“Ground’s Eye View.“

Camera:  Nikon D200

Lens:  18-70mm f/3.5-4.5

Taken with a Nikon D200 and a 18-70mm lens, I was looking to photograph the Chicago skyline and possibly use this image as a wallpaper.  I was counting down the moment and had set up the image and composition.

As I was pressing down on the shutter however, I saw a blur fly over me just as the mirror lifted up and blocked my view.

It was at that moment a feeling of giddyness came to me as I realized the implications of what just happened.

I hoped and hoped and hoped and hoped that the bird was captured in the right spot and right time as I pressed the button and this showed up in the lcd.  =D

Image of The Moment Monday: “Nothing Else Matters.”

“Nothing Else Matters.“

Camera:  Nikon D200

Lens:  Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR

Another old image of mine, I was pretty nervous about this one as I believe it was my first engagement session.  I totally did not know what I was doing back then nor did I know what to do with the couple.

One thing I eventually learned is that personally for me, the magic happens when you let the couple interact with each other and have fun with the shoot.  After talking with this couple for a while, they eventually relaxed and started joking around, having fun.

I was still in the same situation however; I wasn’t sure about what I was going to do for the shoot.  The couple was standing there waiting for me to tell them what to do.

And I was on the verge of a meltdown.

To give myself more time, I told them to hold each other’s hands while walking away from me.

Saying a quick prayer to the big guy up above for inspiration, I put the camera to my eye and hoped the shot would turn out.

And this is what I saw in the lcd.

=D

Image of The Moment Monday: “One Morning In Brooklyn”

I call it Synergy.

That combination/dynamic where you know exactly what the setting you have the camera at will do, how the image will look, and what your subsequent viewers of the image will see over monitors and print.

This was the very first image where that occured to me.

It was in New York, in October 30th of 2007 when I took this picture.  It was early morning, and I had gotten up extra early to try and take pictures of what I came across in NY.  All my friends were at work.

It was me, my camera, and The City.  By myself.

I was so scared to be honest.  I didn’t know if I would survive the entire day without seeing a friend or hanging out.

Would I panick and give up?  Would I call a friend and just hang out with them, or could I gut it out and see what happens?

I saw someone walking towards me.  With my D200 and 17-35mm f/2.8 on it, I thought I saw something-composition/idea/whatever,  I just knew that if I positioned him at the bottom and slightly over exposed the image, the bridge would just barely be there, but his black clothing would make him the emphasis of the image.

This was the first picture I took that day.

And it decided for me that I could survive and make it.

Image of the Moment: 9-28-09 | “The First Dance”

This image is from an older wedding that I always liked. The overhead tungsten lighting that cast long shadows definitely helped to create the mood in this image. The addition of grain and black and white to this digital image also conveys a sense of “classic” photography.  A Cartier-Bresson “moment” that would have been remembered differently if I had powered up my SB-600 and fully lit the room.

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My Photography On iTunes

One of my first photoshoots back in 2005 involved me shooting the cover for the album of a local rapper named Rashid Hadee from “Chapter 13.” A Very talented man.

While embarassing for me to show my skills back in 2005… I’ll put up the original picture I gave to Rashid Hadee’s studio back in 2005, and below it, I’ll put up the photo that I would have turned in if I knew what I know nowadays.

Back then:

Now:

Then:

Now:

As I was starting out, I did the shoot for free. Looking back on it thought I should have charged something lol.

I recently read that he released the new album on iTunes. This is what they did for the cover…

You can find the album on iTunes right now. Just search for “Rashid Hadee” or “Dedication.”

Show the man some love and buy the album. The man is incredible and deserves all the praise he’s getting.

Covert Operations: Street Photography In New York

It had been a dream of mine ever since I could remember…
I never really thought I would be ready for it, but at the time, either way…it was now or never.

Ever since I started photography, there was a level of standard to which I set myself against that all photographers worth their salt admire or strive to compare themselves with.

That standard was the level of photojournalism and street photography found in magazines such as National Geographic and in photographers such as Henry Cartier-Bresson, Garry Winogrand, etc.

A Central Park Afternoon

This past October 2007 I took time off from my normal job and sought to compare myself to that standard. I lived and breathed in New York, not as a tourist or a visitor, but as a professional photographer and photojournalist.

As a painter paints with brushes, a photographer paints with pictures. I wanted to show New York not through a simple point and shoot that captures bit and pieces of a puzzle, but New York through my lens as a complete work of art.

The Alley

I hoped to…no, I wanted to show a side of New York few had seen, even refresh the minds of New Yorkers who were so used to their fine, beautiful city.

The Jungle

The question was, would I be able to prove it to myself as well that I could survive in New York?

The 5 Points, Queens

Could I spend the entire day by myself, alone with my cameras…and would my photography goals be acheived?

Or would I quit after a few hours in the day and admit failure?

Street Dreams

That last question was the single biggest fear I ever had in my photographic career.

Marble Collegiate Church At 5th Avenue

New York, Halloween Night 2007

I ended up with over 2000+ images in one week while I stayed there in New York. I walked everywhere with a Nikon d200, Nikon fm and a leica m4 in hand. Photographing everything and anything whever I went.

It was the best experience of my life, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.