Cab ride across the Brooklyn Bridge, NYC

Peak hour is never the best time to drive across the Brooklyn Bridge if you are in a hurry. On this occasion I had arrived by train from Boston and any delays just gave me more time to hang out of the cab window like a happy dog. Besides, the scent and sound through an open window is the right way to begin a visit to New York! 

It was cloudy and almost raining as I headed to the apartment I had rented in Clinton Hill. Most streets and cities would look a little drab in this light but not New York! All a photographer has to do is find their black and white eyes and the viewfinder is filled with beautiful textures and tone. Even the grit looks fantastic.

5th Avenue & W53rd Street, New York City

October 19, 2013

I made these pictures in the 2 minutes and 26 seconds after 3.38pm. I had been walking along W53rd Street when I noticed how the sun, shining down 5th Avenue, was being bounced around by the high-rises and shop fronts. It was not the first time I had found backlighting with beautiful front fill light on the streets of New York City.

5th Avenue & W 53rd Street, NYC - Images by Paul Foley

Street photography requires a photographer to be ready for the moment. I like to shoot on either manual or shutter priority so I make sure to adjust exposure whenever I move into different light. The first few frames were shot at a high shutter speed (1/2000th of a second) which narrowed the depth of field. I quickly changed down to 1/250th to increase the range of focus. I set the exposure compensation to -2/3rd of a stop and framed the picture to include the lit part of the street corner while levelling the camera as best as I could. I wanted to avoid creating distracting convergence angles on the buildings, which happens when a camera is tilted too far, as well as to give a sense of the streets of New York.

I photographed during a single lights change, standing still, as shoppers, tourists and business people walked past me heading downtown. I didn’t really concentrate on any particular face - it was all happening so quickly.I did notice, however, that some people were looking down 53rd with very interesting expressions as they came up to me. I wondered what it was they were looking at but knew if I turned to see I would miss shots. The light could disappear at any moment so I kept shooting before turning to cross the street just as the red hand flashed. I never did work out what they had been looking at.I often walk the street looking for pictures with my large professional camera - the Canon 1Dx. I’ve tried compact cameras but have never been happy with the images made with the smaller sensors. I can’t afford a Leica and, while I am hearing good things about Fuji cameras, at this stage I am sticking with the full frame sensor.

In the somewhat vain hope that I can make the 1Dx more discreet I use Canon’s very compact 40mm ‘pancake’ lens to lessen the apparent bulk of the camera. This is not always a success as the tiny lens looks so out of scale on the body it often causes photography enthusiasts to ask me about it. I’m always happy to talk photography and very happy to rave about this small, simple lens. It is one of the cheapest that Canon manufacture and, from my testing and use, one of the sharpest.

The Great Georgiana...

...or Brooklyn day one

Travelling by train is a great way to introduce yourself to a city. It approaches slowly - even if you are the one actually moving.

New York has a presence that announces itself firstly by the nasally PA that infects railways around the world. I swear the driver sounded Bostonian as we left South Station and like a lifelong Brooklynite as we crossed into Manhattan.

actors/dancers at The Great Georgiana

The Red Cap at Boston said he'd arrange a colleague to meet me at Penn Station and there he was to trolley my three large equipment bags up several escalators to street level in midtown NYC. 

It was cab driver changeover time, the queue was long but moving steadily. I spent time making some pictures on what we call a real camera these days as well as chatting to the woman behind me in the line. She had also travelled from Boston, though she was spending a long weekend with her daughter who lived in the city. It's always wonderful how much complete strangers share so much of their lives in such a short time. It's a shame we can't always do it with those closest to us.

The cab master found a driver to take me across the bridge so close to knock off time. I tip too much but the time and hassle saved on the busy streets of an un-relenting city is worth it.

The journey to Brooklyn was a series of texts to Anne, the owner of the apartment I was renting, in between making pictures out the cab window. The train had been late, the queue long, the traffic heavy and Anne had a class beginning at 5pm. She arranged her sister to let me in and then spent a lot of time texting and phoning to make sure all was well. She's offered a tour of the neighbourhood tomorrow afternoon to show me around. In the meantime she pointed me to Dekalb St where I find myself now. In a bar, The Great Georgiana, owned by an Australian from Melbourne and listening to 'Summer Breeze' being played on vinyl. 
Weird but wonderfully so.

Around the corner and just down the street from the apartment a major miniseries for the BBC is being packed up. A couple of the extras (dancers from Queens) are drinking in the bar and tell me that that they spent all day waiting to be called to set. The call never came but they got paid and fed steak for lunch - these two young guys are drinking beer and happy and hoping for that call tomorrow or at least another steak.

Jesus, now Minnie Ripperton is playing on the turntable. This place is full of people born after she died (nearly). Well, no, she actually died it just that there are lots of young vibrant, hopeful people here. I hope what my generation has done and continues to do doesn't disappoint or disillusion them too much.

The draft beer selection at the Great Georgiana

Travelling for me has often been about finding new places to lose things. I guess the things I lose are really just a way of marking those spots where I discover so much. So far on this trip I've lost a phone, a passport, a wallet (all on separate occasions) and a filling. All have found their way back to me by various means and happenstance (except the filling). 

Shit, day one is drawing to a close. Its just gone 8.30, I'm still in the bar and about to order my third beer from Tory (actually it became a nice Californian pinot noir). Tory is chatty and inquisitive and she's probably looking after me like she would her dad - making sure he's happy and not getting into any mischief!

More to come...