Things are LOOKING UP!

"GOLLY, Lamar--look at all them TALL buildings!"

Truth is, we're all goobers when we first arrive in this vertical city, walking around with bent necks, mouths agape, staring upwards as we run into people on the sidewalk (another reason why New Yorkers just love tourists).

As a photographer, trying to capture this sense of wonder and awe is challenging. In winter, the skies are mainly cloudy, which can make for better photos, but only if you're shooting DOWN. That is, the soft boxes used in portraiture (you've probably seen photos of a model shoot with those big puffy light boxes) increase the size of the light source, which softens the light and decreases the contrast and shadows. A cloudy sky is the largest soft box in the world, so if you're shooting flowers, children, etc. it makes for a better photo. However, if you're not shooting down, and if the sky is IN the shot, it looks better if there is at least some blue to it. So the first photographic challenge was to patiently wait for sunny days! In the few occasions when my patience tired I would shoot at night, when the sky is black whether cloudy or clear. One image in the mix here was taken on a foggy night, where the clouds added an evocative element to the image.

Second, the perspective from the ground, looking up, quickly becomes visually repetitive. I would try to vary the shots, then, in the quality of the light and the use of shadows or reflections. Good light makes for good photos, and if you wait for late afternoon (or if you're an early bird and you get up around dawn, when it's MUCH colder than sunset) the light turns yellow. Shadows or reflections upon the building add interest and drama to the lit portions of the image. Having some unique or artistic feature of the facade in light draws attention to that detail as well.

Finally, I always tried to isolate the building I was focusing upon--to create a photo that made the building stand alone so it can be seen and appreciated for itself, rather than have it look like a grade school class picture, (which is how these buildings actually exist). This usually meant walking around a structure to see if I could find a view without other buildings in the shot, then hoping the light would be good on that particular side.

Here's some of the results.

Dan

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