NYC: Love on 5th Avenue

[BottomBracket]

Taken one fine spring day nearly a year ago. Manhattan, NYC.

http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/p453628013-4.jpg

[condyk]

Oh, she's flirtin' ... but you seem to be passed out on the floor or peepin' from a grid when you took that shot :-)

[purelithium]

Actually, it looks like he's at a height of sitting on a bench, or crouched down, not quite low enough for the prone position.

[Jaykue]

Pio, i love this shot. but as condy's mentioned, it looks like you took this on the way to the ground in some drunken stupor *grin*. if it were mine man, I'd do a few things - rotate it counter clockwise so those characters are vertical, and i'd get rid of the mid tonal range. make those shadows deep :) give it a lil more of a NY hustle/bustle feel.

[BLS]

Nice shot with a nice soft light and an interesting composition. The tilt doesn't bother me, and I think the mid-tones go well with the soft lighting. If you decide to change anything, maybe shorten the foreground. But, as I said, I like the way it is.

[TByrne]

Don't change a thing! The crazy comic book angle grabs your eye and tosses it at the couple. Everything works toward them with the power of a tractor beam. And the grating is even more of a BIG CITY icon than the buildings. How many small towns have enough going on underground to install elaborate grates? Yes, and you've captured the debris of the cabs behind, plus the shadows of the lower left corner are balanced so well by the light puddle in the upper right. You are teaching us how to use a wide angle for portraits so well ... That... that...

I do get the feeling of urban love. Not the hot gritty lust of neon after-dark club scent... but charming, teasy, flirty fun love. They like each other! It is wonderful. Print it.. hang it... love it.


Thanks for sharing: Don't change a thing. You do not need to write a caption describing it as NYC. You've included so much sense of place that we are overwhelmed wonderfully by it. No... no... don't change a thing.

Ted

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[DwightMcCann]

Geez, Bottom, I was hoping for something with a bit more sizzle! :-)

[T Kubik]

I agree with Ted, I wouldn't change a thing! It's a fantastic photo as is!

[HectikHector]

The reason it looks like he's way down on the floor, for those of you who don't know, that's what happens when you use a wide angle lens. You get so much of the frame, you sometimes have to angle the cam down and you get that effect.

[HectikHector]

Oh, and nice pic, I would add a little more contrast though.

[Sean-Mcr]

Still pounding the streets of NY BB, that's good to know son. I'm glad to see that you haven't forgotten that street photography is much more then simply a shot of a street

Matt webbers love in NY may be of interest to you http://pic1.funtigo.com/urbanphotos/?g=17644612

[BottomBracket]

Oh, she's flirtin' ... but you seem to be passed out on the floor or peepin' from a grid when you took that shot :-)

Actually, it looks like he's at a height of sitting on a bench, or crouched down, not quite low enough for the prone position.

The reason it looks like he's way down on the floor, for those of you who don't know, that's what happens when you use a wide angle lens. You get so much of the frame, you sometimes have to angle the cam down and you get that effect.

Hey guys, thanks for looking! Actually I spied this couple when I was rounding a corner onto 5th Avenue. Not wanting to disturb the ritual, I immediately crouched down, made two ninja rolls to my left, dropped to prone position and snake crawled to take cover behind a fire hydrant. I managed to fire off a few shots before being trampled by a nanny pushing a loaded Maclaren twin baby stroller and a dogwalker towed by a dozen dogs.

Just kidding. I was just walking along when I saw this couple. I stopped and faced the street, turned away from them as I dropped the camera down to my right thigh. I took a few frames blindly, as I know if I put the camera up to my face I will surely alter the moment. This was the best of the lot.

[BottomBracket]

Pio, i love this shot. but as condy's mentioned, it looks like you took this on the way to the ground in some drunken stupor *grin*. if it were mine man, I'd do a few things - rotate it counter clockwise so those characters are vertical, and i'd get rid of the mid tonal range. make those shadows deep :) give it a lil more of a NY hustle/bustle feel.

Nice shot with a nice soft light and an interesting composition. The tilt doesn't bother me, and I think the mid-tones go well with the soft lighting. If you decide to change anything, maybe shorten the foreground. But, as I said, I like the way it is.

Don't change a thing! The crazy comic book angle grabs your eye and tosses it at the couple. Everything works toward them with the power of a tractor beam. And the grating is even more of a BIG CITY icon than the buildings. How many small towns have enough going on underground to install elaborate grates? Yes, and you've captured the debris of the cabs behind, plus the shadows of the lower left corner are balanced so well by the light puddle in the upper right. You are teaching us how to use a wide angle for portraits so well ... That... that...

I do get the feeling of urban love. Not the hot gritty lust of neon after-dark club scent... but charming, teasy, flirty fun love. They like each other! It is wonderful. Print it.. hang it... love it.

Thanks for sharing: Don't change a thing. You do not need to write a caption describing it as NYC. You've included so much sense of place that we are overwhelmed wonderfully by it. No... no... don't change a thing.

I agree with Ted, I wouldn't change a thing! It's a fantastic photo as is!

Oh, and nice pic, I would add a little more contrast though.

Thanks for looking, all, I am glad that you like it. It is interesting to get views from different people, and I do appreciate it. I do have a version of this where I bumped up the contrast, and did a bit of D and B to coax out the texture. Somehow that version I felt distracts one's eye away from the couple so I ditched that. This version is uncropped, taken blindly from the hip, and I do love the way the grates and buildings were captured, as well as a few taxicabs.

This was processed by the way with FM's Black and White conversion plug in, with a few minor tweaks. I really love street photography. A shot, like this one, can have lots of technical flaws but somehow it all works out when you capture the moment's essence.

[T Kubik]

Looking at it again, I still love it, AND it think the tilt actually helps this shot. I think if it were straight, it wouldn't lead you towards the couple as much as it does.

[BottomBracket]

Geez, Bottom, I was hoping for something with a bit more sizzle! :-)

Hey Dwight, what's up! Sizzle huh? Wait until I post under the title "Love on Times Square During the 70's" :mrgreen: How's it going my friend.

Still pounding the streets of NY BB, that's good to know son. I'm glad to see that you haven't forgotten that street photography is much more then simply a shot of a street

Matt webbers love in NY may be of interest to you http://pic1.funtigo.com/urbanphotos/?g=17644612

Seanie boy, how are you? Yes I'm still here meandering the streets with a camera in hand. I have a taken a lot of pics and they sit in my hard drive unprocessed. I hope I can find some time or motivation to do so soon. I'd love to see your latest work Sean, it has been a long time.

Thanks for the link, I have seen some of Weber's work before and he has been an influence in my own photographic paradigm.

[BottomBracket]

Looking at it again, I still love it, AND it think the tilt actually helps this shot. I think if it were straight, it wouldn't lead you towards the couple as much as it does.

Hey Tom, thanks! I agree the tilt makes it a bit unusual and does lead you towards the subject, now that you mention it. It was a bit of a lucky shot as I mentioned before that this was shot from the hip, blindly. I often do this with a dSLR when I don't want people to be alerted that I am taking pictures. It is much easier with a G-series camera though, with its swivel screen. If I were to choose one of the two for street shooting, I would prefer the G6 as it is less unobtrusive. But I digress!

I remember that day when I took this pic, I was blessed with a few keepers. Here is another one from that day, apologies to those who saw this already in another post.


Leading the Rat Race
http://piofort.zenfolio.com/img/p179209122-4.jpg