Tall building

June 13, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I’m not 100% sure where this building is – I think it’s in lower Manhattan and that I took the shot as we walked up Broadway after disembarking from the boat from Liberty Island. I took quite a few shots of tall buildings with blue skies and have to note how much the Z135 vignettes. I’d not noticed it too much with my black and white HP5+ shots from the same camera, but it’s quite noticable on the colour images. I don’t really mind it that much, but it’s something to bear in mind I suppose.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 24 May 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Red lorry, yellow lorry

June 12, 2019June 12, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Ah, the good old tongue-twister. “Red lorry, yellow lorry” is one that I have problems with, I can barely say it a handful of times before it becomes gabled noise. “She sells sea shells on the sea shore” on the other hand, is a breeze.

Anyway, today’s post features a couple of the aforementioned trucks, both of which were parked outside Radio City Music Hall on the first day of the Memorial Weekend.

I’m really happy with the vivid red of the Coke truck.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 25 May 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Lucky bull

June 11, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I’ve seen the Wall Street “Charging Bull” sculpture on films and TV shows on numerous occasions, It’s also regularly shown when someone runs a story on the US financial markets. It’s maybe not that well known by people in the UK, but I knew about it and thought it would be nice to get a picture or two while we were in southern Manhattan.

I got my chance on the first full day of our trip after we got off the boat back from Liberty Island. We decided to have a walk around to find something to eat and came across it by chance. Alas, my idea of getting a picture of the bull was somewhat thwarted by the huge crowds of people with exactly the same idea however. It was absolutely swamped by people: taking selfies; taking photos of others; climbing on the concrete barricades that protect it; touching its nose; touching its horns; and, yes, most popular of all it would seem, touching its balls (which have been rubbed so many times as to be shiny from all the attention!).

So, in the end, I figured a capture of the moment would probably have more meaning to me than a plain old shot of the bull by itself, so here you go…

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 25 May 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Look east

June 10, 2019June 10, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

This is the view eastward down 23rd Street from the High Line park in Manhattan. The road at the bottom of the shot is 10th Avenue. While I’m all for curves, the clean sight-lines, coupled with rows of high-rise buildings, make for some nice photo opportunities. The slightly faded tones of the Portra 400 have replicated the feel of the very warm day on which the shot was taken quite nicely, I think.

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Kodak Portra 400.

Taken on 27 May 2019

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Just do it

June 9, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

You can’t fail to be struck by the advertising hoardings in Times Square, whether it be the high-tech animated electronic boards, or the more traditional versions like in today’s photo.

I’m a little disappointed with the roll of Ektar I shot in NYC – not due to the film itself (the colours are glorious), but because of my results. Apart from a couple, all the shots (including the one here) show at least some minor signs of softness. I know the camera is capable of sharp images, so this is down to camera shake or DOF blurring when using wider apertures. Although it wasn’t badly lit on the day I shot the roll, the light meter app on my phone was giving somewhat long exposure times when I metered the shots, so I was shooting with longer shutter speeds and / or wider apertures than I’d have liked. As this was a family trip, not a photography expedition, I was also taking less time than I would have liked to compose and take many shots, which probably exacerbated things too.

I wish I’d have taken my Sekonic L-208 meter with me instead of relying on the phone app. The phone app is normally ok, but on this occasion seemed to be giving me somewhat variable results even when readings were taken in similar conditions. I think the L-208 would have been a more reliable companion.

Zeiss Mess-Ikonta 524/16 & Kodak Ektar.

Taken on 27 May 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Ellen’s Stardust Diner

June 8, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

We ate breakfast here on the first morning of our NYC trip, although it wasn’t the first time we’d visited – having eaten here on our first visit to New York back in 2012 where we came upon it by chance (as it wasn’t far from our hotel).

It’s a worthwhile place to visit with a somewhat unique feel. This is because the waiting staff are all performers in various Broadway and other theatre shows and, in between serving food, they each take turns to belt out various musical numbers while strutting between, on, and above the tables where the diners sit. It’s loud, but an experience well worth seeing at least once (assuming you like live musical numbers being sung while you eat!).

It’s a popular place (as can bee seen from the queue in today’s photo) but customers are seated by table availability and group size, so if you’re the only couple at the rear of a big line of families, it’s likely that you’ll get to skip ahead when a place for two appears (or vice-versa). The food was good, although a good 50% more expensive than the place we ate breakfast on most days (The New York Luncheonette on E 50th Street).

The photo below was taken a few days after we ate at the diner when I went for a quick pre-breakfast wander with my camera on the last day of our trip.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 28 May 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Hotdog carts

June 7, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

On the streets of Manhattan it seems there’s barely a corner without a hotdog cart pitching their wares. I seem to recall that tlast time I visited NYC that the carts sold mostly hotdogs (and maybe pretzels), but the variety seems to have increased to include gyros and other foods now. Almost all of the carts are Sabretts, although there was the odd Nathan’s vendor (didn’t there use to be another prolific hodog cart brand in NYC too?). Sadly, I didn’t have a hotdog on this visit (although I did get a Philly Cheesesteak), but here are a couple of photos of carts.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 28 May 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

30 Rock

June 5, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

30 Rockefeller Plaza.

We visited the “Top of the Rock” observation deck last time we were in New York back at the start of the decade, but this time I only walked around the bases of the Rockefeller Center complex and the only observation deck I visited this time was One World Trade Centre – which was a great experience but not as nice a view as the one from Top of the Rock, I don’t think.

It’s a nice building and I like how it looks like it’s been put together from Lego bricks in this image.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Ilford HP5+.

Taken on 29 May 2019

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Playing chess in Bryant Park

June 4, 2019 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

On our last full day in New York, the boys were tired after walking around for most of the day and didn’t want to go back out to get something to eat (plus they’d both eaten burgers pretty late in the afternoon, so weren’t especially hungry), so my wife and I left them to their Youtube videos in the hotel room and went out as a couple. As our boys tend to be a little fussy with what they’ll eat, the world was now our oyster when it came to dining choices, but we couldn’t seem to find anything we fancied – it was either cafe’s and Pret a Manger type places, or the pricey touristy stuff around Times Square, so we ended up wandering down to Bryant Park where I took the photograph in today’s post.

In the end, we ate in the food-hall area of the Wholefoods Market across the road from the park on 6th Avenue, where we bought a box of whatever took our fancy from the buffet (it was priced by the pound) and then ate it while looking out over the park and watching the world go by. It was pretty nice actually.