wlotus: (Photography II)
Did I mention today was a great day to ride a bike? Ms. T and I joined some buddies for a jaunt through Brooklyn and lower Manhattan.

Twyla the Bike
Twyla the Bike

View from the Brooklyn Bridge
A View from the Brooklyn Bridge

FDNY Ladder Company 20
FDNY Ladder Company 20

Feet
Hard-working Ms. T Feet
wlotus: (Blackberry)
"Rosemary's Baby" is showing at Bryant Park, tonight. I've never seen the movie, so I'm sitting under the open sky waiting to take in the film. It should be a fun way to start the week.

IMG00583-20100802-2024.jpg

wlotus: (Photography II)
I was sorely disappointed that I missed what sounds like an excellent concert Tuesday night in Central Park by the Shanghai Symphony and the NY Philharmonic. Determined not to miss another, I went to Prospect Park with friends last night for another NY Philharmonic concert. In spite of being too far back to clearly hear the orchestra (over the very loud voices of the small children and their caretakers sitting near us), we had an excellent time.

two little boys


+10 )

Events like this are part of why I love NY.
wlotus: (Photography II)
Last night I finally finished editing and uploading my pictures from last weekend's NYC Pride celebration. Enjoy them!


Work It!


+41
wlotus: (Photography II)
Gay Pride Slogan

NYC Pride Parade
27 June 2010
wlotus: (Photography II)
Love is the Law placard

NYC Pride Parade
27 June 2010
wlotus: (Photography II)
Pride Flag


Today was my first time ever attending an LGBT Pride Parade. I had a ball in spite of the crowds and my aching feet. The energy and sense of belonging were amazing to me, and my shutter-finger itched all day. There were beautiful LGBT people (and straight-but-not-narrow people!) of all colors and sizes and shapes and walks of life. The 320+ photos I took weren't nearly enough to scratch my photo-making itch.

There will be more photos, but I am completely wiped out and need to collapse into bed. (T is smart; she's been passed out for about an hour, already.)

I hope you had a very happy Pride Sunday, too.

Pride Flag
wlotus: (Photography II)
T and I spent yesterday afternoon at a bike blessing sponsored by the B.R.A.T.S. Motorcycle Club of NYC. It was my first biker event, and I had a blast. It was wonderful to be around so many African-American bikers, to see reunions as bikers from various groups recognized one another, and to see bikes of all kinds. Many of the bikers were very friendly and were happy to chat with us newcomers.

Goldwing Contingent
Honda Goldwings: what sport bikes aspire to be when they grow up.


When this contingent of Honda Goldwings pulled silently into the yard--these bikes run as quiet as sewing machines, no lie--all of the sport bikes lowered their forks an inch in reverence. :-) These bikes are like easy chairs rolling down the highway.

Goldwing Easy Chair
Best Seat in the House


You can see more photos of the event in my Fotki album.
wlotus: (Photography)
benches lit by streetlight

naumburg bandshell
Naumburg Bandshell

nighttime tulips

the mall at central park
The Mall
wlotus: (Photography II)
When I was in high school in NJ in the mid-80s, there was a sharp division of girls and boys in certain roles: only girls were flag twirlers and participated in pom pom squad, while only boys played drums. (I once told the high school band teacher I wanted to play bass drum in the marching band, and he laughed at me. Not having the backbone then that I have now, I didn't mention it, again.) Since I like killing sacred cows like gender roles, I took great pleasure in the following participants in this year's NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade:

Girls Playing Bass Drum
Girls Playing Bass Drum


+3 )

You can see my complete collection of St. Patrick's Day Parade photos in my gallery.
wlotus: (Photography II)

8 April 2010
wlotus: (Blackberry)
The weather today was gorgeous, and I left my DSLR at home. I didn't miss a beat, though. Instead of mourning what I could not photograph, I whipped out my Blackberry and did what I could with what I had to work with. (The only alterations I made to these photos was adding my watermark.)

Bryant Park Fountain
The Fountain at Bryant Park


+3 )
wlotus: (Blackberry)
The grounds crew has finished re-sodding the lawn at Bryant Park. It looks inviting! I'll be glad when they reopen that part of the park. Besides, there are tulips blooming in the flower beds along the walls, and I'd like to get a close look at them.

Today's weather is sunny and warm. I'm stretched out on the steps in the sun, so I've taken off my jacket. I came to Manhattan for a 1 o'clock appointment, and I'm loathe to go back home. It's too nice to stay indoors!

IMG00275-20100402-1539.jpg

wlotus: (Photography II)
[livejournal.com profile] sandokai mentioned visiting Macy's Flower Show while in NYC. I happened by there today in search of a new umbrella. ($24 for a Totes umbrella listed at $22? K-Mart, here I come!) Just as I entered the main floor, a tour was leaving from the DKNY display. It was free, so I invited myself along. The place not only looked wonderful, it smelled wonderful!

Macy's 2010 Flower Show
Our tour guide, in the green sweater, explaining the displays.


+6 )
wlotus: (Photography II)
[livejournal.com profile] ladyofthelog has the distinction of knowing me since my earliest LJ-blogging days. (Ye gods: that has been over seven years on LJ for me!) We had never met in person, so you can imagine I was quite excited to find out she would be in NYC and wanted to meet me! We took advantage of the gorgeous weather to meet at The Cloisters Museum far uptown.

The Cloisters Museum
The Amazing [livejournal.com profile] ladyofthelog!

I genuinely enjoyed her company. We talked about our interests--she knows a lot about medieval art--and filled in some of the gaps between what we blog about and what we experience. During our conversation, I made photos of the museum. I'm very happy with how these came out; they are a far cry from the ones I did a couple of years ago with Rebbie (my 300D).

Photos of the Cloisters Museum )

The next time [livejournal.com profile] ladyofthelog comes to NYC, there shall be more photos of her! I didn't want to scare her by stalking her with my lens on our first meeting. :-)
wlotus: (Photography II)
Boy Scouts marched in the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade!

Boy Scouts

Boy ScoutsBoy Scouts

Boy Scouts


We will not be discussing the politics of the Boy Scouts in this post or in the comments section. We are simply enjoying photos of boys happy to be marching in uniform in one of the biggest parades in the nation.
wlotus: (Photography II)
It is going to take a little while for me to finish uploading, then sort and edit my photos from today's St. Patrick's Day parade. I stood on 5th Avenue for the entire 6-hour parade (save the last five minutes, when I finally had to find a restroom). My feet are aching still, but I had a marvelous time.

Photos are coming, I promise!

Looking for the Parade
Looking for the Parade
NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade
17 March 2010

Post-processing tip: deliberately under-exposing by 1 stop saturates the colors in-camera, so you need not deepen the colors in software. I learned this trick from the wonderful Peter Phun, and it worked like a charm, today!

Sanctuary

Mar. 12th, 2010 09:41 pm
wlotus: (Photography II)
Today was wet and rainy. That's a good reason to leave my camera at home, right? Wrong! The rain wasn't torrential, and besides, I have a golf-sized umbrella. I walked 20 blocks rather than ride the subway, just so I could capture a bit of New York City in the rain.

For the past few days I've been shooting exclusively with my 50mm lens. I do that when I feel like I am leaning too much on zoom and not enough on instinct. Like choosing to shoot in the rain, it is something to do when I need to stir things up a bit and keep myself on my toes.



If I had my zoom lens on my camera, I may have zoomed in to try to focus on the woman carrying the umbrella. But I prefer this composition: what she lacks in size next to the church, her umbrella makes up for in contrast.

This shot wasn't all luck. I saw her coming down the block, saw this image in my head, and shot five or six frames once she got to the church. Being there when she was there was luck, but the image was deliberate.

That is the difference between taking a photo and making a photo.
wlotus: (Photography II)

The amazing Leepak and I stopped in here for hot chocolate and a gab-fest this evening. I like the place; it has character that begs to be photographed. I'll have to go back in the near future.

There's nothing like spending a couple of hours chatting with a friend who shares my passion for photography. We talked shop for a couple of hours, and I enjoyed every minute. We must do it again, and soon!

wlotus: (Blackberry)
Bryant Park is full of people enjoying the spring weather.

IMG00242-20100309-1505.jpg

Profile

wlotus: (Default)
wlotus

October 2010

S M T W T F S
      12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 11th, 2025 03:26 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios