Check out johnwaller.co.uk for bigger and more pictures. Full travel report to follow shortly!

So, please have a look around and let me know what you think. What works for you? What doesn’t? Any comments and suggestions are very much welcome! Hope you enjoy the new look and check back soon as I’ve got a few new articles in the pipeline.

Also wanted to thank Joe Roback again for making the template (which can be found here) available.

I thought I’d write this short and hopefully straightforward article to explain the basics of photography in a way that makes sense to me. There’s a lot of information out there that explains all of this in much more detail but I’m the kind of person who likes to be out there implementing techniques rather than spending ages reading about them, so I’ve tried to keep this as concise as possible. 

‘Seeing’ the Shot

You’ve got to put a little effort and thought into what you’re going to shoot before you even pick up the camera. Your eyes have such a wide field of view and can quickly adjust to all kinds of lighting situations but as a photographer you’ve got to learn how to see the world through a camera lens. Unfortunately you can’t be taught how to ’see’ a shot – that’s entirely up to you. But if you shoot something that interests or excites you then hopefully that will be conveyed in the picture.

There’s a quote by Marcel Proust that I try to incorporate in my approach to photography “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes”. For example, there’s a road right next to Glasgow airport that I must have driven along a hundred times before. At one point there’s a break in the trees that run along the side of the road that opens up to look over some farmers’ fields. Thankfully the day I finally noticed that, taken in isolation, the view of the fields was actually quite nice I had my camera in the back seat. I stopped the car, grabbed my camera and took the shot on the right. Now I’m always on the lookout for a shot that I might have missed previously.

The best way to understand what makes a good shot is to study (not copy!) other people’s work. If you see a shot that you like try to understand exactly what it is about it that you like. Is it the subject matter, the mood, the colours, the expressions, the composition? But most importantly – get out there, snap away, critique your own shots and quickly you’ll begin to understand what works and what doesn’t.

Composition

Once you’ve found your scene, you should take your time (if possible) to photograph it in such a way as to do it justice. Again, this is entirely up to you – there isn’t a definitive compositional method that is guaranteed to work. If you shoot digital then there’s no excuse for not trying out different angles and focal lengths to see what works best for that particular shot. A good starting point is to follow the ‘rule of thirds’.

If you imagine that your picture is divided by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines then your important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Looking at my shot of the Empire State Building in New York, you can see that I’ve placed the building along the left vertical line and the top of the building at the top left intersection.

If you’re shooting landscapes it often works well to place the horizon along one of the horizontal lines or if you’re shooting portraits try to place the eyes at one of the intersections. But remember that rules are made to be broken and so don’t worry about putting the subject smack bang in the middle of the frame if that’s what works best for that particular shot.

Let’s move on to the three things that affect exposure – aperture, shutter speed and ISO…

Aperture

Aperture is the size of the lens opening that determines the amount of light that reaches the sensor (or film). The diagram opposite shows typical f-numbers (or f-stops) found on most lenses – f/3.5, 4.5, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22 and 32. Each of these numbers lets in half as much light as the previous number.

Small f-numbers represent large (or wide) apertures and large f-numbers represent small apertures. It feels like that’s the wrong way round, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. If there are no other variables then the larger the aperture, the more light comes in and so the more exposed (or brighter) the image will be. That makes sense because if you use the analogy of a room in your house then the larger the window (i.e. the opening), the more light gets in and so the brighter it is. Similarly, the smaller the aperture, the less light hits the sensor during any given time and so the darker the image.

The same logic applies if the overall exposure of the image doesn’t change. So, the larger the aperture, the more light comes in and so the shutter doesn’t need to be open for as long (i.e. you can use faster shutter speeds). And vice versa - the smaller the aperture, the less light hits the sensor during any given time. This is why you sometimes hear an f/1.8 or f/2.8 lens being referred to as a ‘fast’ lens because they have large apertures, let a lot of light in and so allow for faster shutter speeds.

Aperture also controls the depth of field (i.e. the amount of the image that is in focus) and can allow for some creative focusing techniques to be used. The larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field and so less of the image is in focus. The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field and so more of the image is in focus. It’s often preferable to have a greater depth of field for landscape pictures so that the entire scene is razor sharp. If you’re taking portraits though, you might want to blur the background to ensure that the viewers’ focus is entirely on the model.

Shutter Speed

This is the amount of time that the shutter is open and again determines the amount of light that reaches the sensor. Shutter speeds are measured in seconds or, in most cases, fractions of seconds. In daylight you’ll usually find that your shutter speed is anything faster than 1/60 sec but longer exposures at night can run into several seconds or even minutes. A shutter speed of 1/100 sec will let in twice as much light as a shutter speed of 1/200 sec.

If no other variables change then the faster the shutter speed, the less light hits the sensor and so the darker the image will be. Similarly, the slower the shutter speed, the more light comes in and so the brighter the image.

Shutter speed is important for capturing movement. A fast shutter speed will freeze the subject (so that it looks still) whereas a slow shutter speed can make it look blurred as the subject moves (creating a sense of movement). The slightly odd picture on the right was taken using a shutter speed of 1/160 sec and you can see how it has captured the water mid-flight. Compare that to the shot below left which has a shutter speed of 496 seconds and shows the star trails as they move across the night sky. It always amazes me what fantastic colours you can get from slow night exposures that your eyes just don’t pick up.

Getting a fast enough shutter speed is also import for avoiding camera shake (i.e. where the picture is blurred due to camera movement). Of course, one way to avoid this would be to use a tripod so that the camera is completely fixed; however, this isn’t always possible or practicable. As a general rule of thumb to avoid camera shake you should use a shutter speed with a denominator which is larger than the focal length of the lens. So, if your focal length is 100mm then you should have a shutter speed of at least 1/100 sec to avoid camera shake. If you’re lucky you might have a camera or lens that has vibration reduction (that’s what Nikon calls it – Canon calls it optical stabilisation and other manufacturers call it something else…) which means that you can use slower shutter speeds before camera shake becomes an issue.

ISO

ISO in the digital world is the sensor’s sensitivity to light. So, the more sensitive the sensor is, the less light the camera needs to get the same exposure and vice versa. Most cameras’ ISO settings range from ISO 100 to ISO 1600 or ISO 3200. ISO 200 is twice as sensitive as ISO 100 and so if nothing else changes, the ISO 200 picture will be brighter.

Why would you ever want to change your ISO? The main reason would be because you wanted a faster shutter speed, so you would increase the ISO so that the sensor didn’t need as much light to hit it. Conversely, you might want a slower shutter speed (to blur movement, for example) and so you would make the sensor less sensitive so that more light would have to come into the camera.

But something has to give when you increase the sensitivity and that’s noise (or, in film terms, grain). The higher the ISO the more chance you’re going to get of introducing or increasing noise. That’s fine in some situations where it can add a gritty or moody feel to your picture, but if you’re looking for a nice clean image then you should try and use as low an ISO as you can.

Bringing it all together

I’ve written about aperture, shutter speed and ISO as three separate elements and mentioned what would happen to the exposure of an image if only one of them was to change. While it is important to understand each of these elements separately, it’s perhaps more important to understand how they interact with each other. The easiest way to learn that is to play about with the dials on your camera and you’ll quickly begin to understand how increasing the aperture will increase the shutter speed and so on…

For example, if you increase the shutter speed by one stop (e.g. from 1/100 sec to 1/200 sec) then you’re letting in half as much light into the camera. To compensate for this you would need to either increase the aperture by one stop (e.g. from f/8 to f/5.6) or choose a faster ISO (e.g. from ISO 100 to ISO 200). Unless you’re using manual mode, your camera will chose these ‘other’ values to compensate for any changes you make, so you don’t need to worry too much!

Enjoy!

If you’ve reached this far in the article then the chances are you’re not a pro photographer (at least I hope you’re not) and so I think it’s safe for me to say that the single most important thing about your photography is making sure you enjoy it. Now go out and take some pictures!

I took the shot above last weekend while at the park with my girlfriend on a glorious evening enjoying a few beers and a couple of burgers made on a little disposable BBQ. I thought that life couldn’t get much better so used my trusty Panasonix Lumix LX3 to capture the moment. I tweaked the shot later that evening in photoshop and when I saw the final version realised that it was probably one my favourite shots that I’ve taken to date.

It made me realise that I spend most of my photographic life trying to find that elusive perfect shot that I’ll finally be happy with. Couple that with the fact that I’ll only pull the trigger on a shot if I think it’s worthwhile (or worthy, if I can say that) and it means that quite often I forget to take these kind of snapshots of moments that involve me and are important to me; rather than shots that I think you (the viewer) will like.

Given the amount of baby and cat pictures on the internet, I’m sure the majority of people don’t need (or want) my words of advice, but I wanted to write this short article to remind people (and myself more than anyone) to take that plain old snapshot which, in years to come, might end up being one of the most precious shots in your archives.

Here’s another couple that always bring a smile to my face when I see them:

This one is of my girlfriend in New York seconds after making her self proclaimed “hilarious” joke. I’ve never seen anyone being so pleased with themselves at having made a crap joke, that I had to capture the moment.

And here’s my little granny sitting at the breakfast table one morning. She saw I had my camera in my hand and thought she would pull some funny faces for me. She looks quite serious but you won’t find a happier 80+ year old than this!

58A Eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of armed forces etc

(1) A person commits an offence who—

(a) elicits or attempts to elicit information about an individual who is or has been—

(i) a member of Her Majesty’s forces,

(ii) a member of any of the intelligence services, or

(iii) a constable,

which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b) publishes or communicates any such information.

(2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for their action.

So it’s an offence to take a picture of a constable if it’s of a kind likely to be useful to a terrorist. Now that - to me at least – is potentially very wide wide and, unfortunately, a completely subjective test. How do you decide what kind of photograph is likely to be useful to a terrorist?

There is a defence if you can show that you had a reasonable excuse for your action. Now, I’ve not read enough about the situations this defence is intended to cover (note that there is a similar defence contained in the Terrorism Act 2000) but I do wonder whether taking a photograph of an officer because - like me - you enjoy street photography or whether, as a photojournalist, you are documenting a story or event.

The Home Office have apparently stated that the new laws will not make it more likely that photographers will be stopped in the first place because (and this doesn’t really reassure me) the Terrorism Act 2000 already makes it an offence to “collect or make a record [which includes a photograph] of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”. This would also cover photographing a police officer.

I guess the problem for us photographers (not that I’ve ever had any problems with the police or members of the public for that matter) is that it gives the police another reason to be suspicious and question the motive behind people’s street photography.

However, I am reassured by the statement the Metropolitan Police issued to Amateur Photographer:

It is important to stress that the new offence is not intended to target or impede professional or amateur photographers, but rather to provide additional protection to front line personnel from possible terrorist attack.

Taking photographs of police officers would not – except in very exceptional circumstances – be covered by the new offence. For the new offence to be committed the information would have to raise a reasonable suspicion that it was intended to be used to provide practicable assistance to a terrorist.

Officers have been briefed on this issue and guidance on dealing with the media and photographers is available to them.

Hopefully the police will apply a commonsense approach when enforcing this legislation but only time will tell. 

Day 1 - Times Square, Ellen’s Stardust Diner, Columbus Circle, Times Warner Center, Central Park, Wollman Rink, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Sy Katz Parade, Yum Yum Bangkok 3 

Day 2- Cafe Edison, Bryant Park, 5th Avenue, Flatiron Building, Madison Square Park, Chelsea, Empire Diner, B&H Photo, Macy’s, Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks, Empire State Building, John’s Pizzeria 

Day 3- Dean & Deluca, World Financial Center, Winter Garden, World Trade Center, Liberty Street, St Paul’s Chapel, Century 21, Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange, Charging Bull, Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, The View, Avenue Q 

Day 4- Brooklyn Diner, Central Park, Checkers Pavilion, Bow Bridge, The Boathouse, Guggenheim Museum, 5th Avenue, Carnegie Deli, Top of the Rock, Rainbow Room, Bubba Gump Shrimp 

Day 5- Dean & Deluca, Stonewall Inn, Bleecker Street, Soho, Tribeca, MOMA Design Store, China Town, Grand Sichuan, Brooklyn, River Cafe, DUMBO, Grimaldi’s, Brooklyn Bridge 

Day 6- Bryant Park, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, Whispering Gallery, UN Headquarters, Museum of Modern Art, Wollman Rink, Hudson Bar, The Plaza, LOVE Statue, Gordon Ramsay at The London 

Day 7- FAO Schwarz, Tiffany & Co., MOMA Design Store, Times Square, Home… 

Galleries – Check out the full New York galleries 

Gear Guide – Details of the equipment used to take these photographs 

Day 1

Having flown direct from Edinburgh to Newark with Continental, we had no problems jumping straight into a taxi which took us to Manhattan and what would be our home for the next six days, the Paramount Hotel, just off Times Square. We chose to stay right next to Times Square because it seemed to be the most central and convenient location for exploring the whole of Manhattan and as a base for first-time tourists we did think it was ideal.  

We checked in to the hotel, dumped our bags and came straight back out for a wander. We had toyed with the idea of doing the hop on/hop off bus tour to try and get our bearings but it turned out to be a really warm, beautiful day so we decided to walk instead. Spent a while in Times Square just standing looking all around us and trying to take everything in – there was just so much to look at! We spent the afternoon doing a bit of a loop up to Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Center, along through the very bottom of Central Park (seeing the Wollman Rink with the low lying clouds covering the skyscrapers in the background was amazing) and back down 5th Avenue, passing by the Rockefeller Center and back to Times Square. Stopped at Ellen’s Stardust Diner for lunch (food ok, cheesy obviously but a great laugh and the singing waitstaff were very entertaining). 

First impressions of the city were absolutely fantastic - we loved the buildings, the bustle and the park was beautiful (it was nice to see that some leaves were still on the trees displaying their amazing autumnal colours). As we neared 5th Avenue it was getting dark and the streets and shop windows were all lit up and gorgeous – exactly how we imagined and hoped it would be. We just loved it and were so excited to finally be on holiday and in New York! 

Outside St Patrick’s Cathedral a band were getting ready to start a parade so we hung around for a bit to see them. It turned out to be Cornell University Sy Katz Parade, which was fascinating to watch. I know this sounds hugely stereotypical but to us it was all very ‘American’ - the red band uniforms, the cheerleaders, the baton-twirlers and the flags – I really can’t imagine a similar parade by the uni we went to (Glasgow)! Then, most bizarrely, I noticed that one of the band members was wearing a kilt with his uniform. I caught his eye and realised it was actually a friend of ours from uni who, it turns out, is at Cornell doing a Masters and, apparently, playing in the marching band… bizarre! 

We were getting pretty tired with the time difference and relatively early start so decided to stay close to the hotel for dinner, headed along Restaurant Row and up 9th Avenue hoping to find somewhere quick and easy for a bite to eat. Ended up in Yum Yum Bangkok 3, a busy little Thai place where I had PenangCurry with Shrimp (as it seems to be called in the US) and John had Chicken Peanut Curry. Food was good and exactly what we needed that night. Home to bed around 10pm ready for our ‘proper’ first day…! 

Day 2

Not surprisingly we woke up pretty early and were keen to get out and about as soon as possible. Looking back on it this wasn’t one of our fuller days as the main focus was on getting to Madison Square Garden for the Knicks game at night, although we still managed to see quite a lot. We had breakfast at Cafe Edison and both loved it – it was busy and loud, pretty retro and we sat at the counter reading the Sunday papers and watching everything that was going on around us. Huge portions, John had banana & walnut pancakes and I had amazing eggs benedict. 

We walked to Bryant Park and watched the skaters for a bit, tried to see the public library but it was closed and then continued down 5th Avenue. We passed Lord & Taylor and the Empire State Building (which we were intending to come back to later) and got some interesting photos of the shop windows and also of some old-school murals on the side of one of the buildings there. Continued down to the Flatiron Building which is so iconic and, in my mind, a real ‘New York’ image. Spent a bit of time in Madison Square Park, mainly looking at the little tree-houses there. Have since googled these and found that they are an art installation by Tadashi Kawamata – we liked them. 

Time just seemed to pass us by as we wandered through Chelsea, we had no real timetable for that day and enjoyed just being out walking together and taking in the neighbourhoods we passed through. Things had been a bit crazy at work in the run up to our holiday so it was lovely to just have absolutely no commitments! We had lunch at the Empire Diner (chicken quesadillas and a BBQ burger for John) then headed up to B&H Photo. He loved it and spent ages looking at the (slightly better than his) Nikons! Bought a few bits and pieces (including a large gorillapod which was a great thing to be able to carry about with us for the rest of the week rather than having to lug a tripod about, well worth it) and then across to Madison Square Garden. Decided to pick up our tickets while we were passing in case there were bigger queues later, then coffee and a browse in Borders and Macy’s. 

We headed back across to the Garden about an hour before the game started and the doors opened just after. This was one of the real highlights of our trip! I’m not hugely into sports but John was pretty keen on basketball when he was younger and we both thought it would be a good atmosphere – and it really was. There was loads to see in the forty minutes or so before the game started - players warming up etc. and we both bought t-shirts (which we changed into) and a big foam hand. We had beers and hotdogs and cheered and chanted our way through the whole game – we probably looked like total tourists but unashamedly so, we had a total laugh and a great night! Magic Johnson was there which was pretty cool. The Knicks were leading all the way through the game then threw it away to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime - gutting but hey, it was a great experience. 

After the game we went up the Empire State Building, obviously knowing it would be dark but it seemed a sensible time to do it given we were in that area and we’d already decided to do the Top of the Rock at sunset time another day. It was pretty special but if I’m honest I preferred TOTR overall (and the pictures were better there) but there’s something about the ESB too, I guess the fact that we’ve seen it in so many movies and on TV all the time. There were no queues at that time and we managed to go straight up – it was still busy (and exceptionally cold) at the top though. 

Walked back to Times Square and went to John’s for pizza for supper – both very impressed – then back to the hotel. 

Day 3

Ate a quick muffin for breakfast at the Dean & Deluca in our hotel and then out to Times Square for our morning photo opportunity – by now we were in a bit of a routine which involved me standing with a coffee trying not to freeze while John stood for 20 minutes every morning desperate to get the right light/traffic/people for the perfect Times Square shot. It was, of course, worth it when he did…! 

We took the subway to Chambers Street and had a walk in the area around the World Financial Centre, there were lovely views across the water (including the Statue of Liberty in the distance) and we also liked the winter garden. We also walked round a bit of the World Trade Centre site - in some ways it felt like it was wrong of us, a couple of tourists on their holidays, to be there but then at the same time it is of course a living, working area. Construction is underway and it was interesting to read about the plans for the new development. We passed a fire station on Liberty Street which had a bent and battered street sign on display as well as a memorial to the firemen from that station who died in the attack – it was extremely moving. We also went into St Paul’s Chapel which was really interesting and again very moving. Obviously we’re all aware of and have seen the media images of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the towers coming down and the amazing job done by the rescue workers but I hadn’t ever thought in any detail about the role of the many volunteers supporting them. 

After St Paul’s we popped into Century 21 as I wanted to buy some sunglasses (the weather while we were there was exceptionally cold but lovely, bright sunny winter days which was just perfect). My word, never again… How anyone can spend longer than 5 minutes in that place is beyond me. I’m sure there are some bargains to be had but it was just so busy and untidy! Didn’t buy anything in the end. I’ve seen this place described as TK Maxx on acid – fantastic description! 

We then walked along Broadway to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. We both found this whole area really interesting, I think because we’ve spent time working in the City and it was cool to see how the two financial areas compare. Have to admit though, it made a nice change not to be one of the people running for a quick sandwich on their lunch break! Instead we had lunch in a bar nearby and then headed across to Bowling Green to see the Charging Bull- very impressive and we love the fact that the artist, Arturo Dimodica, just dumped it in secret in the middle of the night! Then on to the Staten Island Ferry for amazing views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty from the water. 

Back to Times Square on the subway and bought tickets at the TKTS booth for Avenue Q – we had talked about maybe seeing a show but had no ‘must sees’ so decided to be spontaneous and if it fitted in, great. In the end we went for Avenue Q as I thought John would enjoy that more than a ‘regular’ musical and it was a great choice as it was absolutely hilarious. We both loved it, bought the CD and have been singing the songs pretty much constantly since we got home! 

Before it started we had time for a quick drink at The View - a revolving bar and restaurant in the Marriott Hotel - and a bite to eat (oh, and John grabbed a couple of night shots of Times Square!). After the musical we had had great plans of going to a piano bar but in the end we were just shattered and headed straight back to the hotel. Incidentally this scenario was repeated every night for the rest of the week and I’m sorry to say we never ever made it to our piano bar – but hey, it’s as good a reason as any to come back! 

Day 4

Had a big breakfast today at the Brooklyn Diner- chocolate chip pancakes for me and John had eggs and bacon with polenta (really enjoyed that incidentally). It was fairly expensive for a breakfast but the food was really good. We then walked up 5th Avenue to Central Park and spent the morning wandering around it. The sun was strong and it felt much warmer in the park than anywhere else. More leaves had come off the trees since our first day but there were still some very pretty colours. We saw a wedding taking place with the lake in the background. Highlights in the park were the checkers pavilion, the Bow Bridge and just the way it all looked in the beautiful light – we felt very lucky with the weather. 

We stopped for hot chocolate at The Boathouse and then continued up the east side of the park, past the Hans Christian Andersen and Alice sculptures. We came out onto 5th Avenue and walked past the Met up as far as the Guggenheim, purely to see the building as we both really like it and John wanted to get some shots in the lobby. Museum wise, we had decided just to go into MOMA on this trip so we then made our way back down 5th to the bottom of the park (we seriously underestimated how far that was - don’t think we’d realised how far we’d travelled while happily strolling in the park but we did feel it when walking down a long, straight street!). We had a late lunch at Carnegie Deli which we’d been recommended by a friend – we liked it and it was interesting to try the food (chicken soup with matzo balls and an enormous pastrami and corn beef sandwich) but I’m not sure I would rush back. 

Next was Top of the Rock which was just amazing – the whole experience is very swift and efficient (no queues) and the views are incredible. On one side you can see the whole of the park laid out in front of you (and I do think this is only way to really appreciate the scale of it) and on the other you have the Midtown skyline with the Empire State Building standing out and the Statue of Liberty off in the distance – very beautiful. We had timed it so that we could watch the sun go down from up there and took literally a million photos – although I have to admit I kept popping back down to the indoor observation level as it was absolutely freezing… Lovely to see the city in the changing light though. 

Friends had said we absolutely had to go to The Rainbow Room for a drink so we popped in there - the views are good although a little obstructed from where we were sitting and the drinks are very expensive – not unexpected, but still… We both agreed that it was nice and we had a nice time there but if you’re looking for a drink with an outlook I would go to The View out of those two. 

By now it was pretty late but we (well, I…) had wanted to go skating so we walked back to Central Park to try and do that. I know we could have done it right there at the Rockefeller Center but I had fallen in love with the Wollman Rink earlier in the day so we decided to head back there. Unfortunately the rink was closed for a private function and only opened to the public the next night so we just watched for a bit (took photos, surprise surprise…) and enjoyed the atmosphere. 

Again pretty tired by this time so had a quick dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp and then back to the hotel. I’m not sure if Bubba Gump Shrimp is a US chain (it certainly felt like it could be) but it was a bit of a novelty to us and the food wasn’t bad - cheap and cheerful and it was fine for what it was. No piano bar again – I think on the whole we did less at night than we had thought we would but we walked so much during the days that we were ready for bed at the back of 10 most nights. It was worth it though and meant we were ready to go again the next day… 

Day 5

We had another quick Dean & Deluca breakfast and then jumped on the subway down to Christopher Street. We wandered around there for a bit, unexpectedly seeing Stonewall Inn which was interesting and then walked down Bleecker Street towards Soho and Tribeca. We spent the morning just walking around, checking what any interesting buildings were in our guidebook and doing a bit of shopping. In Soho we spent quite a bit of time in the MOMA Design Store which we both really loved – we’d gone there because John wanted a particular type of watch which they apparently stocked. They didn’t have it in the Soho branch (although we did eventually buy it on our last day in the shop which is actually opposite MOMA) but what a find, we could have bought the entire shop! Lots of really interesting and quirky home and gift type items. We could have spent far longer in these areas and would like to have been there at night as well – another thing to come back for. 

We continued down to Chinatown and walked along Canal Street – this was one area which I wished I’d done a bit more research on as our guidebook wasn’t great and I knew we were probably seeing the tourists’ Chinatown but anyway, it was still interesting . A little tacky but again I would put that down to us being on the tourist trail. We had lunch at a little place called Grand Sichuan - we weren’t convinced when we sat down but it was busy, it was freezing outside and we were starving… and the food (aside from the Pork Dumplings….) ended up being very good - a great find! 

The subway took us across to Brooklyn where the first thing we did was stop for a glass of wine at the River Cafe. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to just go in for a drink but we asked and they said it was no problem. It was after lunch time and there were only a couple of tables finishing up so I think that helped – I’m not sure if you could do it at a peak-time though. 

We wanted to spend a bit of time in DUMBO so John could take photos of street scenes and graffiti and I had been under the impression that there would be quite a bit around there. Not sure where I picked that up from or if we were just on the wrong streets as it wasn’t quite what I expected but was still a really interesting area to see. 

We headed to the start of the bridge for some daytime views (and photos…) then back down to the waterfront to watch the sun go down. This would have been an absolutely lovely way to spend an hour if it wasn’t so absolutely baltic so in the end we gave up and went to Grimaldi’s for a pizza – perfect! Both loved the food and there was no problem at all getting a table at that time although it wasn’t exactly peak lunch or dinner time. We then went back up to the bridge and walked across to Manhattan – it was just gorgeous, what a view. The bridge itself is amazing too, never mind the backdrop, and it was well worth doing. 

We took the subway back to Times Square with a view to dropping off our shopping at the hotel and making our second attempt to skate in Central Park. Once we were back at the hotel we made the fatal mistake of having ‘a quick lie down’…. and woke up in the middle of the night fully clothed, having both fallen sound asleep at about 8.30pm. We were annoyed at ourselves for basically wasting a night of our trip but then again, we had walked miles and obviously needed it. Felt like some wee old couple though who couldn’t hack the pace! 

Day 6

Our last full day… Trying not to think about that, we headed along to Bryant Park with a view to seeing the library this time (although it wasn’t to be, we clearly should learn to check opening hours…) and then Grand Central Station- what a building. We were both hugely impressed - the architecture itself is obviously lovely but it was more the combination of the building, the ceiling, the atmosphere and the fact that it’s such a hub that made it fascinating. Spurred on by Griff Rhys Jones we talked to each other across the whispering gallery – very cool. 

We continued down to the UN Headquarters (stopping to gaze at the Chrysler Building which I absolutely love) and took the public tour there: this was something we hadn’t really intended to do but thought we may as well as we had time for it and it turned out to be really interesting. I’d been to the UN in Geneva previously and it was good to be able to compare the two. There was a session going on in the main chamber so we got to see some of that as well. 

We grabbed some lunch at an Irish pub on the way back to 5th Avenue and then headed up to MOMA, stopping first in the design store across the street. There was great excitement as we discovered they sold the brand of watches John was looking for although typically it proved to be too big a decision for that moment in time and we left ‘thinking about it’… (Clearly just so we could go back there – his favourite shop – the next day…) MOMA was good although much of the photography section (the main attraction for us) was taken up with an exhibition on printing techniques. Not that it wasn’t interesting but just not what we’d expected. Overall though it was very good. 

Up to the Wollman Rink in Central Park where we (finally!) managed to get our skates on and dazzle the crowds with our ice-dance routines. Or, in reality, spend half an hour trying not to fall flat on our faces in the presence of the eight year old figure skaters and ice hockey players whizzing past us… Such a beautiful location to do it though. We had to stop for a warm apple cider halfway through and the lights in the buildings were all starting to come on – just gorgeous. Really glad we persevered and managed to skate eventually as it was a total laugh if nothing else! 

We headed back to the hotel to change for dinner (via the Hudson for a drink) as we had reservations at Gordon Ramsay at The London. This was, again, based on a friend’s recommendation and was the only table we booked in advance. It was our last night and we wanted to make the most of it so got a taxi to The Plaza first of all for drinks. The main reason we wanted to go there (other than the fact that it’s the Plaza!) was that a friend had got married there some years ago and we’d heard many tales of that trip. We had drinks in the Oak Bar which was really lovely - there was a pianist and the place was pretty much full so the atmosphere was great. Drinks were expensive (as expected) but it was a lovely place to go when we were all dressed up and a great start to the evening. 

We walked from there to The London (passing the LOVE statue by chance) and were taken straight to our table. We absolutely loved it, from start to finish. We had the tasting menu which is 7 courses (plus amuse bouches and a choice from the bon bon trolley with coffee) and a nice bottle of red so suffice to say we practically rolled home a few hours later… Highlights were the scallops with braised veal cheeks, the sablefish, the main courses in general (I had the duck and John had the beef) and also the pumpkin panna cotta – but it was all excellent. Service was impeccable and while it’s obviously an expensive night out, it was worth it and a lovely way to end our trip. 

Day 7

Well, we did have a few more hours to enjoy… Today was to be our shopping day so we started off at FAO Schwarz and then continued down 5th Avenue. We only had a couple of shops we really wanted to go into, namely Tiffany & Co. and – as expected – the MOMA Design Store, but we browsed in a couple of others. We had had a running joke ever since we booked our trip that if a boy takes a girl to New York, it’s the law that he buys her something in a little blue and white box while they’re there… John had been very good at going along with this at home and to be fair, didn’t flinch at all when I excitedly pointed it out on our first day! Well I can’t complain at all as I left with a beautiful diamond necklace which has been round my neck constantly since we got home and reminds me of our wonderful trip every time I touch it. Cheesy, but true. He also got the much-thought about watch in the MOMA Design Shop so we both headed back to the hotel extremely happy. 

A quick stop on Times Square for some ‘I heart NY’ t-shirts (well, who doesn’t buy them….) and then a final pizza at John’s. We headed to the airport in our taxi exhausted, elated, refreshed and even more in love with NYC than we’d expected to be. It was a fabulous trip and we can’t wait to go back. 

Galleries

The images above are only a selection of the thousands of photos I took while in New York. You can see my full collection on my johnwaller.co.uk site. I’ve split them into two galleries – Part I shows the ‘classic’ New York shots, whereas Part II shows an alternative view. Please stop by and have a look around! 

Gear Guide

All of the shots above and in my New York galleries were taken with the following equipment: 

Camera: 

• Nikon D200

Lenses: 

• Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 G DX AF-S IF-ED
• Nikon 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 D AF VR
• Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC HSM

Other: 

• Sandisk 8GB Extreme III Compact Flash Card (x2)
• Gorillapod SLR-ZOOM
• Nikon AH-4 Leather Hand Grip
• Fingerless gloves – essential!

What Anstruther lacked in snowfall it certainly made up for in choppy waters! We ventured onto the harbour walls making sure not to stray too far from the railings which would,  I’m sure, have saved us from certain death had the gale-force wind picked up any more. I do like to be dramatic. We noticed (it was hard not to) that the incoming waves were battering off one of the furthest out walls and were reaching an incredible height (look at the step ladder on the picture for a sense of scale). A great shot was right there to be snapped, I thought.

At the time when I was taking my shots, I wondered how well they’d actually come out – the sun was behind the clouds, the wall was quite dark against the white sky and there wasn’t much distinction between the crashing waves and the sky. I wondered if there could be anything which I could (easily) do in photoshop in the comfort (and warmth) of my own home.

Now for the tutorial part of the post. Well an introduction to the tutorial at least, for this isn’t supposed to be a step-by-step walk-through of how I processed the image. Why not? Three reasons: 1. I’ve not got time (poor excuse, I know), 2. I can’t remember all the steps and 3. I think it’s much more useful for tutorials to explain techniques but ultimately give the reader an idea to try out on their own photos. Too often you can try to execute a tutorial on one of your own images, for it not to work as well as the one used in the tutorial you’ve seen and for you to finish feeling disappointed. Different techniques work for different images and so long as you understand the basics of post processing and are able to identify what’s wrong with an image, then you should always be fine. The other element, though, is to realise when your photo is rubbish (which mine often are) and isn’t worth trying to salvage. I think my image here very nearly fell into that category.

As I didn’t have my tripod with me – and let’s be honest it wouldn’t have been much use in a wind that I could hardly stand up in – I couldn’t take (and then later merge together) multiple exposures to try and increase the dynamic range of the photo. Regardless of my tripod issues, the waves would have moved too much in between shots to allow multiple frames to be merged in photoshop. Instead I opened the RAW version of the photo in Nikon Capture (you can, of course, use whatever RAW conversion program you like) and made three separate exposures - one original without any exposure compensation and the others at +0.5 EV and -0.5 EV (see images below with related histograms). The benefits of shooting RAW are clear – you can recover a great amount of details in the shadows (i.e. the wall) and the highlights (i.e. the bright sky).

The next step was to open the three shots with Photomatix. I started to use this program to create HDR images a number of years ago and before photoshop added the feature but I like to stick with what I know so can’t tell you how the two programs compare. I’m sure that photoshop (and other programs) can create just as good tone mapped HDR images. I never use an HDR image as my base image (this should make more sense if you read further) so I don’t ever spend much time playing about with the settings on Photomatix. For the avoidance of any doubt, I really don’t like the images which come straight out of Photomatix – they look too fake and unnatural (in my humble opinion).

I then opened my original image in photoshop and added my newly created HDR image as a new layer. I set the blending mode of this new layer to ‘darken’ and immediately saw the improvements it made to the sky – it really helped to increase the contrast between the surf from the waves and the sky. (As the name suggests, if the blending mode of a layer is set to ‘darken’ only the parts of that layer which are darker than the underlying layer will show through). Not liking my photo to look too fake, I reduced the opacity of this layer and masked out any areas where I didn’t want the original image to be darkened.

I then repeated this process by adding the HDR image as another new layer but this time setting the blending mode to ‘lighten’. You can see how this gives you total control over how the HDR image impacts on your original image. In my opinion, this is HDR imaging at its best – you’re using the software here to increase the dynamic range (thus making it a High Dynamic Range image) rather than creating a completely new image.

Now obviously none of the above images look anything like the final shot but all that I did to the rest of the image was to add a variety of curves adjustment layers. The whole point of adding in the HDR layers was to add some contrast to the image in a way that I would have struggled to do so using adjustment layers alone. Oh, and I converted it to black & white of course!

The post processing on this image was fairly easy; a little time consuming if anything. What concerns me slightly about shots like this though is the massive difference between the original and the processed shot. It’s always best to get the shot right in camera - whether it’s nailing the exposure, composition and/or lighting. But there are times when all of these elements simply can’t come together in a shot. Looking at this particular shot we can see that the composition is ok (there’s not really much I could do with the scene), the exposure was as good as I could get it the circumstances but the third element – the lighting – simply wasn’t there. I’m pretty sure that had the sun been able to peek out from behind the clouds it would have illuminated the crashing waves and provided a nice natural contrast with the sky. But alas the weather gods weren’t on my side and I had to settle with this shot instead.

I’m pleased with the results here and don’t think I’ve ‘cheated’ too much. All I’ve really done is play about with the contrast – overall and local – of the shot. Hopefully I’ve been able to take a reasonably dull shot of a fairly spectacular scene (in real life at least) and made it a little more interesting.

P.S. I lost my favourite hat whilst taking this shot – the wind snatched it from my head and took it straight out to sea. I hope it was worth it!

The shot itself was taken at the square beside the National Galleries of Scotland – a popular spot for street performers during the festival. This man wasn’t part of festival though – just an onlooker who was really enjoying the music. I found him much more entertaining though so focused my shots on him!

The Edinburgh Festival is the biggest arts festival in the world so there is something there for everyone. There’s always a great atmosphere when the festival is on and perfect if you’re into street photography. I always try and get out at least a couple of times when the festival is on (it’s basically on for the whole of  August) but that’s not always possible. Looking forward to this year’s one!

As for the shot itself, it was taken on an exceptionally cold night on Times Square when I was there on holiday in November ‘08. It’s another example of when my trusty little SLR-ZOOM Gorillapod came in handy – I simply clamped it to the railings and waited for taxis to come by on either side of the road at the right time. Another night photography shoot when my gloves came in very handy (excuse the pun).

It’s one of my favourite shots from my trip, so I was really pleased to see that others like it too. I’m planning on putting a short New York travel report together (it’s one of the many things on my to-do list) but in the meantime you can check out my NY galleries in the travel section of my johnwaller.co.uk site.