LENS CAPTURE

Vol. 3 No. 15

With over 1100 walks and more than 33,000 photographers participating in last year's Worldwide Photo Walk, this year promises to be even better.  I have been selected to lead the photo walk that starts at Brooklyn Bridge Park's new Pier 1.  Our walk is taking place on Sunday, October 2, 2011.

Vol. 2 No. 33


I promised to post some images from our members that attended last Sunday's 5Pointz photo walk.  More are added to the LensCapture Flickr® Group everyday, so picking just a few is real tough, but here goes.



Photo by Conrad Tinney



Photo by Vicki Syrov



Photo by Douglas Palmer



Photo by Howard Schoenberger


If you get a chance, you must visit 5Pointz in Long Island City, Queens.  The artwork is spectacular, and the Aerosol Arts Center's collection is in a state of flux.  I have visited the location 3 times in as many weeks and have been amazed at seeing new masterpieces on every visit.


Have a great Labor Day Holiday and don't forget to bring the camera along.


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Vol. 2 No. 32

See One from SeeOneArt.com working the wall art.

Vol. 2 No. 30

Nikolay Edelman took the honors for our local outing along the Brooklyn Bridge Pier 1 and South Street waterfronts during the 2010 Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk.



I think Nik hit all the right marks by effectively directing the viewer's focus into and throughout the image.  The visual elements work together to express purpose.  The classic coin operated binoculars are beautifully exposed with nice sharp detail.  I want to drop a couple of quarters and turn the red knob to reveal the Brooklyn Bridge in all her glory.  Great job Nik!

The selection process was a tough one this year with so many of you making some exceptional photographs during our walk. 

Now on to the Worldwide competition.  Scott Kelby has chosen this year's Grand Prize and Honorable Mention winners.

You can see the gallery here - http://worldwidephotowalk.com/bestphotos/

You can also start voting for the People's Choice Awards from the over 1,000 local walk winners - http://worldwidephotowalk.com/peoples-choice/

Make sure to cast your vote before Noon EDT on August 23rd.

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Vol. 2 No. 27


While Worldwide Photo Walk Officials sought out the problems encountered with the contest deadline, I thought I would share some of my captures.  Since I lead the walk, I am not eligible to compete.  I will be selecting a local winner who will go on to compete against other photo walk winners worldwide for some great prizes.


So here are a few of my shots...

Vol. 2 No. 26

What a great day we had photo walking the new Brooklyn Bridge Pier 1 and taking the ride on the Water Taxi to the South Street Seaport.  While the temperature soared to a record of 97ºF, with a real feel of 102º, it didn't melt the enthusiasm of our group.



Yesterday's 3rd Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk had a record breaking 1,111 photo walks with over 33,000 walkers participating around the globe.   

I'll be posting more photos from this great event and I'll also be sharing some of the images captured by our walk participants.  So make sure to check back.

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Vol. 2 No. 16

I wanted to take a minute to highlight some of the great images made by the 2010 Spring Walk Participants.  These brave souls, who ventured out in to the pouring rain last Sunday, took advantage of the opportunity to capture some wonderful subjects.  The following images were posted to the LensCapture Flickr Group.

© Diacritical


© Tinccat4


© DMLitvin


© Jadam113


© Katyp2


© Etccdb


© Sputnick002


© Tkacle

Vol. 2 No. 15

The Spring 2010 Photo Walk started out will a steady rain coming down as 11 of us gathered under the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden Viewing Pavilion.  A pretty nice showing in this weather.  After handing out several recycled Op/Tech 18" SLR Rainsleeves and passing along some tips on using the rain as a subject, the group headed out for, what would be several hours of photographic opportunities.

Here are some photographs I made during the event.  Later this week, I'll post a few images captured by some of the other walk participants.

Vol. 2 No. 14

With our Spring 2010 Photo Walk coming up this Sunday, I took a pre-walk through the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this past weekend.  With the warmer weather we've experienced here in the Northeast over the last few weeks, the cherry blossoms and tulips are in full bloom.  If you can, don't miss the opportunity to experience the colors first hand that are exploding throughout this 52-acre oasis.

Hope you enjoy these images.  Better yet, join us on our upcoming photo walk.  Remember, no experience required.  Point-and-shoot, dSLR, or just your appreciative senses, it will be a great experience.

Vol. 2 No. 13
It's that time of year for our Annual Spring Photo Walk. When the color starts taking over the barren landscape. Blossoms begin to open to show their beauty, the breeze gets a little warmer, the light stays longer. It's Spring in all its glory!

Photo walks are a great way to share your love of photography, and learn from one another. Absolutely no experience is required. You can even participate with a disposable camera.

Vol. 2 no. 11


With temps over 70ºF, and the official start to Spring this past weekend, how could I not venture out with the camera.  In anticipation of leading another Spring Photo Walk on Sunday, April 25th, I visited the beautiful Brooklyn Botanical Garden. New growth is starting to spring up (get it)!






To view a slideshow of more images on Flickr click here.


Sign-up for the April 25th Spring Walk at Brooklyn Botanical Garden.

I'll be posting more info on the upcoming photo walk in upcoming blog posts.

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Vol. 2 No. 1

[Editor's Note: I thank everyone for their support over the past year. Your kind emails and comments, and your participation in the various Lens Capture Photo Walks have made it a very rewarding experience. Now begins our second chapter. Thanks again.]

So, you are now the proud owner of a new camera. Now what?

You probably didn't even wait for the battery to fully charge before snapping off a few pictures. Soon after, reality set in. Your expectations began to fade. The fantastic imagery you imagined didn't materialize on the LCD screen. First attempts yielded poorly exposed, possibly out-of-focus drab photos. And maybe even the thought "this camera takes lousy pictures" crossed your mind. I counsel you to not rush back to the retailer to trade it up to a more expensive model that takes better images. The problem is not the camera but "you!" [Boy, that's wasn't too reassuring - was it?]

It's okay, step back from the ledge, all is not lost. The camera is designed to record great images. You, on the other hand, need to be trained. The camera is incapable of taking great photos without your interaction. You just need to learn the tricks - I mean, techniques towards better photography. And you can learn, don't doubt yourself. While it's not rocket science, it will take some commitment on your part.  But, the payoff will be well worth it.

The three (3) "P's" have been my mantra along this winding road of photography - practice, patience, perseverance.

• Practice - learn your camera, its features and settings, and what they actually do.

• Patience: your photos will go from blah, everyday, seen it before, no big deal boring images - to hey there, check this out, that imagine pops! It will happen. But, you must be willing to endure. Gotta start somewhere.

• Perseverance - take lots, and lots and lots of photos. And then, keep taking more and more and more. Do yourself and the rest of us (that includes family and friends) a favor by only sharing the very best of what you capture. Do you honestly believe the world's leading photographers snap a "keeper" every time? No way - it doesn't happen. Every "at bat" doesn't yield a homerun. But the more opportunities, the better your chances are at hitting one.

A few other words of wisdom that I hope will make your journey easier to navigate. Carry your camera whenever possible. Your cannot get a great shot if the camera is back home, and you're not. As world-famous commercial photographer, Chase Jarvis points out in his best-selling book, The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography (Voices That Matter)," you do not need an expensive camera to be creative. But you do need a camera to share your vision with others. High-end digital SLR, point-and-shoot, or a camera-phone will do, only if it is with you to capture the moment.

Look at photographs made by others. What works, what doesn't. Every day, I check out some of the new uploads on flickr®. What was their subject? Do I like the photograph? How did they bring focus to it? How did they simply the shot so as not to distract me from their subject?  Or, why don't I like the shot? This is an important step in training yourself to recognize good composition.

Participate in a photo walk. Keep checking back here at Lens Capture for information on upcoming photo walks. I plan on holding at least one every couple of months. It's great to get together with others that enjoy photography. Sharing idea and your individual point-of-view, help to inspire others. I always get creatively stimulated through the interaction that occurs during these photo walks.

Attend a workshop. Don't stop learning. Workshops are a great place to broaden your knowledge and learn the techniques to making better photographs. If you're in the New York Metropolitan Area, check out B & H Superstore's Event Space for a listing of upcoming free workshops.

Photography should be an educational requirement in high schools and colleges because it makes you see and appreciate the world differently. When you start composing a photograph, you become more aware of your surroundings and the elements that begin to define your subject.

Don't believe me, start using that new camera.


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Vol. 1 No. 49

A recent visit to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum was subject rich looking through the viewfinder.  As a former sailor and the father of son who recently served his Country at sea, I really appreciated the history this proud ship preserves.


The Intrepid Experience is located at Pier 86, West 46 Street and 12 Avenue in Manhattan.


The flightdeck of this Essex-class carrier is almost 3 football fields long.


Bendix telegraph throttle on the bridge.


Replica of the Gemini 3 space capsule retrieved in 1965.


The British Airways Concorde flew at speeds of 1,350 mph across the Atlantic in its day. 

Well worth the visit, the Intrepid Experience offers fantastic photographic opportunities and a very inspiring adventure.  You can definitely make it a whole day event with visits to the aircraft carrier, the Concorde and the submarine Growler are all included in the $19.50 adult admission.

Special Note: The USS New York (LPD 21), built with 7.5 tons of steel from the World Trade Center, pulls into port on November 2.  The ship and her crew will render a 21-gun salute as she comes to a standstill across from the World Trade Center site.  The USS New York will later dock at Pier 88 adjacent to the Intrepid and allow the public to visit from November 4th through November 11th - Memorial Day.

 
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Vol. 1 No. 48
Autumn is in full swing and there are several things going on in the realm of photography to report on here.

There's the PDN Photo Expo which I attended this past Thursday to check out the latest gear and products. 

Tomorrow, Sunday October 25th, we are visiting the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.  Weather at meeting time is forecast to be sunny at 60°F. There's still time to join us there for some great photo opportunities.  We are meeting at 10:00 am at Pier 86 in Manhattan, 12th Avenue and 46th Street.  Tickets are $19.50 at the gate or you can save some time on line and buy them online.   So far we have a small group attending but I urge you to join us for an amazing walk aboard the aircraft carrier Intrepid (CVS-11).  If you would like to sign-up so I know you are joining us, you can register here for the Intrepid Museum Photography Meet.  UPDATE - NO TRIPODS.

Adobe Releases Lightroom 3 Public Beta
You can download the latest release of Lightroom 3 beta free.  Adobe has made some really nice improvements to, what is already, a great application.  The importing feature has been redesigned and is more intuitive.  There's professional level noise reduction, and built-in film grain simulation. Drag and drop publishing to the web has been added so you can go directly from Lightroom to Flickr.  And you can finally export a slideshow with music embedded.  You can try out the beta for free until it expires on April 30, 2010.  Get Lightroom 3 Public Beta here. Did I mention it's FREE!

Lexar announces discounts off Adobe Software
In an October 20, 2009 press release Lexar Media, a leading provider of professional memory cards, has teamed with Adobe to offer rebates on popular Adobe photo and video editing tools.  More information can be found in Lexar's full press release.

Is it cool - Yeah!
While attending the PDN Photo Expo this past Thursday at the Javits Center in NYC, I visted the Nikon Booth to look over some of the new offerings.  One struck me as the coolest gadget out there right now.  Doesn't mean I would buy it, but cool none the less.   how many times have you shown family and friends images you've captured on the back of your tiny point-and-shoot lcd monitor.  Everyone squints to view the tiny 2.5" monitor to make out the tiny little colorful shapes. Well, those days are over with the new Nikon Coolpix S1000pj (street price $429.95).  This is the first camera with a built-in projector which can project 40" images up to 5.5 feet away.  Most of the other camera features are fairly standard in today's point-and-shoot arena.  The S1000pj is a 12.1 megapixel with a 5x (28-140mm equivalent) Nikkor zoom, image stabilization, motion detection, and high ISO (6400) capability.  The jury is still out on this one as I expect the reviews will be mixed. The issues I see are projector brightness and contrast along with battery life. But, the Coolpix S1000pj is definitely ground breaking.  For more info, visit Nikon's website.

That's it for now.  I'll be announcing the next LensCapture photo walk in the coming weeks.  So stay tuned!


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Vol. 1 No. 45


Had a great time at our Sunset Meet in Brooklyn Bridge Park as we welcomed a few new faces in the group.  The weather cooperated with a very dramatic sky.  The photo below is a 7-capture high dynamic range (HDR) image. I bracketed the captures about 15 minutes before sunset.



The sharing of ideas and various technique flowed throughout the group.  Images resulting from Doug Palmer's creative tip on zooming during long exposures are already appearing on the Flickr LensCapture Group. I also enjoyed Katy's imaginative lighting of the Manhattan Bridge.

As twilight took hold, the lights of the city began to burn brightly providing a magnificent compostion begging to be memoralized.  And we all took up the challenge. Slow shutter speeds, small apertures, low ISO and long exposure in-camera noise reduction went into the making of the image below.



I was asked numerous times during the Sunset Meet for the spot of the next photo walk.  I'll be revealing the location for October's gathering later next week.  As it stands now, it will probably be an early morning start on Sunday, October 25th.  Just putting together the final details.

Remember, if you attended the meet, please share an image or two up in the Flickr LensCapture Group.


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Vol. 1 No. 42


Join me for a sunset photography session at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Thursday, September 24, 2009. We will meet promptly at 6:00 PM along the shoreline steps. Sunset is at 6:51 pm and the light waits for no one. The park is located along Plymouth Street between Main Street and Washington Street in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.

Here's where we will meet.

View Brooklyn Bridge Sunset in a larger map


Bring a tripod if you can. Sign-up here.


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Vol. 1 No. 38

And, I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks. In that time I worked the day job, shoot a couple of assignments, lead a photo walk to the High Line (more on that later), and bought a new workstation. There in lies my problem, I purchased a new computer. For two weeks I struggled through MS Vista, software and driver installs and re-installs, configurations and customizations - all fraught with an intermittent stream of blue screens. After running the manufacturer's diagnostic application, which scanned for more than a day, I finally surrender and returned the system to the store.

Spec-wise, the workstation was a powerhouse but a lemon. The replacement system, I can happily say, rockets through image uploads and photo editing. A Dell Studio XPS with an Intel Core i7 processor (translation - dual quad core) with a nice cache, plenty of RAM (8GB DDR3), and tons of storage (1.5TB). After several hours of re-installing applications and devices, and a few days to burn-in, I am back to posting.

So, the outing to the High Line was a successful adventure. On this very hot and humid day, I was joined by a dozen fellow photo enthusiasts. Some were alumni from the Worldwide Photo Walk, as well as a few new faces. The skill levels were as varied as the different points of view each participant brought along. I love these walks because they inspire me to constantly look at my environment from many different angles. As a native New Yorker, regardless of the scale and diversity this city offers, you fall into a routine. By that, I mean you start to look at things from the same aspect. Your approach gets stale, and your photographic prospects quickly diminish. There are several wonderful images made my fellow photo walkers that day, and you can see them by visiting the Flickr Lenscapture Group.

Here are a few photographs I made that day.