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Travelog: Memories of NYC

Nigel Allan

Nigel Allan

Member
I took my daughter, Montana on a (shopping!) trip to Manhattan for her 18th birthday recently. As she was born in the USA and has a US passport this had huge significance for her and was a memorable experience. I took the opportunity to take some snaps of her during the trip which I am posting in different threads in the forum according to which themes each photo approximates to.

Even though it was bitterly cold, the low, sharp winter light is wonderful at this time of year.

Here are a few which would qualify for this thread:

montana_taxi.jpg

1. Montana in a New York cab, Feb 2012​


montana_taxi1.jpg


2. Montana in a New York cab 2, Feb 2012​

montana_americana.jpg


3. It don't get much more American than this!​



montana_wintersun.jpg


4. Montana in SoHo, Manhattan, Feb 2012​
 
Nigel Allan

Nigel Allan

Member
More memories of Manhattan, Feb 2012


themallcentralpark.jpg



1. Montana in 'The Mall', Central Park where so many scenes from movies are shot. It was a bitterly cold day with a wind chill of maybe minus 20 degrees or more


empirestate-viewingplatform.jpg


2. Montana on the 86th floor viewing level on the Empire State Building, again, bitterly cold due to windchill, especially up there but we did our best to get some memorable shots ( I guess this doesn't quite qualify as I used fill-in flash)


[\
empirestateofmind.jpg


3. Empire State of Mind, Feb 2012​



empirestatefloor102.jpg


4. Montana on the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, the highest viewing level which is enclosed. I felt this had a fifties feel to the shot, hence the black and white treatment​
 
Jerome Marot

Jerome Marot

Well-known member
I like "Montana in a New York cab 2" and "Empire State of Mind", the last one for the contrast of Montana with woman with the camera.

I also can't help by notice Montana's shoes... Frightening! ;)
 
M

Mark Hampton

New member
Nigel,

i think one and two would work for me more if the negative space was handled in a more sympatric manner..

on one - there is a crushing sence given by the amount of black - if this is what you want then it works - if this fight is not quite how you wanted people to read the image then take a bit off the top and left side...

on two bottom and left can be cropped to pull the image together...

i am saying this because they are for already beautiful poignant images.. and the colour adds in this case, for me.

thanks for sharing them and the rest.

looks like you had a good time.

cheers
 
Nigel Allan

Nigel Allan

Member
Mark Hampton said:
Nigel,

i think one and two would work for me more if the negative space was handled in a more sympatric manner..

on one - there is a crushing sence given by the amount of black - if this is what you want then it works - if this fight is not quite how you wanted people to read the image then take a bit off the top and left side...

on two bottom and left can be cropped to pull the image together...

i am saying this because they are for already beautiful poignant images.. and the colour adds in this case, for me.

thanks for sharing them and the rest.

looks like you had a good time.

cheers
Click to expand...

Mark and Jerome thanks for your feedback. Yes Jerome, the spikes give new meaning to the term killer heels.

The isolation of the image in the middle of the blackness was deliberate in number one ...and the splash of colour too is also deliberate to anchor the photo as a quintessential NY image with the yellow cab in the background...That is not by accident as I wanted the image to be undeniably taken in NYC

However I am always the student and would be interested to view your preferred crops in each case to see where these can be improved, although I feel currently that to cut down on the 'blackness' would lose some of the contrast and impact of the imagery. But if you have the time please feel free to show me what you mean in these images.

For me the crops (they are both full frame as I compose in the viewfinder 99% of the time) are the most pleasing views, but am open to see things differently.
 
Last edited:
Nigel Allan

Nigel Allan

Member
Jerome Marot said:
I like "Montana in a New York cab 2" and "Empire State of Mind", the last one for the contrast of Montana with woman with the camera.

I also can't help by notice Montana's shoes... Frightening! ;)
Click to expand...

Yes the heels have real spikes and got quite a few glances and people wanting to take pictures of them :)

Thank you for your comments and I am glad you see the irony of the tourist with her camera as I did. For me this makes this a kind of crossover image between fashion/beauty and photojournalism.
 
M

Mark Hampton

New member
Nigel Allan said:
Mark and Jerome thanks for your feedback. Yes Jerome, the spikes give new meaning to the term killer heels.

The isolation of the image in the middle of the blackness was deliberate in number one ...and the splash of colour too is also deliberate to anchor the photo as a quintessential NY image with the yellow cab in the background...That is not by accident as I wanted the image to be undeniably taken in NYC

However I am always the student and would be interested to view your preferred crops in each case to see where these can be improved, although I feel currently that to cut down on the 'blackness' would lose some of the contrast and impact of the imagery. But if you have the time please feel free to show me what you mean in these images.

For me the crops (they are both full frame as I compose in the viewfinder 99% of the time) are the most pleasing views, but am open to see things differently.
Click to expand...

Nigel,

had a look in the light of day - here is roughly what i was thinking.





Untitled-1-2.jpg




Montana in a New York cab 1 - N Allan




Untitled-2-1.jpg




Montana in a New York cab 2 - N Allan

​

i liked the clasped hands in 1 - but there wasnt enough for me - so i took them out.

in two the bag handles didn't add anything for me - a greater sense of enclosure could be achieved by blacking out some of the hair.

thanks for letting me play.

*cheers
 
Nigel Allan

Nigel Allan

Member
Mark Hampton said:
Nigel,

had a look in the light of day - here is roughly what i was thinking.





Untitled-1-2.jpg




Montana in a New York cab 1 - N Allan




Untitled-2-1.jpg




Montana in a New York cab 2 - N Allan

​

i liked the clasped hands in 1 - but there wasnt enough for me - so i took them out.

in two the bag handles didn't add anything for me - a greater sense of enclosure could be achieved by blacking out some of the hair.

thanks for letting me play.

*cheers
Click to expand...


Thanks Mark for putting in the effort to illustrate what you were saying. Personally I like the crop on the bottom one better.

I think the top crop is a little too tight and , dare I say, conventional or expected. I prefer my version. I guess it just speaks to me more and makes more of a dramatic statement. But that's the beauty of this, it's all in the eye of the beholder. Thank you
 
Nigel Allan

Nigel Allan

Member
Here's another one from the series, combining the sharp sunlight with fill in flash

montanataxifillinflash.jpg


1. Montana, New York Cab 3, Nigel Allan, February 14th 2012​
 
M

Mark Hampton

New member
Nigel Allan said:
Thanks Mark for putting in the effort to illustrate what you were saying. Personally I like the crop on the bottom one better.

I think the top crop is a little too tight and , dare I say, conventional or expected. I prefer my version. I guess it just speaks to me more and makes more of a dramatic statement. But that's the beauty of this, it's all in the eye of the beholder. Thank you
Click to expand...

Nigel,

all the crops are conventual - which is in keeping with the subject .. i think a big miss for me are the hands as they make the reading of the image (in my crop no1) - in the way that they direct a bodily tension - faces are masks...

have you tried expanding the black space?

thanks for letting me much aboot !

now back to the cage!
 
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