Columbus Circle Globe | Central Park NYC | 2012

Here is a photo of the infamous steel globe that graces Columbus Circle at one of the entrances to Central Park. This photo was taken as we exited the number 1 subway train, which lets you off here as its closest stop to Central Park. I believe the building in the background is the Trump International Hotel and Tower, quite the swanky place. Taken with my Nikon D300s and Tokina DX 12-24 f/4 lens.

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The Death of John Lennon | The Dakota | New York City| 2012

2 photos of The Dakota where John Lennon was shot. Not the best pictures. I will have more later. So far this is the farthest we have made it up through Central Park West, where the building is at 72nd street. I cant imagine the prices of the apartments we passed, on our way here, and the famous people who live in them. We still have a mission to make it all around Central Park. We have not even been to the east side yet except at the very bottom. I find Central Park a very neat place to be in the summer. It is not a place to be missed if you can get there in your life time.

 The Dakota is an old building built 1880-1884. It is a north German Renaissance design, with a French internal floor plan. Notable residents of the building were or are John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland, Roberta Flack, Boris Karloff, Joe Namath and many others.

Taken with my  Nikon D300s and Tokina 12-24mm f/4 lens.

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The Sea Grill and Prometheus | New York City | 2009

A unique angle of this famous tourist area at Rockefeller Plaza and the statue of Prometheus. The Rockefeller Center actually consists of 19 buildings, or used to.  It could be more or less now.  This complex of mostly art deco buildings has a fascinating history you need to read before visiting.  Far too many people go to NYC simply to shop at tourist traps, see a show, watch people and feel the crowded excitement.  All those are great but the history there is unreal!

South Ferry Station Roof | NYC | 2009

Here is a shot of the Staten Island Ferry station (South Ferry station, also known as Whitehall terminal) from behind the sign.  This is in Manhattan.  This is a common tourist shot!  To get it, stay on the top floor, where the ferry lets out, and walk out one of the doors on the side. Easy!  You can't miss it.  Take a breather up here and get used to the huge city if you have never been here before.  Take a look in the distance at the Brooklyn Bridge from here also and the hustle and bustle.  A wide angle lens is good here.

Across From World Trade Center | NYC | St. Pauls II

This is the second photo I posted of this interesting church and cemetery across from the old World Trade Center area.  Taken with my Nikon D50 and Tokina 12-24mm f/4 lens. This church was built in 1766.  George Washington went to church here for 2 years after his inauguration.

South Ferry Station Subway | New York City | 2012

An interesting shot of the subway entrance at the South Ferry.  This is where we descend to get onto the 1 or R subway trains to go to midtown, or uptown.  You cant miss it.  As you depart the ferry just follow the crowds to the main doors of the terminal, down the escalator, and outside.  To your left will be Battery Park.  In this photo to the left you will see an older looking red brick building.  In front of that is another entrance to the subway that is fine to take also.  We've taken both.  That brick building I just mention is neat. I love this structure as it always seems out of place but makes the city feel less cold.  I am not sure what this building is since we never walked over to it.

Here is a map of lower Manhattan that may come in handy before your trip there. The FDR Drive on this map was flooded during hurricane Sandy in Nov. 2012.

5 Sunset Photos from Ferry | New York City | 2012

These were all taken with my Nikon D300S and Tokina 12-24mm f/4 Digital lens.  I took a bunch of photos at various settings and kept the best ones. ISO 200, camera set on Aperture Priority (as I always do), shot in RAW format.

If you are a first timer to Manhattan I still highly suggest you drive to Staten Island and take the Ferry over, since it is free and a cool ride. We never had a problem finding empty spots there either though we mostly travel on weekends. Just bring your hand sanitizer as always to fight the germs from all the people and surfaces you will touch.

Saint Patricks | New York City | 2012

Here is St. Patrick's Cathedral at 460 Madison Avenue in NYC.  It is between Madison and 5th Avenue at 51st Street, right near Rockefeller Plaza.

If you would like to visit it someday first check out the website to discover what is there.

http://www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/visit.php

St. Pats. Nikon D300S.  Tokina 12-24 mm f/4 lens, f6.7, 1/1000 s, 14mm. ISO 200.

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On the Brooklyn Bridge | New York City | 2009

 In July 2009 we walked across the Brooklyn bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn.  It is a must do event!  We did not walk back as it was over 100 degrees that day! We did not explore Brooklyn since we were so tired.  Just walked the bridge with our niece's daughter named "Brooklyn", found the nearest subway station and went back. It is an all day event to walk the bridge, explore the neighborhood and then walk back. Next time we will do it right. Here are some photos I took with my Nikon D50 and Tokina 12-24mm f4 lens. I find it hard to figure out what lens to take to NYC and don't want to carry more than one!  I need an expense wide to telephoto zoom!

Nikon D50 at f/22 and 24mm.

Nikon D50 at f22 and 24 mm.

Nikon D50 at f/16 and 12mm.

Looking at Manhattan Bridge.  Nikon D50 at f/16 and 12mm.

The closet subway stop from the Staten Island ferry, where we normally enter Manhattan is the City Hall stop. Take the "R" subway there.

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Shots of Gawkers and Horse Talkers | New York City| 2009

Just some interesting shots I took with my Nikon D50 in 2009. Converted to black and white using NIK's Silver Efex Pro (likely the best black and white converter ever).

Statue of Liberty Sunset | New York City | 2009

Took this with a my old Nikon D50 at f/8 and 12-24 mm f/4 Tokina Lens. Not sure of the other settings.  I could not get a steady shot as I did not have a tripod and there were so many people on the Staten Island Ferry (where I took the shot from) at the windows that I had to simply hold my camera up and snap blind.  It was blurry so I straightened it, sharpened some and made it look like a water color in Photoshop Elements.  I usually shoot in RAW format so I have more pixels to work with.

The Ferry Website:
http://www.siferry.com/

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Staten Island Ferry Area | New York City | 2009

Here are some shots I took of the structure near the entrance to the Staten Island Ferry.  We always take the Ferry across as it is $8 to park all day there and of course free to ride the ferry.  It is free to park on Sundays (as of 2012), though the website does not indicate that! Staten Island is not hard to drive in once you get to it.  It cuts down on any stress thinking about driving in Manhattan. The parking lot of the ferry is tricky to get into and I missed it once or twice.  It is also under constant construction. Not sure what is taking so long to wrap it up as its been under construction for 4 years now.

This structure from a distance resembles the hat of the Statue of Liberty.  We just noticed that after probably 10 trips to the ferry. I don't know if that is by design or accident.

Nikon D50, f9, 12-24mm f/4 Tokina lens, taken at 24mm

Nikon D50, f16, 12-24mm f/4 Tokina lens, taken at 12mm

Nikon D50, f4, 12-24mm f/4 Tokina lens, taken at 24mm

Times Square Retail | New York City| 2009

If you go to Times Square, which you have to do at least once, and likely twice in your lifetime, you will encounter dozens of people passing out adverts for plays and comedy shows! A real pain, but don't worry about it because it costs you nothing to take the flyer from them and they feel they have been recognized if you do.

Taken with a Nikon D50, 1/500, f /7.1, 12mm from a 12-24mm f/4.0 lens,  ISO 200.

The M and M store | New York City| 2009

This is a mandatory visit if you are a newcomer to NYC! The M& M store!

Taken with my Nikon D50, f11.0, 18 mm.

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Four Unique New York City Views | Midtown NYC | 2009

Rockefeller Center Ice Skating | NYC| 2009

Nikon D50, 1/250, f11.0, ISO 200, 12mm.  Taken with a 12-24mm f/4 lens in 2009.

There is a large underground mall that runs under Rockefeller Center.  You can enter it from down near this rink or at various entrances inside the buildings and stores around there.  Find it no matter what because it will be a life saver when you need a bathroom (though crowded) and some fast food like Wendys or Burger King at reasonable prices, and pretty clean too! Its a place that many people don't know exists. It took us like 12 trips to accidentally discover it when we were looking for a Wendys that was showing on the smart phone but we could not finds it above ground.  We asked a street vendor and he told us it was under ground.  Some nice art down there as well.

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Times Square Cop | NYC | 2009

Taken with my old Nikon D50 in 2009. ISO 200,  1/40 shutter speed, f5.6, 12mm from a 12-24mm f/4 lens. Should have used fill flash, but didn't want to flash in his face.

Across From World Trade Center | NYC | St. Pauls Chapel | 2009

St. Pauls Chapel which is located right in front of where the World Trade Center complex was.  It was untouched by the disaster, as many know.  A very historic church in its own right.  Manhattans oldest public building.  Photo taken with a Nikon D50, 12-24 F4 lens at 12mm.

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Women Looking at Naked Cowboy | NYC | Times Square| 2009

While everyone else was looking at the Naked Cowboy, I decided to photograph the females looking (or trying not to look) at him.  We were near Times Square in 2010 at the time.

The Naked Cowboy | NYC| Times Square | 2009

Got a glimpse of the Naked Cowboy near Times Square in 2010. Unique way to make a living, but no Social Security benefits. Looks like he is about to run. Taken with my Nikon D50 with a cheap lens.

St. Patricks NYC - 2009

If you catch this Catholic cathedral at the right time of day the sun hits it just right and avoids the surrounding buildings as shot from 5th Avenue. Rather surreal.

Here is where it is at....





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Midtown NYC Photo - 2009

I believe this was on the corner of Avenue of the Americas and 42nd Street, right past Bryant Park.  I had heard on NPR radio once how Bryant Park used to be a huge hangout for drug dealers and users and the city finally poured money into it to clean it up.  We could not see any remnants of such a past and it was a very nice park!  We found it fascinating how the reflections appeared in many uptown buildings at various times of the day.  Of course the New York Public Library is right there also which is a magnificent edifice. The WR Grace building is right there also which is a strange bit of architecture.  It slopes upward and inward from the ground so we had a hard time standing below it and looking up at it without getting really dizzy! A neat trick to challenge kids with.

You can get a glimpse of the WR Grace building below in the upper right corner.

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Little Italy NYC - Photo 2 and 3 - 2009

You can see it is mostly a tourist trap on the main drag.  Try going down side streets. Always go down side streets in New York City (mostly during the daylight of course)!

Little Italy NYC Photo 1 - 2009

Of course we walked from Chinatown to Little Italy since they abut each other.  Little Italy has a very rich history and you should go at least once. We just walked through the main street, took a few photos, and got harassed by a bunch of Italian guys at every restaurant trying to get us inside to eat. It was more of a carnival atmosphere than a real place. But it was colorful and, smelled better than Chinatown and felt really historic. The below photo is where we entered Little Italy from Canal Street.

Here is a map of Little Italy



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Chinatown Photo 3 - 2009

When we were in Chinatown as tourists in 2009 there were groups of Chinese playing some board game in the park. Maybe it was a regular Saturday event?  I have no idea what the game was but they were intently playing and it appeared that money was being exchanged.  We were leery of taking any photos, especially since we were in the minority at that park and it was very crowded with Chinese-Americans.

Chinatown Photo 2 - 2009

Here is another photo of some goods in Chinatown.  Dried stuff I supposed used in Chinese cooking.  We had no idea what it was but seemed like a colorful shot.  Taken with my wife's little pocket Fuji camera, which is sadly dead now.  I can't imagine living in an area like this where it seems to be a continuous circus. As tourist we tend to forget this is the home of many people.

Below is a map of where Chinatown is

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Chinatown Photo 1 - 2009

We don't remember what street this was.  We were just randomly walking around with family members and I liked this shot, taken with a small Fuji point and shoot believe it or not.  My wife hated Chinatown and so we have not returned since.  She thought it contained too many people, seemed dirty and found nothing redeeming about it. I think it is unique if nothing else, and had some cheap shopping and probably good restaurants, but we did not eat there. I admit is was a little smelly. This photo was from 2009. One of our interests in going near that area actually was to visit the 5 Points area, made famous to me in the Scorsese film "Gangs of New York." The trouble with visiting anything historically old like 5 Points is that you just can't really get a feel for what it was like in the day, so it was a little anti-climactic.

Below is a map of the 5 points area.

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The Beginnings of the NYC Diary

My wife and I enjoy going to New York City on occasion and taking photos of the various things we see.  Its not that far of a drive for us but far enough to appreciate it.  We were accumulating many photos of things from there but really had nothing to do with the photos other than look at them (ok, so I get bored just looking at photos). We thought it would be nice to share what we had and see what comments people make about their own NYC adventures.