Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Cooper - Astor - Union

Streetscape at Cooper Square, looking north past Astor Place towards Union Square. A wide variety of building styles, sizes, colors.

The red-brick buildings lit by late afternoon sun at the center are two of the 4 towers that were originally known as Zeckendorf Towers. Today they are known by two other names: 1 Irving Place and 1 Union Square East (but they'll always be Zeckendorf Towers to me). Peeking from behind those towers is the top of the Empire State Building further uptown at E. 34th Street.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Cooper Square Hotel

Close up of the facade of one of the modern buildings recently constructed in the Cooper Square area of Manhattan.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Mary Had a Little Lamb

A message on a wall on The Bowery near Rivington Street, Manhattan


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Kozy Korner at Night

This is the corner that most Lower East Siders know as Cozy Corner - where Grand, Madison and Lewis Streets meet up. Lower East Side, Manhattan

I'm testing Canon's new G15 camera, which I hope will complement my G1X in those situations where I need a faster lens and faster focus. I do a lot of shooting from moving taxis/car service and buses. I find, in too many cases, where the G1X auto-focus is too slow to grab a shot before the car or bus moves on. Also, while the G1X has superb image quality in low light, it's slow lens often requires a slow shutter speed. Between my aging/shaking hands and my aversion to carrying a tripod, this often results in wonderfully exposed but blurred photos. I'm hoping the G15 will fill in the gap in these situations

Last year I switched from using a T3i dSLR to the G1X because back problems made it painful and difficult for me to carry around the dSLR and lenses (which is also why I don't carry a tripod). I absolutely LOVE the results I've been getting with the G1X most cases. The addition of the G15 should help with the rest.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Baruch - Williamsburg North

Contrast of 50's era public housing to new luxury apartment towers. The public housing, just behind the Williamsburg Bridge approach road in the foregroud, is NYCHA's Baruch Houses, Lower East Side, Manhattan. The new towers in the distance are Northside Piers and The Edge, across the river in the northern end of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The Williamsburg Bridge carries vehicular and subway traffic plus pedestrians and cyclists between the Lower East Side and Williamsburg.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

TTW - Willy-B

The Manhattan tower of the Williamsburg Bridge around sunset, taken thru a tinted taxi window. from FDR Drive at Delancey Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Monday, April 8, 2013

TTW - Popeye on Houston Street

The latest work at the Bowery Mural - Popeye by Crash (John Matos). Houston Street at Bowery, Manhattan. Taken thru a tinted taxi window.

Friday, April 5, 2013

TTW - 1WTC-Thompson

Through the window - A lucky shot from a moving bus looking down Thompson Street (Soho)  towards the new One World Trade Center.  I was lucky to get one of the few seats next to a window that can be opened. I had been on this same M21 bus a few days earlier and remembered seeing views of 1WTC as we passed various intersections so I was prepared. I set a fast shutter speed, pre-focused & locked the exposure between intersections. Then, as we moved thru each of 3 intersections I snapped a shot and hoped for the best. This was the only one that did not have street lamps or other unwanted objects in awkward locations. 

Thursday, April 4, 2013

TTW - Avalon Reflections

Reflections in the windows at the Avalon Chrystie apartment building, Houston Street, Lower East Side, Manhatta. Taken through the window of a NYC M21 bus

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

New One World Trade Center Up Close

The new 1WTC building exterior is coming along nicely with siding installed almost all the way to the top. The huge spire up above is also well underway. Yesterday, the local news channels previewed the new 3-story observation center at the top of the building that will offer panoramic views when it opens in 2015.