Issue 148 of the SNYC Newsletter
Greetings everyone! I hope that you are well. Last year was a fairly busy year for me. It wasn’t 2019, but it was good. Things have quieted down a bit. That is to be expected for January and February in the best of years.
So I’m trying to take advantage of this quiet time by catching up and attempting to do too many things. Cleaning up my photo library is one of those things and I may never get up-to-date with my photos. It is a long process and it needs to be something that I do slowly.
In that respect, shooting is a much quicker activity. That is not only true of digital photography. Processing and printing film is also a very lengthy process and one that I never really had the skills or patience for.
Being able to print film photos was a frustrating experience for me. Unlike processing photos on computer. At any rate, I’ve been processing photos that I’ve been meaning to and even many that I had overlooked on a number of occasions.
As always, I wish you Happy Shooting!
The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes. Marcel Proust
Seeing With New Eyes
If you’ve recently subscribed to this newsletter, it’s time for me to explain why the above quote by Marcel Proust is in every issue. Many years ago I took his quote as a challenge and it became my motto.
Many of the people that attend my workshops travel to get here and/or they frequently travel and photograph new places on a regular basis. Perhaps 2022 will be a year in which I do some traveling.
That aside, I am constantly photographing the same neighborhoods AND I never get bored of doing so. It’s too easy to say been there, done that and pass up so many photographic opportunities.
So New York City is a very special city and the opportunities are endless you say. But the fact is that most people don’t take the time to slow down and really observe what’s around them. New Yorkers are definitely guilty of this.
Seeing with new eyes is about getting beyond the facade and the obvious things that get noticed at first glance. I’m guessing that this may also be true of many of the places around the world where you, the readers live.
We often take for granted and overlook the little things that are the character of a place. In my workshops we are always looking for those things that are easily overlooked and people are often amazed about how I was able to see these things.
People often want to get the best shot of one of New York City’s landmarks. My response is why would you want to capture a photo that you can get on a postcard of for $1? I prefer to take photos of the landmarks from a different view.
Seeing with new eyes is looking for those opportunities where you can capture a different angle or perspective of those sights. And it’s also kind of fun. Street photography is a bit like an adventure. You never know what you might encounter. There’s always something out there if you’re willing to be patient and give it a little time.
If you slow down and have a look around you, you may find that there are things there that you didn't notice before or maybe just took them for granted. As well, everything changes depending on the time of day, the weather, the season and your mood.
So go out and challenge yourself to see with new eyes. I’d love to hear about your experiences when it comes to shooting and attempting to see with new eyes.
If you enjoy this newsletter you can buy me a coffee. Just click on the link Buy Me a Coffee page
I love coffee and I love it when I get treated to one :-) But no sweat if you’re unable to contribute. The newsletter is still free for all.
Thanks to everyone who has bought me a coffee!!! Maybe one day we’ll be able to have a coffee in person again. Mucho love.
My New Instagram Account
Yes, my Instagram account was hacked and I’ve started over again. I’m trying to recreate it and if I’m not following you just dm me and follow me. I’ll follow you back.
My new account is ShootNewYorkCity as it should’ve been to begin with. I’m still trying to figure out how I can get control of my old account and especially my photos. Ugh. Life on social media.
What’s in your tool box?
Assuming that you’ve had the opportunity to assess your photos from 2021, it’s a good time to have a look at what you’ve accomplished. If you haven’t taken many photos last year, you can still use this as a guideline.
First of all, I’m really far behind in organizing my photos from last year and many other previous years. It isn’t very helpful to be overly critical of what you have or haven’t accomplished.
Otherwise it just becomes a dreaded task and can also have an effect on your desire to even go out and shoot more photos. We can always be better, do better etc etc. New year. New start.
I’ve written about the idea of having a tool box in the past. I guess I don’t actually call it that when we’re in a workshop. But I do talk about a number of different things that we can shoot. Those are toolbox items.
If you use Exposure X7, like me. Or maybe you use Lightroom. It’s a really good thing to have an app like this not only for processing photos, but first and foremost for organizing your photos.
I use keywords so I can create smart collections. The above photo has the keywords reflection, mannequin, midtown, abstract street and workshop. So I can easily access photos in those groups and see what I’ve done over time.
It’s good to have 3-5 things in your toolbox when you go out shooting and to try and always focus on one or more of them. But sometimes the weather rules and you can’t capture things that you were hoping to.
One of the biggest for me is reflections. Close seconds are shadows and silhouettes. But I also love shooting in the rain as well. And when you have a look back at your keywords you might also spot a few other things that you regularly focus on.
I’m not suggesting that you don’t shoot other things that you see. You should always capture those one off things. But you don’t want your portfolio to be all one offs. The problem being that you can’t really gauge your progress and others may not take your work seriously.
When I started shooting digital, I was like a kid in a candy store. Shooting everything. No game plan. But it’s really like being young and not knowing which direction you want to go in life. Eventually you figure out the things you like and those you don’t like even if you never really grow up.
This topic will likely be continued in the next issue of the newsletter. But I think that it’s important to point out that shooting street Photography and wanting to grow your portfolio with work that you are happy with should not be judged by what other people post on social media and how many likes you get.
The one observation that I’ve been able to come up with about Instagram as an example is that the accounts with the most likes and followers seem to have very consistent styles. I actually like some of them. But many of them I don’t.
I’m not wiz when it comes to social media and it’s possible that I shoot in too many different styles to be taken seriously. That aside, if you are looking to put together a blog or website, a certain amount of consistently seems to be the smart way to go.
So choose what you want in your tool box and keyword those photos so that you can track your progress and also identify things that you would like to add or subtract in the way that you’re shooting or even processing them.
As always, I welcome your comments, suggestions and stories of your experiences.
SNYC Customer Photography Exhibit
If you’re going to be in NYC, check out Wrolf’s photography exhibit! You can see him on Instagram as @realwrolf and he has a website as well. I’m hoping to make it for the opening night exhibit.
Also, if you have an exhibition coming up or you’ve won an award, please do tell. There are readers around the world so if your exhibit is in Australia, no big deal. There are a number of subscribers there as well.
If you go, do mention it to Wrolf that you saw it in the newsletter. This is his first solo show!!! Very exciting. I really like the photo on his announcement for the exhibit.
Biweekly Photo Assignment - Your Favorites of 2021
We are right down to the wire now. What I’d would really like is if we could have a little contest. So for people on Facebook it’s easy enough for people to vote for their favorite photo.
But if there are people who would like to take part and aren’t on Facebook, perhaps I can post all of the photos into a newsletter and find a method of tallying votes. I have a few prizes that I can mail anywhere in the world. And a few that need to be for people here in the NYC area.
You can interpret this assignment and don’t be afraid to post creative photos. As well, it’s good to know why you chose the photos you did and it’s maybe best to post them individually so they don’t get buried.
This is a voluntary assignment if you want to take part. You can submit your photos to the Facebook group for Shoot New York City and also on Instagram tag @shootnycity. If you're not a member of the Facebook group yet, all you have to do is request to join.
It would be great if as a group people would comment on photos submitted as well. Let's have fun! Happy shooting and sharing! And you can connect with other people that you share an interest with.
Further Viewing
I typically wouldn’t be so discouraging as to say that “You are probably going to fail.” I guess it depends on what your expectations are.
Upcoming Workshops:
Workshops are still a maximum of 3 people. Social distancing and masks are required. And with fewer people in each workshop everyone can gain even more individual attention.
Workshops are only being scheduled on a weekend day now. If you would like to have a weekday workshop or a workshop in other areas of NYC, let me know with some lead time and I’ll see if others want to also attend it. Otherwise I continue to provide private workshops on weekdays and in other neighborhoods.
For those who haven't done a workshop or photo tour with me in the past I have a number of reviews on my website and also on TripAdvisor! Workshops are both for people who live here and also travelers, as are photo tours.
Photo tours are one-on-one and arranged on an individual basis for both neighborhood and photographic style and can be designed as a workshop as well. They are customized to your interests and level. Thank you for your patience and Stay Safe!