A few weeks ago, I got it into my head to try some street photography. Turns out I'm phenomenally bad at it. But what the hell, I'll never get better if I never try it, right?

I've also learned that it's much much easier to do this sort of thing in a city. In the 'burbs, there are so few pedestrians that we are shocked to encounter each other, and we all just stare suspiciously at each other (ESPECIALLY if that other person is pointing a camera at us), which doesn't ever make for a good photo. In a city, if you see someone with a camera, they're probably taking pictures of the city, and it's totally normal, and you ignore them and don't worry too much about it.

Anyway. I'm putting this up for Photoblog Challenges' "Black and White Cityscape."


Date: January 31, 2012
Where/What: Manhattan, looking over the Hudson River to Jersey City
Camera: Fuji S700
Shutter: 1/400
Aperture: f/13.6
ISO: 400
Listening to: "Rhubarb Pie," by Five Iron Frenzy
Thankful for: Being able to run again!

Taking photos in Chicago is a bit nerve-wracking. I haven't entirely figured out yet where the good areas are and where the bad areas are and where people won't give a damn if I take pictures and where the Chicago natives will eviscerate me for being a tourist with a camera--or just steal the camera.

When I saw this, I had a couple friends watch my back while I grabbed my camera out of my bookbag and snapped a couple long-exposures. If I'd been alone, I probably would've just admired the scene for a couple seconds and continued on my way.

I kind of miss suburbia.




Date: October 2008
Where/What: Clinton station
Camera: Fuji S700
Shutter: 4.0
Aperture: f 4.0
ISO: 100

Listening to: I Melt with You (Modern English)
Thankful for: Cloudy days (which yield dorm-room temperatures of under 90 degrees Fahrenheit, thanks to being on the south side of the building with no cooling available now that it's October)

O Chicago. How your days do go by.



Date: April 2008
Where/What: Chicago by sunset, nighttime, and sunrise
Camera: Fuji S700

Listening to: L-O-V-E (Nat King Cole)
Thankful for: Toilets that work. I may have said this before, but seriously, man, every time I don't have to plunge a toilet I am SUPER-THANKFUL.

Man. It's been, like, a whole WEEK since I posted a sunset. Can't be having THAT.

This was taken from the passenger's side of a moving car, so, y'know, cut it some slack. :)



Date: March 2008
Where/What: Sunset in Millstone or Monroe Twp.
Camera: Fuji S700
Shutter: 1/320
Aperture: f 3.5
ISO: 200

Listening to: Victoria (the Kinks)
Thankful for: sunsets! Have I already said that? I probably have.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: a good sunset always makes me feel almost religious.

(Almost.)



Date: August 2007
Where/What: Ocean Grove Great Auditorium
Camera: Fuji S700
Shutter: 1/210 and 1/350
Aperture: f 4.5 and 5.0
ISO: 100

Listening to: That's All (Genesis)
Thankful for: pretty sunsets!

Somewhere over Ohio or Indiana. Or Pennsylvania, maybe.

I booked my flight online; I had a choice of exactly which seat to sit in; I chose this one because it was far enough behind the wings that I knew I'd be able to get some photos.

And the sky was clear! Though the window was smudged. (Don't look too closely for smudges or over-GIMPing or else YOU'LL GO BLIND)



Date: April 2008
Where/What: Flying to Chicago
Camera: Fuji S700
Shutter: 1/280
Aperture: f 5.0
ISO: 100

Listening to: White Room (Cream)
Thankful for: sunny days

(Text borrowed from Ocean Township Daily Photo)

This bridge runs between Belmar and Avon-by-the-Sea. I featured it for the City Daily Photo December Theme Day; when I did, I was unsure of its name. So when I once again found myself traversing the bridge on foot, since it was daytime and I could actually find the plaque, I photographed it. (I won't show the plaque because even in the daylight, it's very difficult to read.) I saw that it is the Shark River Bridge, but I didn't realize until I got home that a famous trombonist/bandleader had been one of the officials who brought the bridge into existance!

Here is what the plaque says:

Now, that may seem like just a bunch of names, and it is, but the part that caught my attention was one of the Chosen Freeholders.

Arthur Pryor?

Arthur Pryor was a Chosen Freeholder?!

Arthur Pryor was a famous bandleader and trombonist in the John Philip Sousa Band. (The only reason I know this is because one of my community bands did a huge Arthur Pryor feature last year. We imported a trombone virtuoso from Virginia who dressed up in period band costume and narrated the songs.) Pryor had strong ties to this area: although he retired from the John Philip Sousa Band (in 1903) before the band started making regular appearances at the Ocean Grove Auditorium [outside view] (from 1912-1926, until Sousa made a crack about Prohibition and the Ocean Grove Methodists decided not to invite him back), Pryor's own band performed for 26 seasons on the Asbury Park boardwalk (which is less than a mile from the OG Auditorium); he retired to Long Branch; he died immediately after a rehearsal in the Asbury Park bandstand.

And APPARENTLY, according to this source, he DID win a seat on the Board of Chosen Freeholders, so the name on the bridge IS the same Arthur Pryor!

What an unexpected perk of a bridge plaque photograph!




Date: February 2008
Where/What: the Atlantic Ocean, as seen through the Shark River Bridge
Camera: Nikon E3200
Shutter: 10/3333*
Aperture: f 5.6
ISO: 50
Flash used: yes

*Because this was taken on my Nikon 3200, which doesn't really allow me to control anything other than "auto mode" vs. "sunset mode" vs. "night mode" (etc.), the EXIF tends to be funky.