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Night photography in NYC
November 30th, 2011
Inverted Roots, Central Park NYC by Mike Mariano
New York this time of the year is perfect for night photography. The weather is perfect, not too cold, not too hot. But don’t be deceived by the above photo and the fall season. Climate change has certainly played its hand when i decided to hook-up with fellow photographers from the Night Photography aka Night Magicians of meetup.com and shoot at the Great Lawn of Central Park. I was used to shooting mostly in the streets and alley ways, so this was a good change-up from the usual NYC urban grit. The weather was a chillin’ 36F (2C) which was cold considering it is still fall. It did not help that i forgot to bring gloves and had to hold my tripod which had an all-aluminum frame!
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Tags: belvedere castle, central park, fall foilage, great lawn, infrared trigger, landscape, meetup group, night, nightscape, nikon, photography, slow shutter, tripod, urban
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PDN Photoplus 2011 + October Snowstorm
October 31st, 2011
October Snowstorm at NYC; photo by Michael mariano
This past Halloween weekend i was ‘fortunate’ enough to be able to encounter two massive events in one shot. First was the expected storm that hit NYC. And the other one was the PDN Photoplus exposition. I have not experienced any of the said events. The first event was definitely a significant as the snowstorm (1.3in central park) broke a record set on October 1925 (0.8in central park) for measurable snow. It was indeed a weird experience having to brave the storm walking from the 34th st. and 8th ave. E train station all the way to Javitz for PDN even before December struck. Continue reading “PDN Photoplus 2011 + October Snowstorm” »
Tags: Dominique James, Javitz Center, Jay Dickman, Michael Mariano, National Geographic, nyc, October Snowstorm, pdn, photographs, photoplus, snowstorm
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West Coast Photo Expedition
September 30th, 2011
View of San Francisco from Twin Peaks by Michael Mariano
As a photographer and an artist, traveling has always been a part of the job and the craft. Photography has taken me to so many places around the world whether on the job or simply for leisure. My most recent trip was to the west coast of USA. It was a leisure trip, my first in San Francisco/Bay Area/Tracy. My plan was to visit family and friends. I try to pack ‘light’, trying to avoid paying an additional fee for checking-in baggage. Fortunately for me, my photo backpack a Naneu Sahara 217F can turn into a daypack or just a regular sized backpack. I brought along with me my Nikon D200, 28-75 2.8 lens, a 50mm and my Lumix lx3 for wide-angle shots. Good thing i packed some of my equipment for little did i know that my whole trip would be like a mini-photo expedition.
My first stop was to San Francisco/Bay Area. It is indeed a beautiful city! The area had a little bit of everything, from the urban sprawls, flatlands, hills and whatnots. I was toured around the usual tourist spots – Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street, the photo featured is at the Twin Peaks which had a spectacular view of the city. The Golden Gate Bridge, was well.. the Golden Gate Bridge. Nothing special except that when you do walk on it, it gives you an alternate view of the city. Toured around Daly City, Fremont, Palo Alto, I spent a few days in the city, trying to absorb what i can in such a short time.
The next stop of my trip, was to Tracy, CA which was my base camp on the way to Yosemite National Park. I used to do some trekking back in the day. And coming to the park has definitely rekindled my fondness, albeit temporarily for nature. Yosemite is definitely a must-go place. I only had a day to explore at least the valley. If i had another shot at going to the west coast, i would want a week just in Yosemite!
Overall, my trip was definitely worth it. Being able to spend time with family and friends, take a break from the hustle and grit of NYC. If you are planning to go for vacation, leisure or a photography trip, the San Francisco / Bay Area is a definite must see.
For photos of the trip you can check them out here – http://photobucket.com/westcoast092011 the password is – marianomedia
Enjoy and till the next post!
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Playtime with your camera
August 31st, 2011
Tables on fire by Michael Mariano | Native Racket's Randy
Fall is just around the corner. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that you will be just photographing falling leaves and foliage. Creativity can strike anywhere. As long as you have a camera ready and with the proper know-how, you can capture any mundane situation and turn it into a visceral experience.
I have recently been to one of the gigs of my friend Ivan Monegro at the Hot Lava party. He and his partner Randy Delgado are DJs for their group – Native Racket. So they were spinning during the hot lava party inside this massive warehouse which was dimly lit despite having a nice big disco ball lit on all its sides by focused lights. The only camera i had my Panasonic LX3 with me which had an underpowered flash. So i thought of just playing with it knowing the range of my flash. I decided to set it to Shutter speed priority (S) and make the shutter slower than usual (around 1/8 to 1/15th of a second)
In the photo, i captured Randy spinning on the decks. There was few lights on the turntables. So with flash ready and the shutter speed dialed it, i decided to ‘paint’ the scene
by moving my camera in long strokes while making sure that i focused properly first and accounted for the shutter lag since i’m using a slow shutter speed. The flash worked just in the right range, illuminating Randy and the decks. While the slow shutter speed made sure that the lights streaked that conveyed a sense of motion throughout the scene. I took some more shots of the party. It was good practice for me since i haven’t been covering events lately and that situation made me think outside of the box.
So the next time you feel that you might be limited by your camera or the situation, think outside of the box and use whatever tools you have in hand. Keep on shooting, and enjoy the coming fall season ahead!
Tags: camera, creativity, djing, event, flash, ivan monegro, low-light photography, native racket, randy delgado, slow shutter speed
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