Take Off

Waking up to a foggy morning not knowing what to expect to happen. I've recently been fascinated with bird photography and watching how they interact. When I have my camera I patiently wait for the right moment. In a blink of an eye the action unfolds! I lost count after 20 Canadian Geese. They took flight and found the first goose closest to the front of the flock and set my focus and it gained altitude as I locked focus.

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!

It felt like forever when the photo processed in the camera. I couldn't believe what I was able to capture. A perfect exposed photo. Waiting for a moment to happen makes you take a step back and process things you never thought of while taking your time. Rather than rushing the photo and not appreciating it. Being in nature helps you be aware of your surroundings. Scroll back up and take in the moment of this photo.

Thanks for taking the time out to get a mindset of this photo.

www.instagram.com/terrellshedrickphotography 

Mystery Duck In Central Park

This was a ordinary morning meeting with photographers from instagram in New York. It was about 6:00a.m. at 5th ave. and 60th st. when we decided to meet up. We made our way into the park right before the sun came up behind the horizon. The location we started at was near Gapstow Bridge over the pond. There was a flock of ducks swimming in the pond and I took out my 70-200mm lens to get a closer view of them. After a few photos, I looked to review them and noticed something unusual about one of the ducks. All I could notice was the bright orange feathers coming out of the tail of the duck and the colors behind its head. The hair on the chest laid like a lion's mane. When I was done looking at the back of my camera a stranger came up to me and said 

"Did you see the Mandarin Duck?"  

Magical Blue Hour Sunset

Blue Sky Flame

Every night before I leave Manhattan I watch the sun set. On this particular night the sky was looking very different. My back is turned to the windows looking out at the city. One moment I looked behind me, something caught my eye. I searched and searched around the office to find the perfect point of view to capture the sunset. The glow off Goldman Sachs Headquarters in Jersey City, NJ is what really made me take this photo. You don't normally see the sky look like this near a city. Most of the time you this type of sky is if you're out on a deserted island with nothing but you and the stars shinning in a clear sky.

* All photos are available for print!

Epic Vantage Point 70 Floors View

Lightning Chasing to Sunrise

Thunder Bolt

The past few days have been great capturing the city. I've always wanted to try and catch lightning hitting the spire of the World Trade Center. After work I kept watching the way the clouds were starting to develop. A few people I'm friends with on Instagram were reporting that it was going to be a great night to try and capture some lightning strikes. I got all my gear together and headed out to Exchange Place, Jersey City, NJ and say the clouds forming up what was about to be some lightning strikes. One thing I was told to do to capture the lightning was to time out how fast it took for the lightning to strike then I would adjust my camera settings. As soon as the image showed up on the back of the LCD screen, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was counted as one of the best night photos I every captured in my life. 

70th Floor Sunrise over 99 Hudson

A good friend of mine I met a few years ago started to study construction after working in a cigar shop, which he still works on the weekends gave me a great vantage point of Lower Manhattan that I couldn't pass up. He has sent me photos from the view he gets to look at just about every day. In a few years this view will be in someone's living room, dinning room, or bedroom. What a crazy way to start your day before heading into the crowded city across the Hudson River... 

Empire Opening

As best to use objects to frame subjects in trying to be creative, use the obvious things right in front of you. Once you start taking photos your world starts to change into something a normal person won't be able to see. This is one view of the Empire State Building you will never get to see unless you were in my shoes or if you were a construction worker working on the site....

Check these photos and drop a comment on my Instagram Page !!!

*All photos are available for print!

Working On The Edge

Some people cross bridges to get to the other side, some people climb bridges to get a better perspective. I decided I wanted to sit on the edge of a walk way path leading to the Manhattan Bridge. So many urban explorers take things to extreme measures and get as close to the clouds. The only way I would ever do something like that is if it was legal. None of the view points of my photos in my gallery are illegal. As many times as I've been on the walk path of bridges, I always wondered what it felt like to be on the edge looking down. Once I got to the location the street down below had a direct view of the World Trade Center dead center for a great photo. Down below is a video I put together of me exploring Chinatown New York. The video contains everything that I believe needs to show what beauty the city has to offer to visitors from all over the world. I will be making more videos in the near future.

Chinatown NYC

A Sunset That Ends The Day

A sunset normally means the end of the day is near. For me, it means that it's time to go out in the city to explore. Night photography is a major skill to learn. You have to make sure there is enough light for the camera sensor to focus on. To our natural vision, it may seem the lighting is right and we can just take a photo. Not the case with cameras, the cameras' sensor is always looking for a light source to lock on for a perfect shot. You have to consider shadows, contrast, exposure, motion, lastly, how fast it matters to get the photo sharp or blurry. Each photographer has his/her vision of each photo they take. There is a thinking process for each press of the shutter button. A lot has to do with buildings and people being framed the perfect way possible to tell a story. Night time is 

"Light Hunting."

In this photo, you have the building on the right framing the sunset, the tall tower, the helicopter, and the buildings below in the foreground. The real photo is not the building on the right taking up half of the photo. Put your hand over the right half of the photo and that's what I really wanted to capture. Sometimes you can use objects to frame the real photo you want to take. You can actually use people to frame a photo of someone else. For example, if you see a person standing in between two people, the two people are the frame of the person in the middle of them. That's natural framing. I would like for you to go out and take a minute to look around and different shapes of objects and people and create your photo.

You can find this photo also here!
* Photo is available for print!

Tunnel Vision...

Tunnel Vision

When I'm out in the city with my camera the only thing I have to worry about is getting the image that I have in my mind to create. Even if it's one photo out of walking the streets for a few hours its worth getting nothing. As long as you have one photo to show that's what I call "The Perfect Photo".

Photographers get into a tunnel vision because they want to show others what the camera makes of the scene into a photo. Looking through the view finder is the true tunnel vision of any photo.

You can find this photo here!