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?"  

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.

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* 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.

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The Urban Street Photographer

Once you start looking at the city with a different chain of thoughts, it's not the same city you're use to walking around every time. I look at every city I travel to by noticing natural shapes, colors, and flow. Manhattan is one city that you can find everything you are looking for in a photo. Sometimes I just stand on a corner and just look around for my shot. People may be curious of what you are doing but in fact they are in their own thoughts moving along their way. If you have a zoom lens you might be able to capture their candid shot before they see you by not disturbing them. I find those are the best moments to capture a person's expression. After you take the photo you may find it to be a great photo of them acting in their normal way. You can approach them and tell them "Hey I took a nice photo of you, do you want me to send it to you?". That might be a potential client to book you for a photo shoot or an event. Sometimes you have to think outside the box and just go for anything you feel is the right thing. Ask yourself how do you want to capture the next city you are in?

My Adventures Of New York

New York's Moody Morning

On April 5, 2017 I had a strange feeling the view of Manhattan would never look like any other day. I was on my way into work on the Path Train and decided to get off one stop sooner than the World Trade Center. The night before was a very strong storm that had came on the east coast. Something told me to go and look at the city. It was about 8:00 a.m.when I got out of the train station, there was a view of the city that has been lost in the fog. Within ten minutes I saw the sun breaking through the clouds and the picture developed before my eyes. The trail of fog stretched all the way up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge. I have never seen the city look such a way I was looking at it. I waited to take the photo just to take in the view of what was developing before my eyes.

There are so many people who just try to get to where they need to be all over the city but don't appreciate what the scenery is around them. Me being a street photographer I take a second to realize my surroundings and then find the right composition and take the photo. 

By Terrell Shedrick
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