Notes from the Underground

Last night I posted on facebook and tweeted (follow me @cameragirlk on twitter) a photo of my ride home. As a typical new yorker, I spend about 1/24th of my day underground, riding the subway. Most of the time I'm reading a book or listening to music, but lately I've been taking some photos. Just with my iphone, secretively.

I've never thought the subway could be so beautiful.

 

(nyc subway, photographed April 2011)

Snapshots of New York

I confess that, except for my brief photo field trip in d.c., I haven't been using my camera.  As I mentioned before, it's just too cold and bleak to want to be out there snapping away.  Spring is *finally* around the corner, but not quite.  As soon as the weather turns nice, I have a photo date with Katy of Sugarlaws.  I also have a photo field trip planned with my friend Laura to wander around and take photos of whatever we stumble upon.  But until then, I've been staying creative with my iphone, surreptitiously taking photos on the subway and on the streets.  

But I'm constantly amazed at the great shots I can capture with my little iphone camera, like these.

(New York City, photographed Winter 2011)

Falling for New York

Today was a beautiful day in New York.  Although it is (gasp) already mid-November, it was unseasonably warm, with temperatures reaching the mid-sixties.  My friend from high school was visiting for the weekend (hi Meghan!), so we took full advantage of the great weather and strolled through the streets of Brooklyn.

And I, of course, took my camera with me.  But I didn't want to be a pain and make my dear friend wait while I switched lens and played around with my camera.  Nor did I feel like lugging my big camera bag around during our stroll.  So instead I took just my camera, upon which I mounted my new 85mm prime lens.  I have been so busy lately (maybe you could tell by the lack of recent posts) that I haven't really had a chance to break it in.  Needless to say, I'm pretty happy with it.

(NYC, photographed November 2010)

iPhotography

I have a new toy.  

I finally took the plunge and traded in my very, very old flip phone and bought an iPhone4.  And I am obsessed, beyond obsessed, with it.  I thought I had some good reasons for holding off on this upgrade.  My primary reason was that I have a blackberry through work, which - although it is a very, very old model - handled my on-the-go internet needs.  I figured it was silly to spend the money on another smart phone and on a big data plan and all the other costs that would go along with it.  Why bother?    

Now I can't believe I waited so long to get one.  

What finally got me to give in was that my sister (who lives on the far other side of the country from me) got an iPhone4.  I'm a sucker for the Apple and iPhone commercials, especially the "face time" video chatting they show as possible with the iPhone4, and I wanted my sister and I to have our own special moments via this iPhone video chat. 

That, and I've been admiring photos taken with the hipstamatic camera app.  Some friends had previously posted these really cool looking, vintage-feeling shots on facebook, and with some digging, I learned they were taken with hipstamatic.  I knew I had to have it.

And so I quickly went out to the store, upgraded, and it's now been about a week and half with my new toy.  Not only did I get the hipstamatic camera app, I got several other photography apps, like vintage shift, vintage green and vintage red.  I plan on acquiring more, too.  My phone has suddenly become the most convenient but fabulously creative camera in my bag.  

And, in case you are wondering, I still haven't video chatted with my sister, as she's now in Japan on vacation.  But with all the other things my iPhone does, I really haven't minded much.  

(nyc, photographed August 2010)

Strike a Pose

As a photographer I consider myself very lucky to have a friend who loves to be a model.  My wonderful friend Katy blogs about style and food on the superfabulous Sugarlaws.  Although she can and sometimes does take photos herself using a tripod and remote control, we often go out into the city and do our own vogue-esque fashion shoots for her blog.  And I can't tell you who loves these afternoons more - me or Katy.  Her husband, on the other hand, thinks the both of us are just nuts.

But it really keeps my creative juices flowing to spend a couple hours roaming around the city with Katy, looking for interesting locations for our shoots and trying out different compositions and framings.  Lately I've found myself studying other fashion blogs for ideas, watching America's Next Top Model marathons on tv for inspiration (they do some very interesting shoots, seriously), and flipping through glossy magazines.  I really like fashion photography.

These are just a sampling of some of the photographs Katy and I have done together.  For more, check out Sugarlaws.

(Katy, photographed in various NYC locales, Summer 2010)

New York State of Mind

As I've been not-so-subtly mentioning (like here), I'm going on vacation.  Soon and very soon, I'll be on a plane headed to beautiful Portugal.  I can't wait for the seafood, the port, the castles, the coast...

So, of course, what am I posting about?

New York City.  Where I live and work.  The place I'm super excited to get away from for a few days.  Yup, tonight, instead of packing, I'm posting about good ole' new york.

I do love this place though.  She's a beautiful city, especially when she wears her bright lights and neon at night.

(New York City, photographed 2009-10)