Going to New York

[Roger Thoms]

A few years back I took a trip to New York and brought the 4x5, had a great time. For the trip my girlfriend bought me a Speed Graphic as she said there was no way she was going to help drag my Sinar around NY. Only setup the tripod in one place I wasn't suppose to and security was quick to let me know. Also did some handheld shooting with the speed with was a blast. Bottom line though, is bring whatever your more comfortable with and have a great time.

Btw: I was there in Jan. Bring a lot of warm clothes especially if your going to do any night photography.

Roger

[gliderbee]

What is the general attitude (if any) of people towards street photography ? Do they accept their picture being taken ? Is New York ok for street photography ?

Thanks,
Stefan.

[bob carnie]

If someone tries to sell you a bridge be careful, I fell for that one.

[bdkphoto]

What is the general attitude (if any) of people towards street photography ? Do they accept their picture being taken ? Is New York ok for street photography ?

Thanks,
Stefan.

NYC is great for working on the streets.

[paulr]

The cops are on a work slowdown right now, so I'd be less worried than ever about someone bugging you about permits. Just use common sense and don't clog any arteries.

To bring a big camera or not ... really depends on the kind of trip you want to have. I think you'll see more stuff and engage more with the world if you leave the big camera behind. It would make more sense to me if you had a specific project in mind and that was a central purpose of the trip.

[fishbulb]

My advice would be bring the Fuji GA645ZI with Tmax400 and the Fuji XE-2 with the 18-55. Skip the X100s - I took some good shots with mine in NYC but I found it too limiting, except in central park. I would have much rather had something that can go wider, for all the buildings and architecture, and zoom in general. I think next time I have to go, I'd bring my Nikon D3200 (small DSLR) with a 10-24mm (ultra-wide-angle zoom), and maybe a 55-200 zoom. So many times with the x100s (which has a fixed 23mm f/2, or ~35mm in 135 film terms), I wished I could go wider, or zoom in. Most of my favorite shots are stitched digital images where I shot 4 or 5 frames with the x100s and combined them later. There's only so much "zooming with your feet" that you can do in NYC.

Also, as others have said, NYC this time of year is FREEZING, especially when you count the wind chill. Bring clothes like you are going skiing and you'll be OK. Warm socks. Thick shoes. Thick gloves. Otherwise, you won't want to spend much time outdoors and you'll end up in the hotel or in a museum all the time.

Also, there is no line for the empire state building this time of year, but it's like being on top of Mt. Everest due to the insanely high wind. You will want every square inch of skin covered. EDIT: also I survived the cold weather by eating lots of hot soup. Check out ISE Restaurant if you like Japanese. It's at the south end of Central Park.

This guy with a tripod that I took a picture of (x100s), well, he was knifed, beaten, and then his corpse was arrested, imprisoned, beaten and knifed. Just kidding, he was outside my hotel for an hour or more with a tripod and no one seemed to mind. Just don't block traffic and you'll be fine.

[paulr]

Looks like the weather will be quite mild this week.