Tree of Life

Fir Tree, Central Park, New York City

"A man doesn't plant a tree for himself. He plants it for posterity." Alexander Smith

Nothing much to say about this photograph. I just happen to be obsessed with photographing trees that come in all forms and sizes. The one in this photograph is a new planted fir tree and I thought it looked cute being the 'baby' among the older trees. 

I photographed it in a way to have it right in the center which adds more depth. Even though it looks that the photo was shot using infrared...it was not. It's just the way the light is hitting the tree.

This black and white photograph was captured on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app. Some minor editing was done in PS CS4. Settings for Hipstamatic were BlacKeys B&W/Lucifer IV

The Great Lawn

Central Park, New York City

"Big cities are chaotic. And chaos for humans - who have experience from their ancestors - is the last step before conflict. So, in the park, every kind of visual contradiction has been eliminated." John Hench

This is the Great Lawn that can be found in Central Park, New York City and I can tell you right now that if you want the best views in New York City then you better come here. 

You can look 360 degrees around you, and you will be able to see the East Side, the West Side, up North and even Midtown. Early in the mornings during the week it's usually empty as you can see in the photograph but during the weekend it gets quite busy with baseball players.

In this photograph on the far right we can see the famous San Remo residential building and on the far left, the small building is the famous Marionette building.

Metal and Nature

Riverside Park, New York City

"An excellent man, like precious metal, is in every way invariable; A villain, like the beams of a balance, is always varying, upwards and downwards." John Locke

Today I am posting another photograph that was shot at Riverside Park. This is the third in the series. Love and Age vs Matter were also photographed at this beautiful park which is often over-looked because of Central Park.

This bridge can be seen somewhere around 75th Street and the last time I was walking there it caught my eye. Metal, trees and water puddles all come together to form chaotic symmetry which in my opinion is beautiful.

The color of the metal beams in the photograph are green...almost the same color as the tree on the side and that is why I converted it to black and white so it will create contrast and distinction. 

I think that Riverside Park offers more opportunity for photographs then Central Park. At Riverside Park you have that one thing that can't be beaten...water.

This photograph was shot using a cheap compact camera then converted to black and white using PS CS4.

Ascending

Fireworks Display, New York City

"Celebrate what you want to see more of." Thomas J.Peters

Today I am posting another picture in color and the second one in the Fireworks series. This picture, like the other picture was shot at Central Park for the New Year's Eve celebration.

I was just photographing fireworks as they come up and was not paying much attention to how they were turning out. When later, at home, I was looking at the pictures on my computer I realized that this one was my favorite fireworks picture.

It's very gradual - big to small, and brightest to darkest. I love abstract art and personally I think that fireworks on a perfect black night can be a pretty good example. All that bright color against the black canvas (the sky.)

As I said on the other fireworks picture, no you don't need to carry professional DSLRs to take perfect fireworks pictures. A semi-decent compact camera will do the job just fine.

This picture was not shot using my iPhone. It was shot using a very cheap compact camera that did a terrific job! Yeah you don't need to carry endless equipment with you to take picture of fireworks!

Clean City

High-Line, New York City

"Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals." James Naismith

The newly refurbished and recently opened part of the High-Line in New York City. The designers did an excellent job and putting together textures and lines together while also incorporating some green for the environmental conscious people (which should be all of us.)

It's so very well done and clean that while you are walking here you'd forget you are actually in one of the world's biggest cities and that's another thing I love about New York City. Even though you are in the city, you can go places that will make you forget you are actually in New York. A couple of good examples are the above mentioned High-Line, the Cloisters and Central Park.

This black and white photograph was captured on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app. Some minor editing was done in PS CS4. Settings for Hipstamatic were BlacKeys B&W/Lucifer IV

Walk With Me

Central Park, New York City

"A garden must combine the poetic and he mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy." Luis Barragan

Once again I am posting a picture of Central Park in New York City as I am a firm believer that one can never have enough pictures of this majestic place.

Here we can see a couple walking their dog in an almost empty area. Now every New Yorker knows that this is very rare unless you are walking very early in the morning. When Central Park is deserted it feels so serene and peaceful and in my opinion looks more beautiful than when it's busy with crazy tourists asking for directions or commuters going in a hurry from the East to the West side or vice versa to work. 

This particular area in the picture is an area popular with skaters in the evening. It is situated right opposite the Bethesda Terrace and I always thought it was Central Park central. 

This photograph was captured on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app. Some minor editing was done in PS CS4. Settings for Hipstamatic were BlacKeys B&W/Lucifer IV

The Arches

Central Park, New York City

"Knowledge is the only fountain both of the love and the principles of human liberty." Daniel Webster

The path in the picture, is the path that leads to the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. We have seen this terrace and fountain in numerous movies, but to stand there, physically stand there and admire it with your own eyes is something completely different. The whole area is beautiful. The stairs leading to this 'hallway' in the picture, the 'hallway', the terrace and the fountain all collaborate together to create this master class scene better known as the Bethesda Terrace.

This picture was shot early in the morning so I was lucky enough to get the picture without any people in it (except for that one woman on the right side.) 

The area is very popular with tourists and New Yorkers alike. It's very serene and I think it's considered as one of the landmarks of Manhattan, New York!

 This photograph was captured on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic app. Some minor editing was done in PS CS4. Settings for Hipstamatic were BlacKeys B&W/Lucifer IV

The Road to Salvation

Central Park, New York

"Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it would overwhelm." Idries Shah

How many times are we walking in the same spot but always see something different? Many of us don't even notice, while some of us do and try to see what is that one thing that is making the same scene look different. 


On this particular day, while I was walking in Central Park, New York I noticed the shadow on the pavement was creating a nice texture. I have been walking here but I honestly never saw it before. Now it's either because I never bothered to look or maybe it was because the sun was hitting the trees from an angle. To be honest I usually go walk late in the afternoon but this picture was taken in the morning. It was a hazy day which you can see by looking at the soft tones on the trees further away in the photograph. 


When I saw this picture I realized that while walking around in New York, you have to keep an open eye. In New York everything comes and goes fast and you can miss seeing that something beautiful in a blink of an eye. This may sound overwhelming to some people who never experienced New York before but for those who live there, I am sure you know what I mean.

This photograph was shot using Hipstamatic on my iPhone and the settings were Lucifer IV/BlacKeys B&W. I converted it to black and white in PS CS4.