New York City 2017 Part I

My first trip to New York in 2017 was to work at New York Fashion Week and also to shoot some editorials. Amidst the craziness and pandemonium of fashion week I can always find time for some city shots, landscapes and high altitude shots from planes. Behind the scenes at fashion week coming soon!

New York is one of the most photographic and beautiful cities in the world each trip has become just as exciting as the last. There are always tons of new places discover and new friends to make and also the food is amazing (calories don't count in NYC) February can get very very cold and has even seen the Hudson River freeze over during previous seasons! Wrapping up warm is essential so make sure you are fully prepared for arctic conditions

The following are a selection of favourite shots I took during my 7 day stay in the city, some taken on my iPhone and some one my DLSR camera. I had previously spent a whole summer living in Brooklyn and saw so many crazy things but I was pretty overwhelmed by how many cool memories and crazy things would happen in just one week in NYC!

Chelsea, Manhattan on a Saturday night.

Kryolan NYC on Bleeker Street. For all your professional makeup needs check them out at www.kryolan.com

Eighth Ave with horse mounted NYPD is a pretty common sight.

I had so much fun papping the Paparazzi Dogs in Greenwich Avenue in Chelsea. 

“We’re so excited that our ‘Paparazzi Dogs’ are in New York. They’ve traveled the globe taking photos, and now they’ve arrived at this fun, trendy place that has been photographed more than anywhere else, and that leaves you feeling so stimulated.”
—Gillie, co-creator of “Paparazzi Dogs”

Freezing cold winter temperatures in Harlem.

I do miss this coffee flavoured Blue Moon beer. Perhaps Cappuccino and beer should never be mixed but this totally works and tastes really good!!

I can never go to NYC without hitting Pommes Frites at least once. They sell the most amazing Belgian Fries with a selection of about 50 different sauces. My favourite is Pomegranate and Teriyaki Mayo sauce. The original Pomme Frites was situated in East Village, Manhattan but was completely destroyed due to a gas explosion which caused the whole apartment block to collapse and sadly claimed two lives. The business is now thriving in the city and I am already looking forward to my next visit! 

Be sure to pay a visit at  128 Macdougal St, New York, NY 10012, USA

Taking a road trip uptown to Astoria.

Coca Cola trucks and it's not even Christmas yet!!

2017 GOALS:

1. END RACISM

2. END SEXISM

3. END NATIONALISM

Shot in Tribeca.

Big City Of Dreams.

Vanishing points, lines, perspectives and puddles.

Look up!

Never trust this Next Stop board on the subway and always pay attention to the announcements or you might get lost on the subway! 

Front entrance and Gallery 1 of 3 backstage entrances at NYFW near Clarkston Sq in Soho, Manhattan. The shot above is the backstage entrance to the main runway at fashion week.

I love Popeyes which Louisiana Fried Chicken chain dotted all over the city place with it's amazing boneless waffle fried chicken and treble cooked fries. I have to admit to having this at least twice during the week. I also loved a burger chain called Checkers which have some insane cheeseburgers.

This building kind of looks like a video game console. Perhaps the PlayStation 5 might look something like this.

Cinematic steam from sewers makes me wonder if the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles might be eating pizza down there.

NYPD in Sugar Hill, with a castle fashioned college in the background.

Snowy Sugar Hill.

Meeting new friends!

Behind the scenes hair with Kash Spang from my photoshoot with amazing model Breshell who I met backstage at Leanne Marshall. Looking forward to teaming up with her again next season covering New York & London Fashion Week! 

Check out her website at www.breshell.com

A shot of lower Manhattan at night with the World Trade Center.

I was so lucky to catch a rainbow behind the Empire State Building during my last trip to New York so I was amazed to see a rainbow rising high above Central Park.

Moody Empire State Building in black & white.

Manhattan cityscape at sunset.

Lower Manhattan cityscape with shot from The Top of The Rock.

Street art outside Pennsylvania Plaza.

Long exposure shot outside Macey's.

Long exposure shot outside the James A. Farley Post Office Building. 

Getting my flight home from Newark Liberty airport with a gorgeous sunset. 

Goodbye New York, see you in July!

www.simonackerman.co.uk

How to photograph car light trails in NYC

I mentioned in yesterday's blog post a little bit about long exposure photography that I did in New York so I decided to put together some of my favourite images from that series. Most of these were shot early Autumn which is great to work with as a photographer as you get to capture the changing colours of leaves. 

This is the first of a series of long exposure shots taken in Lower East Side in Manhattan. The long exposure effect on the taxi gives it the illusion that is floating similar to Luke Skywalker's Landspeeder in Star Wars. It was great to time the shot so the illuminated road sign was above it and the NYPD cop car just to the left. 

This shot is from the same location again, this is a taxi that was closer to where I was positioned. I find zoom lenses are better in this situation than primes, preferably a wide angle lens.

Delancey St, Lower East Side, Manhattan. 

14th Street, Manhattan. 

A tripod is essential for this type of photography, although there were a few occasions that I was traveling home without a tripod and had to make do with the environment. Resting the camera on the sidewalk as an example can work really well as it gives a much lower composition that can make this kind of photography look more dynamic. The above shots where taken when I didn't have a tripod to hand so decided to use the corner of a skip in order to get the shot.

Night shooting can really come to life with these techniques, there's always lots of bright ambient light and you're never short of traffic in New York City. This shot was taken using a tripod in the Meatpacking District with a shutter speed of around 10 seconds. It was great to capture the Burberry advertising with Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss on the building. 

This shot was taken from Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn which gave a nice ariel composition.

This shot is one of my favourites from the series as it has the Empire State Building lit up nicely in the background. 

© Simon Ackerman 2015 - All Rights Reserved

www.simonackerman.co.uk