And We're Back from New York City

We experienced an amazing, fun-filled, and busy weekend in Manhattan meeting Megan's long lost cousins from the island of Lifou.  We didn't have much time to spare, but we did find time to make it to the American Museum of Natural History, Times Square, and Rockefeller Plaza.

Happy Christmas!

-Tom

Rooftop Running in NYC

There's nothing quite like watching a sunset from a rooptop in Manhattan.  During our 2010 visit, Weston had a blast running around on the roof.  By this time, he had recovered from the terror that was the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.  He needed to get out some energy.  Yes, we were some 30 or so floors up, and there was a nice fence, but it still made unnerved me.  Alas, he survived.

Tomorrow I'll bring an end to the New York Series. During our upcoming trip I'm not going to have a ton of time to photographing explore the city, but hopefully I'll get a few new images that I like. We'll be staying in the Upper West Side.  Do you have a favorite NYC location that shouldn't be missed for photography?

-Tom

From Above

If you find yourself in New York City, try to make it onto a roof.  Usually, you'll be alone, and you just get an absolutely wonderful perspective from above.  During this 2010 trip, Megan and I flew to LaGuardia via Port Columbus.  This time, our silver mini-van will be battling traffic.

-Tom

Rooftop Respite

In Manhattan, every little bit of space is used.  How nice would it be to have your own little rooftop patio?  Yes, sometimes I feel boxed in by my quarter acre lot in Worthington, but really, I have nothing to complain about.

-Tom

A Look Back to the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

In 2010, Megan, Weston, myself and an in utero Brody travelled to Manhattan for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.  We thought Weston would love it.  Instead, he was scared to death of the giant balloons as they floated by.  We were so far from the street that we couldn't see anything but the balloons.  And Weston couldn't see that said balloons were controlled by people.  I think he thought they were giant monsters.  Poor little dude!

Back in 2010, photography was still done using the small point and shoot cameras that had become ubiquitous by that time.  But as you can see below, cell phones were starting to creep in.  Who  they would have thought that they would completely replace dedicated cameras just five years later?

By the end of the day, boy was our little one-and-a-half-year-old tuckered out!

-Tom

One More Black and White from NYC

The apartments along the Hudson River on the upper west side are impressive.  This area of the city was away from the hustle and bustle.  We could go down to Riverside Park to get away from the feeling we were visiting some gigantic how "many humans can we put in a box" experiment. None the less, I'd still like to live a year in the city to see if I could survive.  Sinatra sang a song about that, right?

This is the last black and white image I'll share from NYC.  Up next, we'll get a little color.

-Tom

Before Selfies Were Cool

I'm taking a look at photographs I've taken in Manhattan leading up to our December trip to the most crowded island in the country.  Here we are in Megan's grandparents apartment back in 2006.  This was the little place we could go to get away from the activity.

-Tom

The Medusa Tree

On our walk through Central Park in January 2007, I distinctly remember Megan looking at this tree and saying something like "now I could draw that!"  I called her on it, yet I still haven't seen anything.  I tried to replicate the success of this photograph back in 2010, but my black and white version is way better.  The contrast between the natural, seemingly random craziness of the tree branches contrasting with the rigid angles of the baseball backstop makes this photograph for me.

Three years later, same subject, different angle, not nearly as effective.

-Tom

Union Theological Seminary

Yes, these photos from our January 2007 to NYC are drab, dreary, and colorless.  Our next visit come December will be a much brighter, happier affair.

-Tom