“What’s your favorite photo?”
“Which one do you like best?”
“Do you have a favorite photo?”

These are some of the questions I get asked when doing art shows or other events. Each time my answer is similar, “that’s like picking your favorite child – you can’t do it – they are each special in their own way.”

And that is a true statement, I don’t know that I have a favorite image. There are some that I like more than others, but a favorite – too hard to pick – or maybe it’s not.

On April 15, 2015 I left my house to mail my taxes – yes, I waited until the last minute.

As I began driving I noticed interesting cloud formations and thought to myself it could be a good sunset. So I detoured from my original destination, and headed to the Gallagher Pier along Buffalo’s outer harbor.

For about an hour I watched and photographed as the sun moved below the horizon and the clouds continued to flow through the deepening blue sky. When I finally packed up my gear, and headed to the post office for my original errand, it was nearly 9 p.m. Some of the images from that evening are posted below.

…

Just this past weekend I lamented about missing last Friday’s sunset, which looked to be incredible. A friend of mine questioned my disappointment, noting that I probably have dozens, if not hundreds, of images that could be comparable to what I missed on Friday.

While I respect her sentiment, I will say this, I continue to look for sunsets to photograph, and four years later I’m not sure that I have captured one quite like the one from April 15, 2015. There have been very good sunsets (and some not so good), but none quite like tax day, and that’s why I go back. Each one is different – some more red, yellow, or orange, some more dramatic or peaceful, and some just plain beautiful.

…

I have often said that I love taking photos, and I do it primarily for my enjoyment. I know that may sound selfish, but isn’t that what a hobby is truly for?

Now, that being said, it is incredibly rewarding that people enjoy my work, which has allowed me to turn my hobby into a small business, and for that I am extremely grateful.

And with any business, you need business cards. I decided to order cards with a photo on one side. For my first set of cards I chose the photo “Tax Day Sunset 2”, which appears above this story.

Again, it would be much too hard to pick a “favorite” image from my portfolio, but four years after capturing this one it still holds a special place in my heart.

But as noted photographer Imogen Cunningham said, “Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow.”

We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Tax Day Sunset 2015

    I was recently asked to do a family portrait session for a former colleague and friend. So, Sunday morning my assistant (my daughter Brigid) and I met with the family and did shots at three different locations in the city. It was great fun; cold but fun. We probably spent almost 90 minutes taking pics, traveling to the next spot and taking more pics, etc. And we chatted briefly afterwards to catch-up.  As I said…90 minutes of great fun.

    The night before was also great fun, but a much different shoot. In a “salute to families of members of the military” the family of a member of the Air Force was invited for a ceremonial puck drop at the Niagara University hockey game. What the family didn’t know was that the puck was being delivered to them by their husband/father who was returning from Afghanistan.

    I was fortunate enough to be on the ice for the surprise event…camera in hand.

    As the family was walking out on the carpet purple carpet, I heard the public address announcer introducing them. I was taking a couple pics as they got into position, and then I heard the slashing of skates on the ice and I knew the airman was coming.

    Snap away.

    He joined his family. They hugged, smiled, laughed, and cried, and he had the chance to see and hold his 7-week old baby daughter for the first time.

    After a brief moment, he handed his wife the puck he carried out with him. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with it, but it became clearer as the captains from Niagara and Holy Cross skated out for the ceremonial puck drop. Everyone lined up and the puck hit the ice.

    There were some more celebrations as both captains acknowledged each member of the family and thanked the soldier for his service.  We then exited the ice so the game could start.

   

 

 

 

 

     Arena lighting can be difficult, leading to camera adjustments that can affect the quality of the photos, but after loading the photos on my computer I was pleased to see that I had a few memorable shots. I did some post processing and started to share the images to great response.

    The emotion in the wife’s face as she realizes who is skating toward her, and the utter look of shock of the older daughter as she makes the same conclusion are priceless. And I’ve come to love the moving shot of them in one large, loving embrace.

    People commented on the emotion in the images, and the emotions they felt, even as strangers, in viewing them.  I’ve watched my share of these types of reunion videos and they almost always choke me up. There is so much joy in that moment that it is a very moving experience. However, I didn’t feel that when taking these pics, and here’s why: it was a whirlwind.

    The time of the first “aha” shot, to the pic of the puck being dropped was just fifty four seconds.  A lifetime of memories captured in less than a minute.

    In looking back it was a busy weekend. I took nearly a thousand photos at a few different events, including the Sunday morning family portrait session. It was all fun and added to my experience as a photographer.

    But those fifty four seconds…that may be a memory I never forget.  

    Thank you to the Torcasio family for the sacrifices you make, and thank you to Frank Torcasio for your service to our great country. 

 

     For that reason, today’s post will ramble a bit.

     Last summer I wrote an entry about visiting the Canalside area of Buffalo, NY, a newly developed recreation space along part of Buffalo’s inner harbor. The space hosts any number of events during the summer season, including concerts, group exercise events, races, etc. The space is adorned with Adirondack chairs and it is quite active and picturesque.

     The area opened a few of years ago, and one night, while out taking pictures, I stopped by to capture some of Canalside. I made subsequent trips over the next couple of weeks that year to capture some more of this area. I think I captured photos on three separate nights.

     This really can be a picturesque area, and I like many of the photos I made while down there, but two in particular, stand out to me.

     The first one, which I call Flags of the Future (I don’t usually name my photos), I liked from the minute I saw it in my camera and on my computer. It captures the boardwalk area of the Canalside, along with the iconic flags that fly along the water’s edge. From a “photographic rules” standpoint, there are one or two things that may not be correct, but the strong content of the image outweighs these rules.

     This image was hanging on a wall, along with a few more of my prints, in a local restaurant, that is until someone bought it right off the wall. Thank you very much. At the time, one of the waitresses told me they had only sold two prints off the walls at the restaurant, and one was mine. (I recently sold another one there too…so that’s good).

     The second Canalside image that stands out is more like a fine wine for me. This photo has gotten better with age. When I reviewed all the images I made on those evenings, I don’t know that I really noticed this one. However, in reviewing my archive recently, something about it jumped out at me. The one thing I like about it is that I keep seeing new things in the photo...bikes, people, City Hall, etc.

     Flash forward…a few friends have encouraged me to participate in some of the local art fairs and to sell my photos. I have participated in some very small events like this, but nothing mid-size or major. This encouragement did prompt me to apply for entry to the local Saturday Artisans Market (SAM), to which I was accepted. These are a series of events, and I am only participating in three during this summer, and the first one was last Saturday.

     There is a lot of work that goes into preparing for these events. You have to have a tent, weights/anchors for the tent, a way to display your work, tables, signs, etc. I did plenty of research in preparing for the event, and I still have a lot to learn, but it is a growing process.

     Now one of the great things about SAM is that it is held at Canalside. And maybe it’s fate, but my tent was probably within 50 feet of the two spots that I made the two Canalside photos I spoke of earlier. I had fun talking to the people about all of my prints. Most of my work is from the Buffalo area, but many people still ask where certain photos were taken. When they would pick up one of the Canalside photos, I would ask them, “do you know where that was taken?” They would look up and around with a smile, just to confirm that is was almost in the exact spot they were standing.    

     It was pretty busy throughout the day. Hundreds of people had come to Canalside, whether they knew the art event was happening or not. I saw some good friends, and a couple of other friends walked by my booth 3-4 times without even seeing me. I enjoyed talking with everyone who stopped in, and I occasionally reminded them that the photos were for sale. I also had a nice conversation with Tom Dee, who oversees the group that manages the Canalside area. He was very complimentary of the photos, and I think they are going to use the images in some of their promotional presentations.

     So, I told you this one would ramble a little bit.

     It’s a long way to tell you that I will be at SAM again on July 5 and August 9.

     The other remaining dates are June 21, July 19, August 9, September 6 & 20, and October 4 & 18. 

     I didn’t think much about the pass initially. The bands scheduled to perform were very popular, but I wasn’t in the target demographic, and wasn’t really thinking about it as a photo opportunity.

     At the start of the night I was talking with Paul Maurer, one of my friends from the radio station (Kiss 98.5), who is also a photographer, and I asked about taking some pictures. He said “go ahead, you’ve got the all access pass” and another rep and longtime friend, Don Tomasulo, said “yeah, go ahead until someone tells you to stop.”

     So later in the night I found myself alongside the stage, and then in the photo pit right in front of the stage. I took some pictures of the band Icona Pop while they were on stage. These two young ladies have a couple of hits to their name, and sang along to backing tracks for their performance. After the performance, my daughters got to get pictures with them as part of a meet-n-greet.

     Once I got my daughters back to their seats, I wandered around the arena little longer before making my way back down to the stage area for the evening’s headliner: The Jonas Brothers.

     Of course I have heard of The Jonas Brothers, and although I’m not familiar with their music, I was pleased to see a full set-up for their performance including drums, keyboard, guitars, etc.

     While I have taken pictures of some local bands before, and some music festivals, and I even won a photography contest at a local music festival, I had never been in this type of environment: right against the stage, thousands of screaming (mostly young girls) fans, with music thumping through your body while you shoot. The environment was pretty electrifying.

     The brothers took the stage, one on guitar, the other vocals, alongside a backing band, and launched into what I can only assume was a string of hits. 422U0281

     And I started snapping away.

     While I was shooting I realized I had taken another step on my photography journey. I wasn’t just taking pictures; I was looking for cool effects with the stage lights, trying to frame Nick Jonas with the Kissmas Bash sign behind him, and looking for other effects. I even adjusted my settings once or twice to try to get some other looks from behind the lens.

     Again I was right alongside professional photographers doing their thing, and fitting in with the group (I hope).

     I think I got some good shots, and that was confirmed when my older daughter said “Dad, we have to get a lot of these developed.” I've put together a gallery of some of the images from the show.

     Always nice to get a good review from a 15-year old critic.

     So again, I am glad to have heard, and heeded my own advice to always bring the camera along, because there’s a picture out there somewhere. Sometimes you just have to look at every opportunity. 

     Last night I was "there" again, standing on the sideline of a high school football game. It was a playoff game between Bishop Timon and St. Mary’s. I got there with just a couple of minutes left in the third quarter. I made my way to the field, and found myself standing next to Robert Kirkham from The Buffalo News. Robert is an excellent photographer, and I’ve known him for a few years as he has covered a few events I have been a part of as a public relations professional.

     I pulled my camera out and adjusted my settings to be able sufficiently capture the nighttime action of the game. I mentioned this to Robert and he offered a couple of quick pieces of advice. He asked what kind of camera I had, and when I told him, he said that’s nice camera.  

     We bounced around the field taking pictures of the action, talked about shots we caught, and missed, and talked about photography as a hobby and profession. I was comforted at being welcomed alongside a real professional.

     In going through my pictures after the game, I saw a few I liked. One was of a friend’s son running the ball through a hole the offensive line had established. It’s a nice shot, and I posted it to that friend’s Facebook wall.

     I also saw a picture on Twitter that Robert took at last night’s game. I retweeted it and sent him the shot I mentioned. While it wasn’t as good as his, I was very pleased when he responded “Nice shot. I could have used it. My stuff was lame since I got there so late.”

     Now he was very kind to me, and maybe a bit too harsh on himself, but I was flattered nonetheless.

     Rewind to two weeks earlier. We had an event at Niagara University (my full time job), and Joe Cascio was on hand to serve as the photographer for one of our honorees. We had met a few times previously, and it didn’t take long for us to begin talking about photography (prompted by me I’m sure).

     During the event I made an off-hand comment about my camera, and he said “that’s an excellent camera.” I continued with a comment about how it didn’t compare to the one in his hand, and he quickly downplayed my remark, and made a comment as to suggest that his was too bulky, and that he would rather carry around one like mine.

     And rewind to 4 years earlier, when I bought my first dSLR. Since the first day of my venture into photography, my longtime colleague and friend Jim McCoy, a professional sports photographer with The Buffalo News, has offered advice and guidance whenever I’ve asked...and even when I haven’t asked, but that’s Jim.

     The photography fraternity I have come across has been kind, gracious and helpful. And while I have wondered if I belonged next to any of these individuals, they have never once questioned it, and have welcomed me every step of the way.

     So in no particular order, thank you to Jim McCoy, Joe Cascio, Robert Kirkham, Mark Mulville, John Hickey, Tom Wolf, Harry Scull, Bill Wippert, John McKeith, Dave Marino, and anyone else I may have missed. You should be proud of your work, and your professionalism. It is greatly appreciated by me.  

     “Are you ready for this?” she started.

     I don’t know if I responded, but she continued.

     “Katie just called and she wants to know if you can come over at 6:15…”

     Katie is a friend of ours. Her son and our son have been close friends since kindergarten, and I’ve actually known her and her husband Jim since college, when Jim and I worked together at the local Kmart.

     “…come over at 6:15 because Amy is getting engaged, and it’s a surprise and she wants you to take pictures.”

     Ok. Sounds like it could be fun. As I was driving home I thought of a bunch of photography type things, like how will the light be, flash or no flash, where will this happen, inside or out, where can I hide so as to not spoil a surprise.

     Then I thought about this…have I ever seen someone get engaged? I don’t mean on the video board at a Bisons game, or anything like that. I mean live, up close, someone I know, and to see their honest reaction. Other than seeing my girlfriend (now wife), I don’t know that I have seen anyone get engaged. Now I was thinking about that.

     I got home, changed my clothes, grabbed my camera bag, and was ready to go, and my wife asked me to wait a minute. She wanted to come along.

     Here’s where it got a little tricky. When we pulled up, Amy was already on the front porch. I felt a lump in my throat, and thought one of two things. One, we’re late. Two, it’s not happening. As it turns out, my wife had gotten the message wrong. The plan wasn’t for Amy, but rather her sister Meghan. Phew.

     As we walked up, Amy, Kate and friends were arranging a line of pumpkins on the railing of the front porch. Each of the pumpkins had a letter carved in it to spell out M-A-R-R-Y  M-E? Cute idea.

     Now I started to think about where I would stand to get her reaction as she read the pumpkins. Which way would they be coming? And about the light, or darkness as the sun was quickly setting.  I made the adjustments on my camera to be able to use the available light.

     To fast forward ahead a bit, I was hiding behind a car when they pulled up and parked. I really couldn’t see where they were in the process of nearing the porch, or what was happening, and could only hear them speaking faintly. I switched positions as he was still asking her. And this I know is true from the original phone conversation with my wife, yes it was a surprise.  

     He was now standing with the ring (he had already knelt), and she had a bewildered look of surprise and joy on her face. I was able to capture a few pictures of her as she finally got past the shock of it all and said yes. And the celebration began.

     Once the surprise was over I was able to turn on my flash and not spoil the moment. I continued to take candid photos before the couple moved in front of the pumpkins for some posed shots.

     Jim brought out some champagne and toasted the newly engaged couple. I took a few more pictures, some candid’s, some of the ring, etc.

     It was fun to see that joy and excitement in the faces of Meghan and Clark and their families, who were all there. It’s such an exciting time for them, and I hope they savor every minute. And it was great to be able to capture that moment for our friends.

     And then I thought of this. Twenty one years ago I knelt down and asked my girlfriend to marry me. No pumpkins, no one else around. And honestly, she didn’t even want to go to the spot where I wanted to propose. It was a cold and rainy July day and she didn’t want to get out of the car. But she did, and she said yes.

     Tomorrow my wife I will celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary.  It has been a wonderful journey with more ups than downs, more laughs than frowns, and more joy than I could ever imagine.

Congratulations Clark and Meghan! May you have at least half of the happiness I have had.  

     I’ve shot about ten races in the past two years, including triathlons, mud runs, 5Ks and half-marathons, which means I’ve taken close to 50,000 race and finish line photos.

     I like being at the finish line of races. As a runner myself, I know there are an infinite number of stories inside each race, and many times those stories are evident when the participants approach the finish line. It can be a very inspiring experience to watch a person cross a finish line. The race course is always measured, but you never know the personal distance any individual has traveled to get to that finish line.

     My son was at a music event, and my wife and younger daughter had gone to see a concert.

     Now I like many types of photography, but there is something special about night time and low light photography. I believe there is something magical about capturing a night photo. Your set-up is different. You have to steady the camera (tripod), slow the shutter, and make other adjustments as needed.

     I wanted to make a picture of the falls flowing with a slow shutter, which blurs the water into a creamy exposure, while keeping all other details sharp an in focus.

     So we parked the car, and I grabbed my camera bag and tripod and away we went. Everything should work out nicely, right? Wrong!

     Apparently the one thing I hadn’t counted on; I wasn’t the only person who scheduled a visit to this natural wonder of the world on this Saturday night. And, to make matters worse, there was a fair amount of construction taking place at the park, which limited the viewing areas. This meant that the hundreds and hundreds of people were funneled into a smaller area. This left me with absolutely no chance to set-up my tripod, and very little chance to even get close enough to get a handheld picture of the majesty of the Falls.

     My daughter and I stood 3-4 people back from the rail for about 20 minutes, and watched what we could, before making our way back up the park walkway along the rapids.

     At first I was a bit disappointed. We don’t live too far from the Falls, and I work even closer, but trying to schedule a trip there to get the photo always seems to take some work. This was a beautiful night, and the sadly the photo wasn’t possible.

     As my daughter and I were walking, we stopped to look at the rapids, which are actually a site to see in its own right. There is a sheer power to Niagara Falls which takes root in the rapids a few hundred feet before the final drop into the Niagara Gorge.

     As I looked up the river, I saw the bridge that crosses over to Goat Island. This brick structure is an understated piece of architecture, standing strong over the rapids below.

     “Time to get the camera out,” I thought to myself.

     I set-up, fiddled with the settings and took a few night shots of the Goat Island bridge. In the group of photos there are some nice shots. I was able to capture the bridge structure, while still getting the powerful movement of the water.

     After reviewing the pictures there are a couple of things I will try the next time I head to the Falls, because I will try to reshoot the rapids shot again.

     Despite that, I did also learn that although my planned photo couldn’t really happen that night, there was another opportunity right in front of my eyes.

     I learned that when shooting a country road when I found “Peak-a-Moo,” and I learned it again with the rapids.

     Just goes to show you, there’s a picture out there somewhere. You just have to look around to find it.

     As a photographer I like to look through photos from other photographers and particularly at photos similar in theme to mine. So I generally like to look at sports/event photos and photos of buildings, landmarks and landscapes.

     Seeing these pictures I generally have one of three reactions.

1- There’s nothing great about that. Mine are better than that.

2- That’s good, and I have pictures that look just like that.

3- Wow! Why am I even taking pictures? Mine will never look like that.

      I have these feelings probably equally, but number three tends to have a stronger effect on me than the others.

     This past weekend I went out both Saturday and Sunday and took some pictures.

     On Saturday the Buffalo Lighthouse was open to the public for tours, and my daughter and I went to see it. We waited in line for two hours, and while it was neat to go inside, and I had my camera, it wasn’t a real opportune time to get photos. I took a couple of pictures, but not much more than that. Then we traveled to Orchard Park to see the Eternal Flame in Chestnut Ridge Park. This flame, which is fed by natural gas seeping through the earth’s surface, sits behind a waterfall. A friend had told me she had never seen it, so her kids and my daughters hiked down to see the natural wonder. A good number of people came and went, so again, it was not an opportune time to get photos, but I got a couple and moved on for the day.

     At each of these places there were photographers. Photographers with thousands of dollars in equipment. One photographer with published books. Real photographers.

     Sunday morning was beautiful in Western New York, and I left the house fairly early to look for a couple of photo opportunities. The first one was a no-go (I’ll explain later). The next couple were ok, and then I went to the Canalside area of Buffalo. I have been down there a number of times, but Sunday was just about perfect. I was there for about 30 minutes, and I for the most part I was the only one there. There was one worker cleaning, and another person passed through, but that was it. I walked around and looked for photo opportunities. I found a few, and traveled back home.

     And on Sunday afternoon my son’s new band was playing at a music fest in West Seneca. We went to see him play, and I brought along my camera to document the “concert”.

     Before I continue on about that event, I will go back to the third reaction I stated above. When I see absolutely beautiful photos I get a bit intimidated. I think who am I to think I can take beautiful photos? My equipment is nice, but not professional. I have stood at events next to real, professional photographers, with my consumer level equipment, and tried to look the part. And my pictures have been nice, but part of me wonders ‘should I even be there?’

     I saw a quote on Facebook on Sunday from Robert Schuller that said, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you wouldn’t fail.” I don’t think “inspirational” quotes ever really inspire people to action, but they do tend to be thought provoking, and this one stuck with me.

     So we picked my son up from work. We had his guitar and a change of clothes. He jumped in the car and said “There’s been a change of plans.”

     Apparently they had a drummer who was going to play with them that day, but he backed out and my son said that he was going to play the drums.

     I was a bit frustrated for him, and a bit upset. I reminded him that he’s not a drummer, and that they had to take this stuff seriously. They needed a better plan.

     Now my son really isn’t a drummer. He doesn’t have a drum kit. He’s never taken lessons. He’s not a drummer.

     Because it was a music fest, they had a kit set-up for all the bands to ease the changeover between sets. So with other bands there, and other drummers, he climbed up behind the kit. They did a brief sound check, and he counted out the first song by banging the drumsticks together, and the song began.

     And to my surprise he was good.  Now, I’m not a drummer. There may have been some technical mistakes, and things he missed, but not that I could hear. He was good. They were good. He was a drummer.

     “What would you attempt to do if you knew you wouldn’t fail.”

     So when I have my camera and I’m standing next to “real” photographers with my cheap lens and my consumer camera, and I take a bad picture, guess what happens. Nothing. I take a bad picture. That’s all.

     And honestly, I don’t often take too many bad pictures. I just need to celebrate my points #1 and #2 more often.

     So, in the words of the rhymin' Paul Simon, "I got a Nikon camera. I love to take a photograph..."

     Or better yet, from CSN, "Teach your parents well..."

I still have a hard time calling myself a photographer, and an even harder time trying to classify myself as any type of artist. I am more apt to say I do some photography work. And when someone compliments some part of my work, whether it’s the composition, lighting or the subject, I usually say my grandfather was an artist, and that I must have gotten some of his talent.

Now, that being said, there are a number of pictures I have taken, and periodically displayed, of which I am very proud. I know they are good…some very good.

And sometimes I take pictures of things because I liked the way they looked at a certain moment, like the fire escapes I photographed in NYC. I really wasn’t looking at these as great pieces of photography, but rather something that was interesting to me in that moment.

Photography for me is a hobby. Yes, I photograph races (triathlons, mud runs, etc.) and make some money doing it, but I also enjoy doing that because being at the finish line of these races is very inspiring...and I get to be there to capture some great moments. I often look back through these race photos and find a number that I like mostly because of the emotion of the moment. It’s not my moment, but it is my photo and I love capturing the story.

So again, I take pictures because I like taking pictures, and I usually take pictures of people, places and things that I enjoy. I have photographed some family portraits for friends and some other group events for people close to me as well. These have been low-key shoots, and I enjoy these as well.

However, three different people have asked me if I shoot weddings, and my quick response was, "no." While the money may be good, I still view photography as a hobby, and shooting a wedding would certainly take that hobby to a different level.

I often say, I take pictures for me. If you like it: great. If you want a copy of it: that can be arranged. If you don’t like it: it’s no skin off my teeth.

A couple of weeks ago our church had its annual SummerFest, which included an arts and crafts show. So I bought a table and had about 30 of my prints on display for sale. I was pleased to sell a few prints, and take some orders for a couple of others. I also received a great number of compliments which is always very nice…and humbling.

However, one person I know was flipping through the prints and saying how much she liked this one, or that one, and then she got to a print of bikes that I have and she said. “Oh, I don’t like this one.”

I was taken back a bit by the statement. I wasn’t really offended, just surprised that she would make the statement so frankly. I was almost amused by it. Knowing my photographic philosophy, and that I shoot pictures for me, I simply smiled and responded by saying, “So don’t buy it.”

She then stated again, “I just don’t like it.”

I responded with a smile, “you don’t have to buy it.”

It was a friendly exchange, and I am pleased to say I was very comforted in my response. I certainly could have taken offense, but the fact that I didn’t proved to me that I am still shooting for myself.

If you like it: great. If you want a copy of it: that can be arranged. If you don’t like it: don’t buy it. 

P.S. - Now there was one other lady who was looking through my photos, and complimented me on so many of them. I did say to her, "You know, if you really like them, you can take them all home with you. We can make that happen." She and her husband both laughed, and took one of my cards. 

Last week my family and I spent three days in New York city. While it was mostly a family vacation, I did bring along my camera with the hopes of capturing a few new pictures. 

It was a whirlwind trip. Even though we used the subways a number of times, we walked about 10 miles in the three days we were there. I did think about getting up early one of the days and heading out alone to Central Park (or some other location) on my own personal photo walk, but my body was a little too tired each morning for any extra adventures. 

So, without any real personal assignments, I just brought my camera to shoot whatever tickled my fancy. I did get pictures of the key things like Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park/Strawberry Fields, Grand Central Station, the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings, and other things along the way.

Even with those classic pics, I was struck by two other things. First the people. I found it interesting to shoot the people of NYC. Now, I'm not what some would call a "street photographer" but I did try to discretely photograph some of the people of NY. I shot many without looking in the viewfinder, so I missed a bunch, but some turned out ok. 

I was also very drawn to the fire escapes. For some reason I was captivated to these structures, and found myself photographing many of them as my family shopped along Canal Street in Chinatown. 

And that's the thing with photography, and my photography in particular... I don't know that I would ever choose to go out to shoot people or fire escapes, but now I have a small collection of these photos. While I like some of them, I don't know that I will ever print or publish them beyond a simple Facebook gallery. 

But, as I am so apt to say, just grab your camera and head outside because there is a photo happening somewhere.