Karine Ardault

Street Photography–New York–Rolleiflex 2.8f

 

Busy working…. so tonight one photo

Rolleiflex 2.8f, Streets of New York

Street Photography, New York, with the Polaroid 600SE

A window display in NY showing old Singer sewing machines. It was taken with the Polaroid 600 with sepia film. Yummy!

Street Photography in New York

Ben discovered a roll of B&W120 film from my trip in New York last year that was still unprocessed.

I really like using the Rolleiflex as people do not really notice me even when i am very close to them. It is just because that when i am looking at them with the camera, I am looking down instead of looking straight at them.

These photos were taken during the 1st week of April 2011 and it was so cold! I still need to clean the scans as I see a lot of dust but that will be for another day as it is a time consuming task. In any case, these are my 3 favorite from the 12-image roll.

 

American Museum of Natural History Dioramas

 

forgot to post this with my other posts about the American Museum of Natural History. The dioramas

Thank you super Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8…. Oh, I love this lens. Santa????

Butterflies

I absolutely wanted to play with my camera in the American Museum of Natural History Butterfly Conservatory. What I had not planned was the number of school kids visiting. MANY of them…

I managed however to get close enough with the 50 mmm f/2.8. It was not that bright, VERY humid and oh, so hot!

New York–81st st.–Museum of Natural History Subway Station

I do not remember exactly when was the first time I visited New York. It should be in 1995 according to my Lightroom library. Since 1995, many of the New York Subway stations have been refurbished. The 81st st.–Museum of Natural History Subway Station is looking great with lots of mosaic in the Museum theme.

 

Some of the few photos taken with the D300 in new York this year…. with the beautiful rented Nikon 14-24 mm f/2.8!

New York and a Visit to the Museum of Natural History

Some more photos of my solo trip in New York earlier this year.

As I said, the weather was very overcast. It was grey and it rained on a few occasions. Consequently, I do not have so many photos with brilliant colors and for most of my photos I had my mind set in black and white even when shooting with my digital camera.

And I made a stop at the Museum of Natural History

All taken with Nikon D300 with the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8

New York, wandering in Manhattan

I spent a lot of time walking in Manhattan, getting lost here and there.

I mentioned that I had rented a lens through Adorama. A Nikon 14-24mm 2.8. A little gem though VERY heavy. and very big. So, not that little However because I was without my favorite shopping carrier, i.e. Ben, I only took one camera at a time. Once it was the Rolleiflex 2.8F, once the Polaroid 600SE, once the Nikon D300. I also happen to sometimes have the Polaroid SX-70 (it is small).

The following photos were taken on a D300 day.

I will never get enough of New York.

 

Fire Station

I had issue with the white balance of this photo I had taken in New York City earlier this year. The weather was far from being great with very low light. I had a hard time working on my reds.

It took me some time (with lightroom and the TRA RadLab) but the door is to my liking, fire station red.

Taken with D300 with my rented Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens (a little gem)

Element New York by Westin, a review

As you may know, I spend one week in New York at the beginning of April. I had a great week just by myself which was dedicated to my little person: shopping, photography, spa. I have not had so much time to blog about my week. I only blogged about some of the photos I took with the Rolleiflex or the Polaroid 600SE.

The main challenge when I go to New York is to find an appropriate lodging solution. This time I chose to stay at the Element by Westin. It is located on 39th street between 8th and 9th Ave and is conveniently located close to a subway station and to the BH super store where I "had" some important yearly shopping to do. I paid in advance so the deal was interesting. I paid some $ 205.00 per night per room including taxes, a small hot buffet breakfast, in-room wifi and the use of the Gym. As a whole, I really liked the room. It was big enough for 8 days and an ongoing shopping mission. However there was not so much space and for two persons it might have been ok but lacking a bit of space.

The room included a large enough space where I could put my ipad, my notebook, my rolleiflex and my D300 and other valuables.

The room included a small kitchen with a large fridge, microwave, stove, dishwasher and all necessary to cook and eat. There was also a coffee maker which I do not use as I do not drink coffee.

The bathroom was equiped with a shower, sufficient amount of towels and enough space to put all my toiletries. Soap and shampoo are in big bottle dispensers and therefore there is less waste. Lighting in the bathroom was also quite good.

The shower was large and nice to use.

In the bedroom area, there was the bed, a small sofa and a big desk area with a large TV and entertainment system where I could plug ipads and read DVDs. When I checked in the TV was not working and called the front desk. Someone attended my issue very fast and efficiently.

One of the great advantage of the Elements is that the room rates also includes the wifi connection in the room. Knowing that in the other hotels I looked, wifi is usually at least $15 per 24hours, I really appreciated this feature. I could check emails and news from the outside world everyday.

The colors of the room are "natural" looking: brown, beige, green. It was very nice. The only down is that I had requested a room on the higher floors but was on the 3rd floor. In the end it was not that bad and I had a nice view on 39th Street. One thing that guests were complaining about was that one had to wait for quite long for the elevators to arrive. So being on the 3rd floor was good so I could easily take the stairs.

The bed was big, king-size and comfortable. I had great nights of sleep after walking a lot everyday.

When I was in New York that first week of April, it was litterally freezing and it even snowed. The individual air conditioning system was welcomed to keep me warm.

The breakfast was nice and varied every day with yogurts, fruits, fresh juices, coffee, tea, hot dishes as pancakes, hashbrowns, hot potatoes....

There is a gym downtairs which is nice and sufficiently well equipped.

Roof is also accessible and offers a good view of the city. I understand that when the weather is nice the daily happy hour takes place there instead of in the Hotel lobby.

In conclusion, i had a nice stay at the Elements and will certainly stay there again.