Posts tagged ‘city’
The New York City Triathlon
As a freelancer, I’m always waiting for the phone to ring because a ringing phone usually means work’s calling. It’s always nice to hear the familiar voice of a photo editor on the other end asking my availability. The only thing that spoils it is when they pre-empt the assignment pitch with “So you’re an early riser, right?” delivered in a tone closely associated with a mischievous grin . I answered with “Oh boy…what’s the assignment and how early?…”
As it turned out, the next morning was the NYC Triathlon and the New York Times wanted one nice photo of the event for the paper. Given triathlons consist of swimming, biking, and running; we figured swimming would be the most visual portion to photograph…especially since it took place in the Hudson River!
So I found out I needed to be to my assignment by 5:50AM as that’s when the swimming portion for the pros was scheduled to begin. Unfortunately when I woke up at 5AM, the weather was rainy, hot, and humidity was at 99% according to the forecast. Yuck. With an oversized umbrella and rain-jacket, I made my way to Riverside Park along the Hudson on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, down to the dock where all the triathletes would soon be exiting the water, and waited. The race had been delayed about 30 minutes. Hurry up and wait. In the rain.
After passing the time under my umbrella, I could finally see the flapping arms and faces of swimmers popping up, down, in, and out of the water. Moments later the pros and elite athletes first approached and stormed out of the choppy, brown Hudson River gasping for air and pulling themselves out or the water, some with the help of lifeguards. Up the ramp and down the dock barefoot they clambered down the bike path where they jumped on their bikes and headed north along the West Side Highway continuing about 24 miles before ending in Central Park with a near 6 mile run. Woah.
It was my first time shooting or even witnessing a triathlon and I was truly amazed at the determination and strength of its competitors. It’s even inspired me to work towards a goal of someday competing in a race like that myself…though we’ll see if that ever happens….
Big congrats to my triathlete/photographer pal Jason DeCrow for completing the course!
Covering the Double Dip
Yesterday I was sent out to Times Square by The New York Times to photograph what was quickly becoming America’s double dip recession. I was assigned to take photos at the Nasdaq building in Times Square where I was told screens showed walls of red monitors displaying plummeting stock prices. My mind quickly went back to 2008 when I found myself covering the initial market crash.
I was familiar with the Nasdaq building as I’ve shot there numerous times in the past and immediately had an idea to make an artsy reflection photo showing the stock prices within the building against a reflection of the craziness of Times Square in the background. When I arrived to the scene I was bummed to find the window blinds were drawn, which put a wrench in making any sort of stock market related photo.
I called back to my editor on the photo desk and we scrambled to call the media relations team who let me inside the building to make some pictures from within. Thirty minutes later I was back in business inside the studio lined with a video-board backdrop which is essentially a TV studio used for various news services to report on the economy. While I was there a correspondent for New Delhi TV was reporting the stark financial news to India.
To my good fortune while I was shooting inside, the blinds were raised revealing the busy streets of Times Square. Excited, I exited the studio to make the pictures I was originally envisioning. Due to the time of day, the bright sun made it difficult to shoot from the Broadway-facing set of windows, so I was forced to shoot along the 43rd Street side, which was less busy, but still made some fun images.
I rushed back to my office to transmit the images to the paper. My editor called to compliment the photos and to alert me that the stocks were still tanking, so the story was big. I decided to go back out to see if the ticker in Times Square was showing news of the crisis, which it was. I made a few more photos and stopped back into the NY Times office a few blocks away to deliver them directly as deadlines were approaching.
It was a vague assignment that tasked me with making artistic and abstract photos that told the story… just the kind of assignment I enjoy!
Independence Day
My lovely wife Laia Prats and I decided to bypass the crowds last night and climb to the roof of our Upper West Side apartment building to catch the NYC Fireworks. We didn’t expect to see much, but as it turned out, the fireworks cleared the buildings and made for a beautiful show! Enjoy!
Check out Laia’s photos on her Meow Chicken Blog!
