these little town blues are melting away

Well, here I am with photos from the last day of my New York trip - only five weeks late, or something like that. Ah well - it's been a busy month! These photos are from Greenwich Village, where my mom and I spent most of our last day in the city. She'd hurt her legs from over-walking on Wednesday, so on Thursday, she needed to take it easy. We took the subway to the Village and wandered around, and then a college friend of mine met us for lunch and spent the afternoon with us. Definitely a much more laidback day than our other days in New York, but fun nonetheless.


The Washington Square Arch in Washington Square Park is, quite obviously, modeled after the Arc de Triomph in Paris. Mom and I have been to Paris together three times, so it was fun to find this homage. 1/80, f/10, ISO 100.


This is Judson Memorial Church, located on the south side of Washington Square Park at Thompson Street. I love this photo because I like the bright colour of the bricks and the even blue of the sky. The cloud and sky looks almost like a painted backdrop, but it was real -- it was just gorgeous that day. 1/60, f/10, ISO 100.


Here's Judson Memorial Church from a slightly different angle and with slightly different settings. I can't decide which one I like better. 1/50, f/13, ISO 100.


Here's another Greenwich Village church -- Our Lady of Pompeii Church. It's located at Bleecker and Carmine, on one of the corners of Father Demo Square. I like the clouds and sky in this one, too, and the colours of the buildings. 1/250, f/10, ISO 200.

Next time: Highlights from the 2008 U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials.

i'll make a brand new start of it

Monday, June 16 was Day Two of my New York trip. Mom and I began the day by taking the subway to Chelsea and walking over to Adorama Camera. I'd ordered a used lens from them over a week earlier and paid for express shipping to be sure it would arrive before I left for my trip early on the 13th. When it didn't come on the absolute last day I expected it to, I called customer service and found out that the order had never been shipped. They promised to fix it, but by then it was too late - I was getting ready to leave. So they were supposed to ship it to my friend's in Philly. They promised it would be there by Friday afternoon. It wasn't. I tried to call customer service again, but they close early on Fridays. Saturday was my friend's wedding. I finally found out from an email that the lens had not shipped until Friday afternoon and would be in Philly on Monday. Problem: I left for New York Sunday afternoon. So when I couldn't get an answer at customer service on Monday morning, we just showed up at the store and I told them my story and asked them to take care of me. The solution they offered was that I could buy the same lens, since they had another, and then return it before I left to return to Philly at the end of the week. They wouldn't charge me anything for restocking, obviously. I said okay. I worked in retail for a long time and I know that mix-ups happen. I appreciate good customer service when problems arise, and they were extremely nice and professional. I'd order from them again.

So. The exciting news about my photos from Day Two were taken with my new lens: the Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR. It's much cheaper and much lighter than something with a comparable range from Canon. Of course it's not quite the quality, but I've been extremely happy with it so far. It's a great buy for amateurs and especially for anyone who wants to be able to tote around just ONE lens without always switching or without having to lug around a bunch of extra weight. Perfect for sightseers, which is what I was. I have a huge purse (okay, it's a diaper bag) that I carry when I travel, and I was able to just put the camera with lens attached in the bag. No need to bring anything else, although I did have my Canon 50mm/1.8 in case I needed something for dim lighting.

The bad news about my photos from Day Two: since I just showed up and bought a used lens without warning from them, it had not yet been professionally cleaned. There was dust all over the thing, and since I'm a total amateur and didn't check it out carefully enough, I didn't realize it until I was back in the hotel that night. I had to do a lot of photoshopping on any photos that had sky in them. But I still ended up with some winners from the day. Here are my favourites:


For those that don't know the story of this sculpture, it was originally a sphere on a pedestal, located in the plaza at the World Trade Center. It was dedicated to world peace. This is what they pulled from the rubble after September 11. Even more so than walking past Ground Zero, seeing this was an emotional moment for me. It's now in Battery Park, at the southern tip of the island, where thousands of tourists catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island every day. 1/100, f/7.1, ISO 100.


This is the Registration Room in the main building at Ellis Island. Immigrants to the United States had to wait here for several hours upon their arrival, until they were checked in. From here, they went to a medical inspection. I'm honestly not sure if my relatives came through Ellis Island. Some of my maternal grandfather's family is pre-Revolutionary War and my grandmother's family immigrated very early to the southern states. I have no idea about my dad's side of the family, though, so it's possible. They also came from Western Europe. Anyway...I really like this shot with the flag in the middle, and all of the different people wandering the room. 1/100, f/4, ISO 400.


Trinity Church is located in lower Manhattan, squished between buildings as a remnant of what New York was before the skyscraper. It's a beautiful building. I guess there was concern after September 11 that its proximity to the World Trade Center would cause the church to experience damage, but as the buildings near it began to crumble, Trinity Church stood. 1/100, f/5, ISO 100.


We took the subway to Roosevelt Island because my guidebook said that it was a quiet island with great views of Manhattan. It's a narrow Island in the East River, between Manhattan and Queens, and it's now home to about 9000 people. For a long time, it was the site of prisons and mental institutions, but now, different types of housing have been built on it. It seems like a lot of different kinds of people live on the island, and yes, it is very quiet - only the occasional car, a subway stop, and a bus that travels up and down the length of the island. I'm kind of fascinated by it. Anyway, it was starting to rain when we got there, so we didn't stay long, but this is a shot of the Queensboro Bridge with some of the Manhattan skyline behind it.

Next: day three of my trip to New York includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park.

if i can make it there, i can make it anywhere

I love cities. I grew up about 45 minutes away from Chicago, and even as a young girl, I adored going downtown. My favourite places that I have visited are all cities. I love the hustle and bustle, the abundance of things to do, the culture, the options, everything. So ever since I was young, I have wanted to visit New York. I finally went last month and had a wonderful time. From Philadelphia, I took a bus to New York, and met my mom in Times Square - she'd flown in from Chicago earlier. We walked to our hotel, I cleaned up and changed clothes, and we hit the town immediately for dinner at Patsy's (not that great...I guess Frank Sinatra wasn't a food critic) and then we walked around Midtown. Here are some of my best shots, taken with my Canon 50mm/1.8 lens.


I was excited to see Radio City Music Hall because it's a legendary place for music, and I happen to love music. I guess I was a little caught up in trying to get this shot, because I really didn't notice the barricades and people in formal gowns until we were trying to cross the street, but we were waved in another direction. Right. The Tony Awards. We weren't exactly dressed for those. So instead of fighting the crowds heading toward the front of the building, we went around and walked through Rockefeller Center. 1/30, f/5, ISO 100.


From Rockefeller Center, we walked to St. Patrick's Cathedral. I wasn't expecting it to be so beautiful - it reminded me of many of the Gothic cathedrals I've seen in Europe. We didn't go in, since there was a Sunday evening service. 1/80, f/6.3, ISO 400.


St. Thomas Church, located at 5th and 53rd, was covered mostly by scaffolding, so we couldn't see much of the façade. I was able to snap this shot of the back of the church, though. 1/80, f/8, ISO 200.


My grandma used to say, "This _____ is just like Grand Central Station," to refer to something that was busy or crowded. She never visited New York, though, so my mom really wanted to go inside the building and see it. I like big train stations, so I enjoyed seeing it, too, although I think that Union Station in Chicago is prettier. Since it was a Sunday evening, it wasn't too busy, but the other times that we went through Grand Central on the subway, it was a madhouse. I was so glad to have my f/1.8 lens for this shot, although I still think I should have exposed it a bit more. 1/80, f/1.8, ISO 800.


I have to say that I really wasn't a fan of Times Square. We stayed there because of the central location and the proximity to subway lines, but I don't think I'd ever stay near it again. However, I do think that the Hershey's Store wins for the coolest obnoxious-lights-display. 1/60, f/7.1, ISO 400.

Next: day two of the trip - Statue of Liberty and more.