New York - Brooklyn Bridge

new york - brooklyn bridge, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Brooklyn Bridge. Spur-of-the-moment shot on Brooklyn Bridge. I loved the lamp post, so I placed it one third in from the right using the rule of thirds. This enable me to capture the backdrop of the skyscrapers. The white line on the bridge leads our eye into the picture and the pedestrians. It may be that this shot could be improved by turning it into a portrait shot by cropping the image just to the left of the two big skyscrapers in the far background just to the left of the lamp post, and deleting this left half of the picture - this would serve to focus attention on the walkway and pedestrians.

New York - skyline from Brooklyn Bridge

new york - skyline from brooklyn bridge, originally uploaded by foto-art.

New York Skyline. A spur-of-the-moment iconic shot of new York from the Brooklyn Bridge. Converging verticals were corrected in Photoshop.

New York - Grand Central Station

new york - grand central station, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Grand Central Station New York. A spur-of-the-moment shot. What struck me here was the contrast between the facade of the station and the modern skyscraper behind it.

New York - Times Square

new york - times square, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Times Square, New York. A spur-of-the-moment shot whilst on holiday in New York. The camera was set to night mode and it is essential that one uses a tripod or some sort of ad-hoc camera rest for this kind of shot, else it will simply suffer from motion blurring due to camera shake. Such motion blurring can be quite effective....see the image 'Jazz' for example. But here I wanted a sharper image and had no tripod. In this case, any flat surface will do: a bollard, a bit of fencing, a rubbish bin, anything where the camera can be rested flat and still. This of course restricts vantage points and perspectives. Afterwards in Photoshop, converging verticals were corrected. (See tutorial on converging verticals)

Sunset on ship

sunset on ship, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Evening on the Queen Mary II. A spur-of-the-moment shot capturing something of the romantic relaxation of life on board ship. This contre-jour image has not been modified in any way, and used the meter settings of the camera. Bold shapes are a necessity for such a shot.

New York - Skyline and Brooklyn Bridge

new york - skyline and brooklyn bridge, originally uploaded by foto-art.

New York Skyline. A classic shot taken from the Queen Mary II as it sets sail. the use of Auto Contrast in Image/Adjust in Photoshop was the only modification to this image. notice again the rule of thirds: the horizon is one third up from the bottom, giving two-thirds sky and a resulting sense of space. The yellow boat is a crucial element, helping to break up the expanse of water, again, about one third in from the left.

Queen Mary 2

Queen Mary 2, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Pool on Queen Mary II. More my usual sort of style: fairly minimalist with lots of geometric lines creating a slight sense of the abstract. The two pillars with the circle of lights on top is the main element, placed one third from the left with the lights about one third to a quarter down. the solitary anonymous figure between the pillars, and the wet footprints add a sense of mystery. The lines on the deck stops the eye from moving out of the picture, and guides it to the wake of the ship. This shot was not modified in any way.

Jazz....!

jazz, originally uploaded by foto-art.

A hand-held camera with a slow shutter speed has captured a sense of movement and vibrancy in this shot of a band playing. This shot was taken indoors, using available light with the camera set on night mode.

The Shining Sea

shining sea, originally uploaded by foto-art.

The Shining sea. A number of people seemed to like this shot, though it is not one of my favourites. Rotated slightly in Photoshop to level the horizon.

New York - Statue of Liberty

new york - statue of liberty, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Statue of Liberty. A spur-of-the-moment shot taken from the Queen Mary II as we set sail. What pleased me about this shot was the juxtaposition of the two elements: the Statue of Liberty and the boat.

snooze

snooze, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Siesta in new York....A spur-of-the-moment shot on a hot and busy afternoon in New York. I wish that I had just got the full front wheel of the bike in shot, but it was a very hastily taken snap which i thought had some humour in it..

Queen Mary 2 - Evening at sea

Queen Mary 2 - Evening at sea, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Early evening on a Trans-Atlantic crossing. This image combines two of my favourite themes...contre-jour or 'into the light' and the use of geometric shapes, in this case the railings and shadows on the deck.

Queen Mary 2 - Deck 7 Bow

Queen Mary 2 - Deck 7 Bow, originally uploaded by foto-art.

Maritime sculptures. These propeller blades on the bow of one of the decks on the Queen Mary 2 enabled me to take this image which consists of one of mt favourite themes...abstract shapes. The curves of the propeller blades contrast with the straight lines of the railings, which themselves contrast with the diagonal line of the cabin wall on the left. There is also use of colour...the warm orange contrasts with the blue of the sky. One reason that this shot works for me is the brightness and saturation of the colour. This image did not work on a dull, overcast day and I was lucky to get a moment of bright sunshine and abscence of people. This shot would not work if there were passengers milling about on deck.