New York, New York

New York is the symbol of American freedom (and world freedom for that matter) throughout the world. It is probably why terrorists chose to attack New York in 2001, (911) as we will always remember it. It may have been one of the worst tragedies in the United States history, but New York remains the most vibrant city in the USA. We were in New York a while back. Of course I had my camera gears and the first free moment we had, I dragged my spouse to B&H Photo which is undoubtedly the biggest camera & equipment store in the world. I remember the sales person asking me, after I had bought a CPL filter, “Did you find everything you need?” and my answer was “Yes I did, do you know where I could find the money I need for it all?” There is at least one of everything photographic in that store.
Most city people head out to the country side, on weekends, to take pictures. Other than Central Park, New York does not offer much greenery, wild animals, pristine lakes and mountains. It also just happened to be raining most of the time we were there. If you combine the weather elements, the traffic, the concrete buildings, the noise, one would think that there isn’t anything worth taking picture of in the Big Apple. On-the-contrary my friends, I was amazed at the excitement and vibrant mood of the Big Apple. There is always something going on, night and day. There are millions of lights and probably as many taxies. Street performers are everywhere. Food vendors are at each street corner, and their chow fills the area with wonderful smell of roasted peanuts, hotdogs, and cooking onions, all strong enough aromas to mask the exhaust fumes and to make you hungry.

I went crazy shooting everything in sight. Of course, I can’t present all of them here, and indeed, I am not displaying my very best shots. My point is to show how easy it is to make wonderful photographs in New York City. I particularly liked shooting at night with all the city lights and bustling crowd in Time Square. I suppose it is similar in the world’s biggest cities, but I was never able to afford such a trip.

Atop the Empire State building, we saw two birds (ravens or crows, I suppose) standing on the guardrail as if they were the guardians of the city.

There was a fire in an office building while we were there. The fireman looked exhausted. He wasn't too happy that I was taking his picture. None-the-less, after 911, they became heros, and who doesn't like to take pictures of heros? One shot is all I took.

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A simple photograph of taxis, while I was in a taxi myself, can render some pretty amazing shots. Of course, that’s just my opinion, but taking that one mundane picture and working with PhotoShop Elements, interesting results can be achieved. Like it or not, while in New York, I couldn’t stop thinking that this is probably what the future reserves for us. Eventually, the population growth will be such that we will all live in populated areas like New York. The ethnic mixture is everywhere, and that is certainly a good thing.

Thank you for reading my blog,

Yvon Bourque

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