Street

The last few months I have be drawn to black and white photography.  I do not know if it the bleak winter months waiting for the first splash of spring colour to erupt from the ground and transform the landscape or just another natural progression in my photographic learning curve.

Colour distracts.

We live and see the world in colour everyday. Our brain has evolved to naturally process colour.  Our attention through the is drawn to warm colours over cool colours. We associate colours with our feelings with different colours having different psychological effects on the brain.  Taking this further we can look at our perceptions of the relationships between various colours leading to the concepts of complementary colours, simultaneous contrast, complementary ratios, and harmonizing colours.  A whole science of Colour Theory has developed on this subject.

Black and white reduces a photo to its bare essential visual elements with emphasis on texture, shape and form of subject and its tonal inter-relationships.  For me, black and white is mood.  With no colour, the mood is created in tones, illuminance and in particular contrasting light.

Nearly all my photos from a weekend trip to Howth in Dublin were converted to black and white. Below is a selection.

Will shoot purely in black and white from now on in?  Probably not, I enjoy my sunrises and sunsets too much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home to garrisons of British Army since the early 1700s and more recently the armies of the Irish Free State, Collins Barracks has witnessed much of Irish modern history and fittingly today houses the National Museum of Ireland Decorative Arts & History including exhibitions dedicated to military history with particular emphasis on Irish military history.

The trip to Collins Barracks was organised by South Kildare Photography Club. I was slightly hesitant as I was unsure of what we would be photographing but it turned out to be a good day.  The trip provided the chance to capture the neo-classical architecture of the Barracks which has lots of interesting details. We spent around an hour walking around the exterior of the museum before heading for a well earned coffee. The rest of the time was spent exploring the museum with very little focus on photography and just enjoying the exhibitions.  My favourite shot is off the window and bannister – I love the way the light is falling on the wall exposing the texture.

The very last shot is a close-up of a large format film camera which a friend recently purchased and brought along to the barracks.  The camera is hand made and you can tell it was not manufactured but sculpted with the utmost love and attention.  You generally do not see that level of craftsmanship in modern goods.

“Then we said goodnight to Broadway giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohen
Dear old Times Square’s favorite bard..” Thousands are Sailing, The Pogues

Farewell to Boston, welcome to New York.

To be precise, Rye in upstate New York where my brother, wife, Nephew of 5 years and Niece of nearly 3 years reside.  Rye is only 50 mins on the train from Grand Central Station so was handy enough to commute into Manhattan to explore the city. My wife and I was lucky enough to have last visited New York in 2007 so the pressure was off in terms of the check list of the major sites.  This left us free to explore the city and eat our way around manhattan at our leisure.

I found this blog post difficult to write. How do I bring a city so iconic and so familiar to people in a fresh and interesting way? How do I avoid falling into the same cliches as every other tourist visting the city?  However, with that in mind I am going to start this post with a photo as cliched as you can get for New York – the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station.  Type Grand Central Station into Google image search and you will see millions of version of this photo.  Why am I posting it here then?  It was on my photo bucket list.

The photo was tricky enough. Low light and no tripod.  I wanted a slow enough shutter speed to blur the commuters busily making their way while keeping the tourists and other people standing around sharp.  I ended up balancing the camera on the balcony rail and shooting six frames in portait orientation which I later combined into a panorama.  I needed a ISO of 1600 at f/9.0 for a shutter speed of 1/5s. I converted the pano to black and white with a slight bluish tone in Lightroom.

The two aspects of New York that  I will never get bored of in New York is the architecture and the food.  Both are constantly changing and both are constants of the city.

Eating in NYC on this trip was a mixture of the old guard and the new guard.  On the traditional side of the plate is Katz’s Delicatessen established in 1888 on the Lower East Side; famous for its roles in Harry Met Sally and Donnie Brasco but more importantly for its pastrami on rye.  You don’t get pastrami like this in Ireland. Thick juicy cuts of tender cured beef stuffed between two slices of rye bread with a smothering of mustard and a side of pickle. Need I say more.

 

On the modern side of the plate, is Momofuku of which David Chang is the chef and founder of the restaurant group.  Momofuku Ssäm is located in the East Village in a modern but unpretentious restaurant which we considered good value for lunch.  We ordered to share the steamed pork buns followed by the rotisserie duck over rice set which consisted rotisseries duck stuff with sausage, rice with confit duck leg served with duck scallion, ssam sauce, crispy shallot, lettuce and chive pancake which we ordered with a side of spicy fingerling potatoes.  The only way to eat this, as per the name of the restuarant, is form a ssäm using the lettuce leaves or the chive pancake.  So good we ended up visiting momofuku ssäm twice for lunch over out trip.  On our second visit, we also ordered the pulled duck bun and finished with the simple, but delicious mandarin orange creamsicle sherbet scoop.

Just over the road from is momofuku ssäm is David Chang’s Milk.  Milk is a bakery serving your traditional snacks and drinks but with the David Chang playful twist.   As with ssäm we visited Milk twice to make sure we got everything we wanted to try.  First up a Cereal milk and nana nilla twisted soft serve ice cream and an expresso milk shake to be enjoyed in situ with a piece of the crack pie to go.  The second visit we were more restrained and only had a chocolate chip cookie.

Our last main eating experience in NYC was at BLT Prime steak house.  Our lasting memory of our last trip to NYC was the loaded baked potatoes.  Soft fluffy potatoes stuffed with bacon, cheese, sour cream and chives.   With this in mind we were always going to visit a steak house.  We originally booked for BLT Steak, a sister restaurant of BLT prime, but mistakenly booked a week early with a wrong date.  When we went to make a new reservation we discovered that BLT did not have loaded baked potatoes on the menu and we could not get a reservation at BLT prime which did do loaded potatoes.  We ended up booking at the steak house from our trip in 2007 but were slightly disappointed due to the great reviews we had heard about BLT.

We were sitting supping on some sublime cocktails in Guilt, when through the power of my wife’s twitter account, BLT Prime responded to a tweet from my wife with an offer of a table. Delighted, we jumped on the subway and arrive a little early for a drink at the bar.  The place was jammed to the rafters but we managed to get a table at the bar.  In the end, we were very late in getting our table, but we could not complain given they squeezed us in on a desperate plee from ourselves and the staff looked after us very well.  In addition to our steaks (NY Strip for me and a rib eye for my wife with loaded baked potatoes, creamed spinach and onion rings on the side) we were served their famous popovers (giant yorkshire puddings complete with the recipe!) and a delicious charcuterie board with pate.  No exaggeration that the steaks were the best we had tasted and worth the extra money.  A delicious charred crust with perfectly pink juicy meat inside.  I soon forgot about the loaded baked potato, which as it happened was ok but had room for improvement.  Stuffed, the staff still insisted us on bringing us a desert and petit fours to share.  My wife had left overs steak for breakfast the next day!

All that food required a lot of walking around NYC and this is where my love of the city’s architecture kept me entertained and my camera busy.  From the mixture of modern and iconic art deco skyscrapers of Midtown to the red brick buildings of Greenwich. There is something to look at around every corner.

 

 

It would not be Christmas in NYC if it was not for the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and ice rink.  Similar to Grand Central, I wanted to capture the movement of the skaters but was also lucky there was a skated with a nice red jacket going slow enough to remain sharp.  Just over 5th Avenue is St Patrick’s Cathedral which is currently encapsulated with scaffolding for major refurbishment works.  Following on the Christmas theme, the cathedral was decorated with the nativity crib of which the angel was part of.

The final few photos are just a few shots from around the city.

 

 

 

“Farewell to New York City Boys, to Boston and PA…” The Body of an American, The Pogues

My recent lack of blog posts is not down to laziness but instead from a visit to the United States of America and in particular Boston and New York.

This was my first time in Boston and was immediately impressed with the city.  It might not have the sights and icons of some of its counterparts in the USA, but the city to me felt instantly recognisable from the cities back home.  Arriving late, we stopped locallyin Back Bay for a wonderful Mexican in the dark and moody Lolita Cocina.  A spicy cucumber margarita and bourbon smash wetted our appetite for a feast of a trio of cerviches, three speciality guacamole (picante, crab and lobster and smoked pork belly), tuna tostada and garlic ribeye tacos.  This feast sat aside an amuse-bouche of grapefruit granita set over a bowl of dry ice and laced with a shot of tequiella and sour apple popping candy cotton candy floss to finish.

On our first morning we woke to a light snow fall dusting the city street.  We were staying in the Back Bay area of Boston and with our hotel near enough on Copley Square our first stop was the Boston Public Library.   The main attraction of the library is the grand marbled entrance hall of the McKim Building leading to the main staircase guarded by by great twin lions, couchant, situated on pedestals on the return of the stairs.  The staircase brings you up to the main reading room. Picture a library in your head and the long barrel vaulted reading room in Boston Public Library is what you would see. Members of the public stooped over rows of dark wood tables dimly lit by twin green table top reading lamps and enclosed of all sides by tall shelves of books of all ages.

 

The other main feature of the library is the courtyard providing a small place of escape from the bustling streets on Back Bay and Copley Square.  Black steel table and chairs protected from the elements within an arcaded walkway provide respite to gaze at the plaza and bronze cast fountain statue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the warmth of the library back into the snow start exploring the city proper.  What was soon to become is apparent is the size of the city. Boston is small compact city and with the sections of the city all within close walking distance.  At the opposite end of Copely Square, is the small but pretty Trinity Church and the skyline dominating modern glass structure of the John Hancock Tower.  Despite the 100 year difference, the two structures sit side by side in harmony; the blue tinted glass tower blending into the sky and reflecting the facade of the adjacent church.

 

 

 

 

 

 Not far from Copley Sqaure, is the Boston Public Gardens and Boston Common; the green heart of the city. I first walked through the garden and commons in the snow and then two days later on a mild blue sky day and was presented with a completely different image of the gardens. This is reflected best in the photos below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boston Common is also the start of the Freedom Trail, a 2.5 mile walking route around Boston exploring the historical sites and people who shaped the history of Boston and the United States of America.  The mid point walking tour is around Faneuil Hall which we decided was a good place to take a break from the tour and grab some lunch.  Quincy Market, part of the  Faneuil Hall Market Place, was our destination for lunch. A long market hall filled with 36 food vendors you were spoiled for choice.  In the end, we decided on the Boston favourite of clam chowder and lobster rolls.  I was a little uncertain on the food hall for such famous dishes from the region as it can sometimes be overpriced or lacking in quality.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that the combo special (chowder, lobster roll and drink) from the Boston and Maine Fish Co. was of the highest quality and delicious.

Refuelled and a little bit of shopping later, we continued the trail, turning the corner to be faced with 6 glass chimneys.  Knowing nothing about the installation and definitely intrigued, I wandered over to find out a bit more.  I soon discovered that the installation was a memorial to the holocaust.  The six tours are etched with six million numbers representing the  six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and symbolising the tattoos the Nazis inflicted on many of the victims. Each tower is inscribed with one of the names of the six primary death camps complete with a metal grate covering a deep pit smoldering with coals.  A fine smoke drifts up the grate and continues up the chimney.  The most poignant aspect of the memorial is the voice given to the survivors and witnesses of the holocaust. Their words and memories etched into the glass of the towers telling of the horrors of the camps but also of acts of resistance.

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing belongs to us anymore.
They have taken away our clothes,
our shoes, even our hair.
If we speak, they will not listen to use.
And if they listen, they will not understand.
They have even taken away our names.

My number is 174517. I will carry the tattoo on my left arm until I die.”

Primo Levi
Holocaust Survivor – inscription from the New England Holocaust Memorial

 

 

 

 

The next section of the trail took us up into the north end, home of the Paul Revere House, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground and Old North Church.  The North End has a strong Italian-American population and is home to the wonderful Italian pastry shop Mike’s Pastry.   I can strongly recommend the Amaretto cannoli and the Boston Creme Pie – amazing!  We were back at the North End later the following day for the freshest platter of clams, oysters and crab at the tiny but atmospheric Neptune Oyster.  I washed these down with a fantastic and aptly named ‘Whale’s Tale Pale Ale’ from Cisco Brewers in Nantucket.

 

 

 

 

Shopping was mainly undertaken on Newbury Street which ranges from your high end boutiques at the Boston Garden end before finishing with small basement cafes and smaller specialist shops.  The highlight of Newbury Street is Georgetown Cupcake and particular the coconut topped snowball cupcake.

We spent a total of three nights in Boston which was just about right.  We missed a few of the famous sites, but in all we felt ready to continue our journey onto New York.   The mode of transport was by train and this took only three hours.  I was quite impressed by Amtrak. The seats were big and comfy with plenty of leg room.  We were also able to get the train at Back Bay station which was only a 10 minute walk from the hotel  The journey itself was picturesque travelling down through the New England countryside and down the coastline.  Some colour remained in the leaves on the ground and I can only imagine what this journey must be like in the height of the fall.   Next up the Big Apple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firstly I better explain what a photo walk is.  A photo walk  is a photography event where photographers get together to walk around, shoot photos, and generally have fun with other photographers.  This provides the opportunity to try and get some great photos but is mainly a social event where it is a chance to meet new and interesting people.  I have been on one or two of these in different guises in the last few years but the one held on Saturday is slightly different.

The Scott Kelby Worldwide PhotoWalk is in it’s 5th year and as the name suggests is a worldwide event.  Held on one day through the year, the photowalks are held in cities throughout the world and nearly cover every continent on the planet.

I signed up for the Dublin event which would feature a walk throughout the city of Dublin from O’Connell Street to St Stephen’s Green.

 

 

A cold, but bright start to the morning commenced at the train station and I couldn’t help but grab a few shots while I was waiting on the train.

The walk itself consisted of a group of around 15 people, but we soon split up into smaller groups as we headed off down O’Connell Street.  It took me a good 15 minutes to get going and get my eye back into street photography.  I didn’t fire off many frames and was struggling for inspiration. It was only after walking through the Temple Bar area that I started ticking off the lists of ideas I had generated in my head on the way in on the train.  Shadows, shapes, people, colour, broken repetitive patterns.  Not one I had managed to capture so far.

It was only in Temple Bar, that I came across this blue wall and knew it had some potential.  All I had to do was to be patient and hope that the right person came along.   I was in luck as the second person past the wall was wearing a bright red coat – perfect!  I had decided early in the day to bracket my photos. With street photography you generally only get one chance to capture the moment, but with clear skies and harsh sunlight I was a little bit worried about exposures.  I chose to bracket my images by a stop in either direction to give me as much flexibility as possible with the exposure.

The only problem is, even with continuous drive, is that the camera stops shooting after the bracket is complete restricting you to three shots.  In addition, sometimes I would forget to shoot all three exposures resulting in my next shot of a different subject being under or over exposed.

For the shot against the blue wall the bracket worked to my advantage.  The base exposure (0ev) was slightly underexposed  but the main problem was that I didn’t like the walking position of the women.  The over exposed shot (+1ev) capture the women in a strong position with a nice stride. However, on closer examination I found the image was not sharp and the face of the women was out of focus. Luckily, the underexposed image (-1ev) was sharp and in focus.  The more I worked with the image the more I liked the shape of the woman with the slight curve in her leg and back.

This turned out to be my favourite shot from the day. It is definetly inspired by some of Jay Maisel’s work and in particular the series of ‘A Day with Jay Maisel’ classes at Kelby Training.  I think this following quote for Jay was somewhat of a mantra for the day.

Color happens…  Jay Maisel

The other Jay Maisel quote appropriate for the day being “Life keeps going while you’re off chimping”. Chimping being the modern day photography lexicon for the habit  of checking every photo on the LCD on the back of your camera after capture and frowned upon in street photography.  The reason being while looking down at the back of the camera you are potentially missing other photo opportunity.

 

The remainder of the morning was spent wandering around Dame Street and College Green without much success.  We decided to head over to St Stephen’s Green to meet with the rest of the groups which would take us along the busy Grafton Street.  A mixture of shoppers and street entertainers in the pedestrian precinct provided a few opportunities to capture a few more faces of Dublin.

 

 

By the time we reached St Stephen’s Green the midday sun was dominating the skyline casting it’s harsh light across the gardens.  I tried some macro shots of a few unusual flowers but the light was just too harsh with deep shadows.  On the way back to the starting point I took very few photos but I did like these pumpkins on the steps of the Powercourt Centre.

And with the pumpkins my photowalk for 2012 was complete.  Unfortuantely I had to miss lunch, but the walk was enjoyable and it was great to meet and talk with a few new faces.  I’m looking forward to seeing some photos from other walkers not only from Dublin but all over the world.

 

All images © Greig Houghton 2012.

“Never go back into an old love, no matter how strong it is, because its like reading a book over and over again when you already know how it ends….”  Anon

Nearly two years had past since our first visit to Kuala Lumpur, but we could not wait to get back even if it was for a mere 12 hours.  Our flight from Kota Kinabalu arrived in the early afternoon and with our connecting flight to Dublin (via Dubai) not leaving until 2am in the morning.  This allowed us an afternoon and evening to revisit some of our favourite places in the cities and re-establish our love with  KL.

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All images © Greig Houghton 2012

We woke on a second day day in Hong Kong to slightly clearer skies and decided it would be a good day to get the train to Lantau Island, but were saddened on arrival to find the same hazy conditions and poor visibility as yesterday in Kowloon.

After a short 20 minute queue our journey commenced on the Ngong Ping 360 degree cable car.  The journey provides spectacular views of Tung Chung Bay, the South China Sea, the lush vegetation and waterfalls in the Lantau North Country Park and of course the Tain Tan Buddha.  I can only imagine what the view must be like on a clear day.  The journey takes around 30 minutes but there are alternative local bus services.

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All images © Greig Houghton 2012

A quick taxi ride from the railway station to the hotel provided us our first glance at the city and in particular the neon illuminated night skies of Nathan Road and Tsim Tsa Sui.  The journey to the hotel was shortened through a friendly taxi drivers who informed us that the the street of out hotel, Hart Avenue, was “a busy place where couples go to meet”.  My wife and I immediately clicked what this meant, but laughed anyway at the euphemism for the oldest trade.  Despite the late arrival, we dumped our bags and headed out into the hot sticky night for a quick scout round the area to try and get our bearings for the next day.  Our journey did encounter a single lady of the night but this was the one and only time we saw this on the streets.

Hotel Panorama, only a 5 minute walk from the Promenade of the Stars and less to the Tsim Tsa Sui metro station was the prefect base for our trip.  The hotel features a sky garden on the 40th floor of the hotel with open air panoramic views over Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island from which the hotel takes its name.  The view, shown in the feature image at the top of the page, provides a near full panorama of the harbour with the exception of the western extent.

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All images ©Greig Houghton 2012

The last two months have been insane.

Apologies for the lack of content on my site during this period.  Two weeks of the last two months included travelling between the UAE, Hong Kong, Sabah and Kuala Lumpur on holiday.  The trip was everything we hoped for and more and generated some great photos which I hope to share with you on my site.  What about the other six weeks I hear you say.  An intense month of work leading up to the holiday, a trip to London the weekend after I returned from holiday combined with a heavy dose of cold which comes from being confined in an aluminium tin can for 6 flights in 15 days.

My wife has yearned to go to Hong Kong for many years, but especially since its failure to make it on to our honeymoon itinerary in 2010.  The planned holiday for this year started as a week in the Med’ which evolved to two weeks touring the south of France and possibly northern Italy and then the bug to go Hong Kong started on my wife.

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