On our recent trip to NYC We visited Chelsea Market. There are numerous trendy niche outlets, offering such goodies as flavoured salts…you can taste each variety…just be careful as one variety is hot enough to make your mouth burn for ages after!
Nestling in the middle we came across a ‘pop-up’ arts collective selling everything from clothing created from zip-fasteners to paintings. I was particularly struck by the photographic work of Bryan Close (thelightdynamic.com). One very dramatic work was shot in the Manhattan subway system, and was an ultra-wide view shot with available light. I was fortunate to meet Bryan and discussed how the picture came to be shot…it was shot with (from memory) a 14mm lens. It is wisest if I don’t reveal how he came to be in that specific location!
Just a little shopping trip…
A couple of days later found us at B&H Photography store. No photographic trip to Manhattan is complete without a visit to this superstore.
One small corner of B & H's amazing camera superstore
(The above test was shot with the Nikon 14-24mm Wide-angle zoom lens, on the widest setting, using the Nikon D700, handheld on 1200ASA)
This store is possibly the best photographic store in USA, if not the world! Spread over three floors, all photographic gear is on sale, with a plethora of photo experts on hand. You can play and compare the latest gadgets and gizmos to your heart’s content.
At the Nikon counter I recalled Bryan’s image, which is how I came to be playing with several monster wide angle zoom lenses, sporting front elements like fish-bowls, and price tags that don’t bear thinking about! Despite its weight I still managed to sell myself on the Nikon product, so I was delighted to find a mint version of the lens in their used department – at a significant price saving. So now, expect to see a large number of wide-angle shots in my portfolio!