NYC: Times Square
Count Times Square in New York City as a place I’ve never been to, until a few weeks ago.
I’ve been to New York twice before, but never so close to some of the more iconic destinations: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, etc. For this work trip, I resolved to fix this and visit Times Square, which was just a few blocks from my hotel in Manhattan.
My flight landed in the evening, so I took the opportunity to get some night street photography done in Midtown.
And? It was fine. Lots of people, cool options for colored lights and silhouettes. Very crowded.
And tons of people with cameras, photo and video, taking selfies. One pair of ladies even had a mini podcast rig set up to livestream from Times Square. “Look where I am,” everyone was saying.
Street vendors are some of my favorite subjects in the city, especially at night. Food trucks are like little beacons of light surrounded by darkness, and with people always on hand, they make for good photo subjects.
However, one food truck operator – seeing me snap a few photos – came out and called me an “@$$hole.” I gave him a thumbs up and quickly walked away.
I shot most of these using the Canon EOS M6 and the EF-M 32mm f/1.4 for its low-light capabilities and a bit of extra reach (it’s a 50mm-equivalent lens on the M system).
Street photography in a place like Times Square is fairly easy since there are a million people milling around. The trick is to find the quiet ones, or quiet moments, amid all this chaos, and capture that.
That was my strategy, at least, and in the heart of NYC, it worked out pretty well.