Over the course of 10 months, I traversed New York City and its environs by foot, bike, ferry, and occasionally by car, my camera in hand, seeking out the beauty in nature as a reaction to the devastating Covid-19 Pandemic. The resulting book, 2020–My Photographic Journey Through an Isolating Year documents my ability to see past the loneliness of social distancing and, find inspiration and some positive brightness in an otherwise bleak year.
Desperate to get outside and combat the loneliness of being separated from friends and family, I grabbed my camera and embarked on walks around the city, discovering new things to see in familiar places. In addition to discovering new neighborhoods accessible by foot or ferry, I also learned the names of the various birds and wildlife that exist right here in NYC. Posting these images to Facebook and Instagram, I was surprised at how appreciative my friends were to join in virtually on my excursions. They were able to share my experiences through my photographs and, perhaps file this information for the time they too felt comfortable enough to visit them on their own.
I decided to put this book together to share my discoveries with other New Yorkers and show them just what beauty lies within their reach.
I shot with an Olympus OMD EM5 Mark III mirrorless camera and the lenses that I used for these photos included: M. Zuiko 14-150mm, 60mm, 7-14 mm Pro, 8mm Pro Fisheye, and the 75-300mm.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I’ve had a lot of time to spend on my own. Rather than stay alone in my apartment, I’ve chosen to tak long walks with my camera exploring. Central Park has provided me with a wealth of photographic opportunity and a little bit of normal in an otherwise abnormal world. Before the Pandemic, I thought I knew the park pretty well, but during my walks I have discovered paths and places I’ve never been to before. I’ve traversed the park at all times of day, each time discovering new favorite spots to return to at different times of day.
The pond at the South Eastern end of Central Park
My photographic journeys have taken me to the Conservatory Gardens where I’ve watched the variety of flowers and plants change over the weeks, and to the North Woods, where I’ve discovered the brooks and trails that are home to an abundance of wildlife – if you stop to look and listen. I close my eyes and, hearing only the sounds of the birds and running water, I imagine that I am somewhere else – out of the city. The Ramble has also provided great photographic subject matter. Peeking out from the rambling wooded paths you can see the Central Park lake and the iconic NYC landmarks in the background.
Each time I venture into the park, a new adventure awaits. This past Saturday, I spent an hour with a brilliant red Cardinal and a BlueJay who both seemed willing models for the afternoon (maybe it was the pumpkin seeds I brought along as payment). Another day I was lucky to witness a family of Canadian Geese at the pond along the south eastern end of the park. The goslings were beyond cute (and very photogenic).
Central Park has been good for my soul during this pandemic. Without having a car, I have been unable to leave the city. Through my walks in the park however, I’ve been able to escape into nature right here in the middle of NYC. Walking in the park has not only lifted my mood and helped me improve my photography, but it has increased my daily step count as well – an added bonus!
I will continue to update this blog with the photos that I have been taking over the last 4 months. Watch as the seasons change and come explore with me!
I recently spent seven days honing my underwater photography skills at The 2019 Roatan Underwater Photo Fest at Turquoise Bay Resort and Subway Watersports on Roatan. The workshop, led by Brandi Mueller and Andrew Raak consisted of 3 dives per day, classroom lectures on various photography skills needed to produce great underwater images as well as some interesting talks about Coral Restoration and the variety of critters to be found beneath the sea in Roatan.
I’ve been shooting underwater for a few years, but with only one dive trip per year, it’s hard to improve when, at the beginning of each trip you need to remember all your settings and buttons on your housing and what you learned the previous year. That is why I find taking workshops like these so valuable. The more you hear something, eventually it’s going to stick! When I first started shooting underwater I was using a Canon G11 compact camera, manually setting my white balance to achieve better color. Wanting more creative control over my photos, I moved to an Olympus OMD EM5 Mark II mirrorless camera in an Olympus PT-13 housing (initially with 1 Sea & Sea YSD-1 strobe) which I have been using for the past 3-1/2 years. I added a second strobe last year and hoped that this workshop week would help me learn better lighting underwater and to focus where I wanted to. Andrew’s help with my understanding back button focus helped me enormously with this. I had heard of back button focus but really didn’t understand how to use it until this week.
Runner up – Conservation Category: Lionfish being speared
At the beginning of the week we were given the categories for the contest and told that we would have the opportunity to enter up to 3 photos in each category: Compact cameras, Wide Angle, Macro, Conservation and Night. The conditions were challenging since the weather was not cooperating. Many of the dives had a fair amount of surge, making steadying your camera on a subject difficult (at least for me).
I was really skeptical that I would have anything good to show for myself at weeks end. But when it came down to choosing images to enter in each category, I was surprised to have a hard time choosing what to enter. And, even more surprising was that I won first place in the Conservation category as well as for a shot taken at a shark feeding no less! It was my first shark feeding dive and I have to say one of the most exciting dives that I have ever been on. Kneeling on the sand, camera in hand I just shot and shot as about 8-10 large grey reef sharks swam all around me – it was an incredible experience! To have gotten a winning photo out of it was just icing on the cake. The Lionfish photo that I took (above) during the night dive won runner-up in the conservation category.
I also won runner up in the Night category for two of my photos. The three runner up photos were all taken at night, where lighting is critical for composition and focus since there is no available light. So I’m thinking that I did achieve my goals for the week.
Runner-up – Night Category: Toadfish with two cleaner shrimpRunner-up – Night Category: Trunkfish Portrait
My takeaway from this is that practice does make perfect (or if not perfect, definitely improvement). Can’t wait to get back in the water and practice some more! Till then I’ll be practicing on land.
