Month: April 2020

Images from NYC 2020

Back when we were allowed to go out and about, my wife and I spent a few days in New York City so she could attend a conference. We explored a few of the art museum and I got some time to just hang around Central Park and take pictures. I had started to post this gallery a while back, but got distracted by life and didn’t finish. So as a reminder that there is a larger world out there, and we’ll get to go back to exploring it one day I figured I’d finally get this finished.

The first day we just wondered a bit, including taking the Station Island Ferry across and back to get a few classic pictures.

  • Classic image of the Statue of Liberty.
    Statue of Liberty from the Station Island Ferry, where we bumped into the sister of a good friend.
  • The main entrance to Ellis Island taken from the Station Island Ferry.
    Ellis Island from the Station Island Ferry.
  • An Irish hillside constructed in the middle of NYC.
    The memorial to the Irish Famine, which is a small Irish Hill side moved to Manhattan.
  • Ice skating at Rockefeller Center just before the tree came down.
  • People capturing their memories of the 9/11 memorial.
  • A group of white roses placed in one of the 9/11 memorial names.
    9/11 Memorial flowers
  • A single white rose in a name to mark the birthday of someone who died in the twin towers.
    9/11 Memorial Flower

A friend let us use her membership to the Met. So we spent a long day walking the exhibits. Since you can get better pictures of more or less all their art than most people are likely to take in the galleries (and no small number of people were taking pictures of whole works) I focused on the faces within larger works.

We also popped into MOMA on Free Friday and the Guggenheim on their give what you like Saturday evening. Those events were both about the art, and clearly for some in New York about being seen at those open chances to explore.

  • Jeannette (IV) by Henri Matisse
  • From watching this group for a few minutes, I think they considered simply going out to be performance art.
  • A pair of friends taking pictures at the top of the Guggenheim. A young muslim woman smiles as she poses for her friend.
    Lots of people were taking pictures of their friends as the explored the Guggenheim on their free evening visit.
  • Several levels of the Guggenheim's ramped walk ways around the building all filled with people.
    The Guggenheim does pay what you wish on Saturday evenings. So we made our contribution and joined the crowd.
  • People walking passed others take selfies
    As a photographer I find the craze in self-portraits hard to understand.
  • A wide variety of people were exploring the Guggenhiem’s collection.
  • My attempt at a classic image of people on Guggenhiem’s ramped walkways.
  • Untitled Brass wire piece by Ruth Asawa
  • Samples from Guggehiem’s Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now exhibit

We explored Central Park together and separately. I love getting a few hours to just stroll through a place with my camera. Trying to take a mix of classic pictures and few that are less common.

  • Gapstow Bridge
  • A jogger around JKF resevoir with the Gugenhiem in the background.
    Every day seemed to be a good day for joggers.
  • It wasn’t the best weather for ice skating, but plenty of people were still out.
  • Some skaters were taking lessons, others just having a good time.
  • Chess house on cold morning. I did pop inside for a game.
  • A couple playing Chess at the tables outside the Chess House.
    This couple was playing a careful if not serious game.
  • People making the best of the weather to get pictures and enjoy the park.
  • The Carousel
  • The Carousel wasn’t busy, but was open and moving.
  • A picture of park of JFK reservior in Central Park.
    NYC Park Ave Classics.
  • A girl walking through central park reading her book and looking around as she goes.
    And some kids are still happy to ignore their parents to read an actual print book.
  • A kid playing soccer with a Collie, both were playing goalie.
    This collie invited himself into playing defense against the buddy keeper.
  • A woman kneeling to look at a squirrel
    One of many people fascinated by the grey squirrels.
  • A black squirrel chacing a grey one.
    Lots of international tourists seemed to enjoy taking pictures of the grey squirrels. But I rather preferred the black ones.
  • I have no idea why these people were learning to fly fish in the middle of a lawn, but so be it.
  • She had pretty good instincts about when to wake up and play for a while, but bad weather makes for a slow day.
  • A man playing a classic chinese bowed intrstument playing for passers by.
    This musician had found a good spot where his music fit the setting and drew smiles from lots of people passing his way.
  • A NYC skyline picture taken with high contrast and lots of water in the foreground and buildings under construction featured.
    An ever growing city.

Before too long we can go back to having adventures and getting out. But in the meantime stay safe as best you can.

SC DUG April 2020: Remote Work Round Table

This month’s SC DUG was a round table discussion on working remotely during the Covid-19 lock down. We had actually planned this topic before the crisis emerged in full, but found ourselves having to pivot our talking points a fair bit.

The discussion centered on things that people are dealing with, even those of us who work remotely on a regular basis. A few resources were shared by people on the call, including Pantheon’s Donut Slack Bot.

If you would like to join us please check out our up coming events on MeetUp for meeting times, locations, and remote connection information.