Lady in red

After weeks of not climbing, my friend Kreuter and I got a couple of hours of hours in at Brooklyn Boulders. We were both surprised at how easily we conquered a couple of 5.8 and a 5.9 routes right off the bat. However, there were a couple of 5.10's that shut us down. We each gave the routes several attempts but just couldn't make it past the crux of the climbs. Next time.

I took the R train out to Brooklyn. After a couple of stops the lady in red boarded and took a seat next to the cab bulkhead. I couldn't resist trying to capture her with my iPhone. How I wished I had my DSLR with me. I got a decent shot of her and then processed the image in my phone using Tiltshift Generator for selective focus/blur and vignetting. I love the way it came out. It reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting.

Iphone panorama app

Above: 190th Street Station on the A line panorama

Yesterday I downloaded the Pano App for the Iphone. It's not perfect but does a decent job and is fun and easy to use. If you take your time you can create some fun panoramic images like the one above. The quality of the stitch relies heavily on your ability to accurately frame each shot in relation to the previous one taken. The app provides a transparent copy of the previous image on the display to help you align edges while taking your photos. Stay tuned for more Iphone pano's in the future. Good stuff.

200th Street Station - A Train

I took this quick snap at the 200th street station on the Independent Subway System (IND) 8th Avenue Line. Not a very interesting station although it does put you at the north east entrance to Fort Tryon Park at Dykman Street and Broadway.

Are you wondering what the hell the Independent Subway System is/was? Back in the day, I'm talking pre-1930, the subway systems operating in NYC were not owned by the city. They were privately operated by two main companies: the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) & the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). The IND system was the first system to be built and run by the city. It was built in 1932, with the 8th Avenue Line being the first line to run. Later, lines A through G would make up the IND System.

In 1940, the city purchased all operations of the IRT and BMT. Incidentally, this city takeover is what shaped today's A & B Subdivisions. Subdivision A being comprised of the IRT lines and Subdivision B being comprised of the BMT & IND lines.

This probably isn't very interesting to most people, but as an engineer working at Kawasaki Rail Car, building new R160 Cars for the city; it's good stuff.

Exchange Place

Escalator at Exchange Place in Jersey City

I took this photo back in February but never got around to posting it. I love the colors and soft focus of the image. This was taken at Exchange Place in Jersey City. The person on the escalator is actually my friend Mr.Seinberg.

168th Street Station

168th is one of my favorite stations here in NY. I often transfer between the 1 and A trains at this stop. The impressive tiled archway and two crossover bridges spanning the two tracks always makes me wonder what the station was like in its prime. I completely appreciate the visual appeal and design of this station deep down below the streets.

207th Street Station

Last stop on the A Train: my neighborhood - Inwood.

A third of a second at Grand Central Terminal

I love Grand Central Terminal. Aside from being the largest train station in the world, and a major NYC icon it's a giant mixing bowl for the denizens of NY. Every time I pass through there I get that "I love NY" feeling. I know it's cheesy but it's true.

At right, is a shot from this evening. I focused on the stationary businessman and waited for the moment when plenty of people would enter the frame. A long exposure (1/3 second) gave the bustle effect I envisioned.

R62A

An R62A running on the 42nd Street Shuttle waits for passengers to board.

I really like the shape of this generation of cars. Bombardier built 825 of them from 1984 to 1987. (Kawasaki made the first 325 of the R62's) The city runs them on the 1 & 7 lines and the shuttle between Grand Central Station and Time Square. I snapped a shot of this one at Grand Central this past weekend. The MTA decal is the same as the ones we apply to the new R160's I help ship out of Kawasaki Rail Car in Yonkers every day.

I must admit, I have a not so secret desire to drive trains in the city for a living. Who knows; maybe one day I will.

Gettin' jiggy on the A

I meant to post this image last weekend but life has been busy lately. I'm really looking forward to finishing this Psych class I'm taking at Lehman College.

Image taken last weekend on the A Train.

Funky Drummer

I've been meaning to post this image for a while now. I took this at Grand Cental on December 5th with my Canon G9 while waiting for a train. One of the things I love about living in the city is the street & train performers. This guy was playing a happy tune which stuck in my head for a few stops. Here's a short video clip of him playing:

drummer clip (55.1 MB)

photo: 1/8 sec. @ f/4.8, ISO 200

Back to work

Tomorrow I'll be up at 5:30am and back to work. NYCT needs subway cars and it's my job to help supply them. Although I've really enjoyed being on vacation for the last two weeks, I do look forward to seeing the production line moving along and resolving field issues.

Our original plans to go to Chicago, never panned out due to snow storms and cancelled flights so we spent Xmas at home in NY. Manhattan's a beautiful place to spend the holidays. I was busy with the camera and took it just about everywhere I went and began a new project which I hope to publish to my site by the end of February.

Prospero ano,
Mike

Inwood

Getting off of the 1 Train last night at 207th st. An 8 second exposure taken with my G9. This is my neighborhood, Inwood. I love living here.

190th Street stop on the A line.