Urban Waterfall

"Urban Waterfall"

In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, 

and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia. 

~ Charles A. Lindbergh

www.sapphyr.net

Like many things in New York City, Central Park's history is a complex one.  It's meaning and importance relative to the person reporting it.  Heralded as a fantastic feat of engineering and urban planning by some and the very cause of relocation and uprooting for others.  Its size and audacious nature match the surrounding city.  In many ways the park is both more and less than it seems, totally unnatural even in its nature.  No matter how one feels about its origins or its purpose however, its notoriety is undisputed.  It is the most visited urban park in the United States receiving approximately 35 million visitors annually,* has been a National Historic Landmark since 1963, and is one of New York's most iconic attractions. 

Because the original soil was not fertile or substantial enough to sustain the planned fauna and trees, over 18,500 cubic yards of topsoil were transported from New Jersey. While almost all of the landscaping and fauna was transplanted from outside of the city, the waterfalls were created naturally by glacial erratics,* or large boulders dropped by repeated covering and subsequent recession of glaciers over the lands geological history. 

I stumbled upon this waterfall as I wound my way through the park on a spring morning.  It's a surreal feeling to walk five minutes from the bustling streets of one of the world's largest urban centers, and suddenly it all fades and disappears as you sit next to the rushing water of a glacial rock-formed waterfall.  As one "soaks" in the natural perfection of this scene it is hard to be quite as impressed by the creations of man and science.  And the juxtaposition of the park with the very essence of science and technology that is New York City only magnifies this reality for me.  The park is a necessary respite for those of us that sometimes find ourselves caught in the hectic pace of this amazing, yet unforgiving city, and a treat for any visitor looking to experience a little nature in this land of concrete and steel.

I used a slow shutter speed (1 second) to create the silky effect on the water.  To compensate for the glaring sun I reduced the ISO to its minimum setting and stopped down on the aperture.

Interesting facts about Central Park :

Around 1,600 working-class and poor residents, most free African Americans or immigrants of English and Irish origin were evicted under the rule of eminent domain in 1857 before construction on the park could begin.#

In 2005 the Real Estate value of Central Park was estimated to be $528,783,552,000.^

The annual operating budget of the park is over $25 Million.*

The park has its own Police Precinct which employs regular and auxiliary police.  Safety measures now hold the number of crimes in park under 100 per year down from approximately 1,000 per year in the early 1980's.* 

*Wikipedia

# Peter H. Rossi, Down and Out in America: The Origins of Homelessness, University of Chicago Press, 1989, via wikipedia

^ Robledo, S. Jhoanna; "Central Park: Because We Wouldn't Trade a Patch of Grass for $528,783,552,000" NYMag.com, December 18, 2005, via wikipedia

Tip of The Week: Improvised Rain Protection for your DSLR

"Heaven Meets Earth"

This shot was taken in a light rain as the tide was coming in along Moshup Beach on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.  It took on a very powerful almost primordial feel as the waves crashed ashore under a stormy sky.  The different rocks had a chronological, somewhat evolutionary layering from dry in the foreground to a strip of moist/wet rocks a little further in, and finally the wave-bashed rocks in the water.  I love the depth of field and dramatic tone of the shot.

Tip Of The Week

If you're like me, you never know when or what you may want to shoot and while you may carry your camera with you at all times (I usually do), you may not have bad weather gear with you, or you may not have bad weather gear at all.  Rain protection for your gear can be found online at stores such as B+H Photo and Video (www.bhphotovideo.com), or Adorama (www.adorama.com) and include rain covers, rain capes, and rain jackets, ranging in price from about $20 to the $80, $90 or even the hundreds of dollars depending on how serious you're looking to get.  
But maybe you don't want to fork out any money, you don't often shoot in inclement weather or you just want to experiment with no monetary risk.  Try the home made solution I used to get this shot in a light rain while keeping my camera dry as a bone.  


I took a 1 gallon ziplock bag and held the opening facing right, as cameras are setup with a right-handed grip, and cut a semicircle about 1 inch away from the upper left hand corner of the bag on the edge facing forward.  


The semicircle should be about 1/4 inch smaller than the diameter of your camera lens.  It may take a few fittings but hey, your only cost is a few ziplock bags.


I then slipped the camera in the bag and fed the leans through the opening which stretched to give a nice tight seal.


Then simply place a lens hood over the lens and you have a simple yet effective improvised rain protection for your DSLR.


*This was for my 18mm-70mm lens.  For my 70mm-200mm lens I simply slid the bag straight over the camera so the opening was opposite the lens and cut the whole in the bottom edge of the bag. 


Give it a try, I think you'll like the results.

Bridge Under Stormy Skies

"There is nothing in machinery, there is nothing in embankments and railways and iron bridges and engineering devices to oblige them to be ugly.  Ugliness is the measure of imperfection." -H.G. Wells-  English novelist, journalist, sociologist and historian, 1866-1946* "My land is bare of chattering folk; the clouds are low along the ridges, and sweet's the air with curly smoke/ from all my burning bridges." -Dorothy Parker- American short-story writer and poet, 1893-1967* In 1895, the New York State Legislature enacted a law providing for the construction of a new Harlem River bridge between 145th Street in Manhattan and 149th Street in the Bronx. Two business leaders, Fordham Morris and John de la Vergne, spearheaded the drive for the 145th Street Bridge, which was to not only connect growing residential neighborhoods in Harlem with new industrial areas in the South Bronx, but also fill in a one-mile gap between river crossings.++ I couldn't help but notice the beauty and strength of the steel framed bridge as the clouds seemed to swallow it whole.  Yet it stood, as it has for over a century, a gateway of travel between two lands separated by a mere mile yet worlds apart if not for this structure.  Imagine having to cross the river by boat before bridges like this were built.   I caught this image right before a storm, as the clouds built, the waning sunshine highlighted the spaces between as well as the glass windows and steel of the bridge.  Using high dynamic range processing I was able to bring the bridge out of the shadows, a bastion of hope before the storm.  A reminder that one can go where one wishes, and that a man who builds bridges instead of walls will never be lonely. *Source thinkexist.com ++Source nycroads.com