This is the first blog update after getting back from NYC. Made it roundtrip safe and sound- it was hot as the blazes and that made all the great food smells and the urine smells even more pungent, but what I forgot about my previous experiences living in the city was how ridiculously loud it is there! As I mentioned on the Facebook and some previous posts here, my motivation to go there was to deliver and hang 10 framed prints and be there for the opening of a show in SoHo that my Buddy from Brooklyn- Larson Harley, who I met teaching for the Canon in the Parks bit organized- (Larson Harley: http://www.larsonharley.com/) along with his girlfriend and also Canon in the Parks instructor Lisa Barnshaw: http://www.lisabarnshaw.com/index2.php#!/HOME. And while I was definitely excited to hang my work in the big city, what I really was looking forward to doing was walking around Manhattan and making photography. I would like to think of myself as a closeted street photographer, at least an 'everything' photographer, but living in Acadia has made me a landscaper and I believe in a concise representation of my work (kind of) so to those ends my website is made up of almost entirely landscapes.

No matter what kind of photographer you are, going to shoot in the city should always be a gas! Here's my quick synopsis of what it was like to photograph in Manhattan: first of all I spent a bunch of time there 20 years ago with friends of mine who were in rock bands, so I knew where I was going for the most part, I lived in Boston for close to 10 years in the 90's so I'm not totally a country boy, and I like people. I approached my time there carefully in that I only walked around with a camera and a lens, not the whole backpack full of gear thing, I turned my camera strap inside out to not advertise what I was carrying (I always do that tho), I stuck the gaffer tape that is always on my hotshoe for making long exposures over the Canon logo on the front of the camera, and I had either a 50 1.8 or the 40 2.8 pancake on for 90 percent of the time which also makes the camera look cheap and boring. Initially upon getting there on Sunday afternoon everything looked amazing, there were images everywhere, but I was just taking a quick break from the drive to stop in Alphabet City and go for a quick walk around before meeting up with Larson at his place over in Brooklyn, so I was just shooting with my iPhone at that time.

Alphabet City bikes. iPhone.

Avenue C fashion.

However the next time I went out on Monday afternoon to photograph after getting the frames hung I felt more like I should be looking for things and that was bad- because instead of being open to everything- I was looking for something, so I felt like I missed a lot of good opportunities that I saw Larson making. Tuesday though was mine for the whole day to just walk around and find things. I started on the Lower East Side and walked south through Chinatown which has incredible character and made a couple street portraits and images of shop fronts and fish markets. Made my way down to the Brooklyn Bridge for a tripod free attempt at some 'serious photography', the bridge is under massive repair right now though and is all shrouded with nets and tarps so that was kind of a bust. Then walked down to the Millennium Tower but skipped the 9/11 memorial because it was packed there with tourists and it was hot and I was already tired and it was time to find a coffee- so I headed back to Alphabet City for some DSLR shooting this time before going up to B+H Photo to check out the place that I buy all my stuff from. The whole city is much cleaner and safer feeling than when I lived there on 13th and A 20 years ago so it is a much more pleasant cultural experience than the "prepare for battle" place it was back then. I really wish though to take a time machine back to the 70's and go photographing there then- how awesome would that be! Anyways- long story short, I had a great time, had some great pizza, met some really interesting folk and talked to some working video guys and a shooter for one of the big NY papers (can't remember which that he said but I was looking at his images from that afternoons rainstorm while he was working on them through a bar window while I was talking on the phone to Sophie, and they were rockin'!) but by the time it came for me to go back to Maine I had the petal to the metal and I was ready to get out of there and get home! That's the thing about a good trip- you enjoy it and get taken away, but then you end up really appreciating where you live and want to be back home. So here's a few images for now and a few more to come later- thanks for stopping by and have a great day- Nate from Maine, Usa.

Larry and Paul- "the bird guys", Washington Square Park.

Larry and Paul's buddy-

Paul.

and yes that's a squirrel. Squirrel!

Some guy bathing at Columbus Circle.

and then there's this guy-

More to come later, and then more landscapes- but I'll probably never forget this trip.

Lisa Barnshaw, Larson Harley, and me in front of my prints.

iPhone snap out the window of the car, -escape from NY.

Ravens Roost. Schoodic.

So let me get this straight: to get to New York City I drive south on 95 until I see the giant red apple and then I'm there? Did they name it the Big Apple because that's where the Apple store is>? Do I need to wear a tie?

Just in case you aren't following me from the previous post where I announced it: I'm driving 10 framed 16"x20" prints matted to 24"x28" in black metal frames along with 40 or so smaller matted photographs to a show in SoHo in NYC that my buddy Larson Harley has organized which is to open Monday night of the 17th of June at Fjallraven 262 Mott st. http://www.larsonharley.com/2013/06/behind-the-lens-photography-show-june-17/

Initially I was a little hesitant to commit to the thing but then I figured to make it a great excuse to go back and visit there where I haven't been now for 20 years. 20 years! It's crazy to think I can say that I haven't been somewhere for 20 years- I thought I was just 20 years old a few years ago? So that's the next problem- today will have to be my birthday! Yeehaw! I love birthday day! It's one day that I can really enjoy being unhumble and ask for my cake and eat it too etc: chocolate cake especially. So to those ends I'll accept any and all cake donations made in my name down at the Seal Cove Post Office. 41. 41 years young. I really feel like an adult child, although I have been making strides in being more patient and trying to be more "mature", but hopefully being young at heart is good for something. ?

I'm so looking forward to photographing in New York! I lived there in the Lower East Side with different friends on and off for a year or so in the early 90's. I didn't know photography then, music was our thing, but in my memory I'm familiar enough with the city to think of where I want to go make images. I want to shoot the skyline from Brooklyn and those old rotten piers down there on the East River, and the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Arch at Washington Square Park and the Chrysler Building and the ESB and the Flatiron and maybe the Woolworth- and everything in between. I figure to bring two lenses a 50 and my 24. and I don't know if I should bring a tripod- maybe for the skyline scene I could borrow Larson's tripod and just go handheld for the rest of the time. If anybody has any advice as to how to best make the most of a day and a half of photographing down there let me know (minus hiring a helicopter for an hour which is just outside my budget for now!) 

So that's it for that then! Have a great one! -Nate!

Old Lobster Crate and Rotted Docks Off Gouldsboro Maine.

So here's a one where I had to modify the scene a little bit to make the picture that I wanted to make. When I first looked at this scene the only difference was that there was a large pane of broken plexiglass where the old lobster crate is now. The plexi was making a lame reflection of something bright and it didn't take me but a second to decide to physically photoshop it right on out of there and put it behind me and when I did  the huge pile of old HHH lobster crates right behind me caught my eye and I picked the most available interesting looking one to take plexi's place. Some people don't believe in this kind of practice of modifying a scene to better suit the image, and usually I wont because the images I make most often have big, attached-to-the-Earth features that you can't move even if you wanted to! But I'm not averse to manipulating a piece of driftwood to make a different feeling picture or removing an empty beer can etc. Any thoughts>? What do you do?

Have a good one! -Nate!