The idea is to get the sunset, while facing it in the west, as it lines up with the the street and relects on the buildings on the north and south sides of the street.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we’ll have the opportunity to see the sunset as it lines up with the east-west streets of Manhattan, illuminating its urban canyons.
In photographing this awesome view (it will occur again In late July), can anyone suggest any techinques or camera settings to help get the best shots? Also, would a ND or polarizing filter be of any help, since we will be facing the sun as it sets? If so, how should they be used? What strength?
Thanks much.
BJW

NYC is truly one of the best places for all sorts of photography. James Maher is a great resource and a real pleasure to spend time with. I highly recommend him. I spent 1/2 a day with him walking SOHO, Chinatown, manhattan Bridge, and he’ll take you to restaurants in Chinatown for some of the best dumplings. His price is right too. Check him out on Trip Advisor.

REPLY:

I’ve started using LR CC on my iPad when traveling. It’s not as “complete” as LR Classic, which I use on my Mac. But you can send processed photos directly from LR Cc without sending it to finder on your Mac.

Use the share icon on the top navigation bar. That will take you to a drop down menu where you will see that same icon on a list of options. Choose that icon (it looks like a rectangle with an arrow coming out the top). That will take you to a page where multiple other icons such as facebook, instagram, print, and others appear. Just select the icon where you want to send the processed photo and voila! No need to use finder. You can add other destination icons and options by going to systems and look for other share options.

If you want to get the photo to your finder you might try a round about way to email it to yourself, save it it to your desktop then drag into finder. You can also send it to icloud and then download it to finder.

When I come home from my travels, i take all the SD cards I’ve used that I imported into LR CC on my iPad while on the road, and I import thdm to LR classic on my Mac. The old fashion way.

Stick to it, you’ll figure it out or you’ll devise a workaround that will work for you.

Good luck,

BJW

REPLY:

For about $2.5k consider this:

Lumix G85 body $1000 new $695 used
Leica DG SUMMILUX 25mm 1:1.4 $800
Lumix G Vario 35-100mm 1:2.8. $1100.

I have not had to use any flash and I shoot in RAW, making up for any low light issues in PP.

I use these as my travel gear and am extremely satisfied.

Good luck
BJW

Correction: I put the images in an “album” on LRCC which equals a “collection” in LR Classic which syncs into Classic

REPLY:

I just got an iPad Pro with key Board and Apple Pen and installed LR CC for an upcoming trip abroad. It fulfills my every need. I load images from my SD card with theApple card reader. The retina screen is very sharp. I select the images I want to import —the “keepers”. They get stored in Photos. Then i go to LR and import from Photos to “All Photos” in LR. Then I edit as needed.
The editing tools are very good and I am very pleased with the results. The Apple pencil is convenient but not essential. After editing on the iPad, I put the image in a file (“collection” on LR classic) and all those will sync with my LR classic back home.
When I get home, i plan to import all images on my SD cards onto my external HD connected to my MacBook Pro.
The iPad Pro is fast and light. No need to bring a MacBook on the road anymore. I find I’m making alot of use of the iPad.

Time saver. If I were able to “screen” them before import, only those that I would import will be worth keeping and would quality as a “P” flag thereby immediately eliminating the “X” (rejects). I think it would be a more efficient work flow, for me to import only the keepers.

Other than that, what do you think about CC? It seems to give me everything that I need, so far. The one thing I got to be careful about though is that the free cloud space can be used up pretty quickly, and the cost of additional cloud space with Adobe seems more expensive than other cloud storage, such as DropBox.

Thanks for your response.

BJW

Press passes are easy to get. I shoot for a local sports team and send the photos to a local newspaper, which is hungry (and gratefgul) for decent shots for their sports pages. I have several press passes and here’s what I did to get them:

1. Contact the editor of the local newspaper and ask for a letter designating you as a free lance photographer on behalf of the newspaper.
2. Contact the venue and send them a copy of the letter. That will alert the venue and they generally will let you in. The venue usually does not issue a press pass to you.
3. Go to a local Sir Speedy or other such printing shop. Bring a good photo (head shot) of yourself. Ask them to make you a Press pass, which they can easily do on PhotoShop. They should put the photo on the front of the pass. The pass should obviously say ‘PRESS” on it. Look on the internet for samples of Press passes that you can buy by joining various organizations on line. I don’t encourage you to join or buy their passes. Just look at the pass they offer to sell. Without copying their passers, this give you some ideas and will help you to design a pass for yourself. (I can’t vouch for thebona fides of these vendors, except that they sell what look like press credentials). By looking at them on line, you can get an idea of what a real-looking Press pass might look like. Then, just design your own. To make your press pass look genuine, have the Sir Speedy or whoever, reduce and copy the letter from your local newspaper on the back of the pass. If it’s too big, then just take an excerpt of the letter and the editor’s signature. The Press Pass should designate the name of the newspaper that gave you the letter.
Have them laminate the pass and put a punch hole on the top. Insert a laniard to put around your neck. Poof! You got a press pass.

So long as you have a letter from any legitimate news outlet—however local or small, you should consider yourself “legit”. Even if you publish your own blog on line, theoretically, your freedom of press or speech rights should give you the right (subject to the venue’s permission and compliance with their rules) to bring your camera in. (Not giving you legal advice, though.)

Will it be honored when you get to the venue? That’s another question. But I have never been turned down admission and if you “connect” with the venue’s official photographers, once you get pass security, they may even invite you to join them in the press box right next to them.

Have fun buddy and shoot away.

PS:
1. Don’t use flash. So you’ll need a fast (2.8 or wider) lens and a camera that’s good in low light. Don’t bring a tripod so you don’t tread on the turf of the venue’s photographers.
2. Your camera should have a silent shutter option so you can avoid making any distracting noise when you shoot. (You’d be surprised how disturbing the click of a shutter can be).
3. Make sure your Live View screen is “Off” so the light from it does not disturb the patrons.
4. Be courteous. Be discreet. Remember, you are a guest at the venue—even if you purchased a ticket full price. If you are challenged by any security people, comply with their requests. Don’t fight them. It’s not worth it.

I am trying out LR CC on a new iPad Pro, to take with me on an extended upcoming trip abroad. It’s more than sufficient in terms of my post processing needs while away from my home base—where I use LR Classic.
The import process is easy on an iPad, just plug the card reader with memory card into the lightning port and the images appear on the screen. Tap the images you want to import and then tap the import button and they go into Photos and/or All Photos on LR. Easy enough.

Back home, with LR Classic, I can take a closer look at each image before importing by just increasing their size using the slider on the lower right of the screen.
No such slider exists on LR CC, at least not on the iPad version.

Q: Does anyone know if, while using LR CC on an iPad, you can increase the size of each image to get a better look at focus, noise, etc BEFORE selecting and hitting the import button? I tried the usual way by touching with 2 fingers and spreading them apart, but it does not work in the import mode.

Would be grateful if anyone has tried out LR CC for iPad and has come up with the answer. ‘

Thanks,
BJW

I’ve tried almost all of the popular ones and have come to the concludion that if you use a Mac, it’s built in Photos is very easy to use and very adequate. It is for basic editing which is more than enough for most images. When I found I needed more, I moved to LR classic. Now I’m playing around with LR CC on an iPad Pro and having a lot of fun with it.
But no matter which I have used, the bottom line is that you get more out of your post editor if you shoot in RAW. You limit yourself and the editor’s capabilities if you choose JPEG
My 2 cents.

If you want to spring for a really good online course, I would suggest NY Institute of Photography's basic digital photography on line course. check out www.nyip.edu It cost about $500 but they periodically run a 30%-50% discount. It really is excellent. Though I am sure its not the only one out there.

Another alternative is for $35. a month Lynda.com. It has some truly excellent instructors (Ben Long to mention one), who give really excellent courses consisting of short videos that are very easy to watch on a computer, smartphone or tablet, and presented in such a way that is easy to absorb.

Good luck and have some good fun.

BJW

I've been using a D500 for 2 years with a monster heavy Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8. It is a GREAT camera and lens. I had been thinking about trading it in for something lighter and smaller. But I've tried all the high priced "pro"alternatives. Nothing smaller comes close to the D500's buffer capacity, which is a key attribute in fast action sports that I do. Not even the competitors that purport to be sports cameras, such as the Sony A9 or the Lumix G9 come close. In fact, after using the D500, I was really disappointed with the Sony and Lumix which are otherwise spectacular cameras.
So, my contribution to this discussion is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." As a result, I'm not thinking about a lighter or smaller camera anymore. I'm sticking with my D500.

Now, if I can find a lighter 70-200 f 2.8 lens, with comparable sharpness , I'd wish for that.

BJW

Good decision. I have shot high school ice hockey with a D500 for the past 2 seasons. I use a 70-200 f/2.8. The shots I have been getting are great, even in low light ice arenas. One of the best attributes of the D500 is its massive buffer, where you can fire away at 10 fps and the buffer won't get anywhere near filled up till you reach 200 images on continuous shooting mode. I have been thinking of going mirrorless and have tried out the Sony A9 and the Lumix G9, which are both aimed at sports and wildlife photographers. Also tried out the Sony A7riii. None of them have a buffer like the D500. If you don't want to miss shots while the buffer is writing to the card, go with the D500.

While it is true that a full frame sensor is larger than the D500's crop sensor, and theoretically "absorbs" more light, one of the respected rating houses rated the D5 and D500 both the best sports and wildlife cameras for 2016. I shoot with a full frame too, but the difference between the two is hard to perceive.

You can't go wrong with the D500.

Good luck.

BJW

I shoot for a high school ice hockey team in horribly lit arenas. I use a D500 with a Tamron 70-200. Shutter priority; open it up to 2.8; ss@1/1000 to 1/250 on auto ISO.

I find the most effective way to cure the poor focus is in PP with the exposure and clarity sliders. Not great for redcing noise, but good enough to make it acceptable.

With wrestling, your shooting at slower shutter speeds so maybe a monopod woujd help your focus.