Flashback to twenty years ago when my cat jumped from a fifty story building to catch a flying bird in his mouth…I jest!
Go back to the time when my dog ate my school paper and I got an F because pets eating your paper excuses suck…I'm obviously kidding!
So a few days ago, I met up with a buddy of mine to go and photograph the city at night. I packed only the bare minimums. Canon body, Canon 24mm tilt-shift lens, and a tripod.
I drove out to the city.
Jumped in his car.
And drove out to the Dumbo area.
It was 4:30pm when we got there, and already cold. My friend didn’t bring gloves with him, but luckily, I had an extra pair that fit. It was almost bromantic.
We set up our tripods and I pointed my camera at the beautiful city skyline that was facing me. The sun was just setting and although it was still a little foggy, the warm city glow prevailed.
Bundled up to my ears wearing a Russian floppy eared hat and a bubble jacket, I stared adjusting the tripod head to find the best composition. It took a little longer than usual, as dexterity is retarded in below zero degrees temperatures, but eventually I had the image I wanted in focus and began to bracket.
After the first picture, it was already dark, and my shutter speed was already at 1/10. We kept inching closer and closer towards the Brooklyn bridge, however, it was an extremely slow process. I was bracketing and shifting left and right for the panoramas I was trying to get.
So the bridge. Brooklyn. Cold. Teeth clattering. Purple blue hands. My battery was holding up pretty good. Around 9 o’clock I still had one line left, and had been using the camera continuously. My buddy on the other hand was using the new Sony a6500, and the battery on his camera was doing much better than mine. Actually, mine gave out around ten o’clock-ish, and he was still shooting. I had a spare and had to swap out the batteries to continue. He didn’t. Congrats to Sony for making the best out of the when life gives you lemons metaphor.
It got so cold we had to run back to the car to warm up. We took about fifteen minutes to thaw, then we popped the trunk and went by the water to take this never before seen photo.
We ran into some company when we got there. Very cool guys who had already set up their cameras for a beautiful shot overlooking New York City. We made acquaintance and became instant Instagram friends. Twenty years ago, we would have perhaps exchanged beeper numbers.
But times are changing. And we have to keep the pace, else face the consequences.
Anyway, after almost 7 hours of freezing in the cold, doing jumping jacks, and PDCB (public displays of crazy behavior) I texted my friend, who seemed to have gotten lost, or disappeared into the twilight zone for a while, that I was nearing a state of hypothermia. Acknowledging my situation, he eventually found his way back; step by step, we gathered our gear and began inching towards the car.
The memories we made can be revisited here.
Thanks for sticking around.
Until next time.