Back from NYC

bmattock

bmattock

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On Friday night, I drove to Rocky Mount, NC to catch the Silver Meteor Amtrak to Penn Station, NYC. I took with me a Yashica Lynx 14 and an Olympus 35 RC, a dozen rolls of B&W film, and a change of clothes.

It was supposed to have been in at around 1 a.m. on Saturday, which would have put me in at 10:30 a.m., but it was seriously delayed - they told us later it hit a car in Georgia and killed a lot of people. I can find no record of that via Google, so who knows? Anyway, we got in at 4:30 p.m. at Penn Station and was already losing the light.

I walked up to 56th between 5th and 6th - America House, a Jesuit residence. My uncle is a priest, he works for America Magazine, and he had offered me a place to stay for the night. He used to be president of Fordham for about 30 years, some folks have heard of him. I got settled in and had a nap, then I headed down to Times Square with the Lynx and a couple rolls of Tri-X I rated at EI 1250. Took some shots, nothing spectacular. Got a souvenir portrait taken by a guy with a Polaroid 150 who was taking souvenir shots in front of Oprah's place, he was a cool guy and we talked cameras for awhile.

Met another guy hanging around outside Oprah's with a 4x5 Speed Graphic with a Polaroid back and a Vivitar flash bracket. I thought he was shooting souvenir shots also, but when I tried to talk to him, he told me he was paparazzi. Wow.

I walked back to America House and went to bed at about 11:30.

Got up early Sunday and walked down 56th to Park Avenue, then over to 1st and down to the UN. Took a bunch of shots along the way, mostly with Arista.EDU Ultra 100 (Fomapan) and some old Ilford Delta 100 and Efke KB 100 I wanted to shoot up (it was past expired). Then I walked over to Union Square, down to Washington Square, through several ethnic neighborhoods and Greenwich Village, but I got no farther south than Washington Park, by then it was after 2 p.m. and I had to head back to Penn Station for my 3:15 train back home.

The only trouble I had was with a cop in Washington Square. I was trying to take his picture and he told me not to because he didn't give me permission. We had a short friendly conversation in which he told me that I needed his permission to take his photo, and I told him that as a public official in a public setting, I had every right to take his picture, and although I was happy to accede to his request, I was not going to obey what amounted to an unlawful order. We had a tense couple of moments, but with his partner's intervention, we worked it out - if not to everyone's satisfaction, at least without an arrest being made or any shillelagh law.

I walked up 5th Avenue to Broadway, and then followed Broadway up to 34th Street, where I found Madison Square Garden and of course, Penn Station underneath. Grabbed my train with seconds to spare and headed home. Got in last night around 1:00 a.m.

I have a bunch of film to process and scan - hope I have something worthwhile. In the meantime, though, I am putting together an annual scrapbook for the Knights of Columbus (I'm DGK of my local council) and I have to get it done this week, so it take precedence.

Amtrak is a lot of fun, and a great way to travel. If it had been on time Friday night, it would have been even better. As it is, I'm tired and sore all over. But I got a lot of good exercise and met some neat folks. Fun all around. I recommend it.

Will post photos soon. If they don't suck, that is.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
captainslack said:
Wow!! Wish I'd been able to accompany you. Sounds like a fun trip (except for that bit with the cop).
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It was fun, even the part with the cop. You know I like to shout, and I call that sport. The part that sucked was waiting in the Rocky Mount train station from just after midnight Friday until 7 a.m. Saturday for the blessed train to appear, then knowing that no matter what, I'd have less than a full day to shoot. But in the end, I went anyway, and am glad that I did.

We can try it as a team sometime if you like. Get a cheap hotel on Times Square through hotels.com and do it up right.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I know you'll get nice stuff from the Oly RC because I do. I also really like my Lynx and I'm curious to see how yours come out. I've posted some of my Lynx here but I also deleted some.

Put 'em up Bill!
 
Bill, Policemen/women have been pretty testy since 9/11. I work not far from Penn Station and have seen many tourists take photos of cops. Unfortunately, if you were a woman, if you had your wife with you, or if you chatted him up first, the tense situation you encountered would probably not have happened.

Cheers.
 
Hey, I drove by Rocky Mount Saturday evening on my way back from Ft. Lauderdale. I also took the Silver Meteor down south from NY when I was a kid. I took my Leica and and a Hexar with me this time. I'll see if there's anything worth posting.
 
A lot of NYC cops work under cover from time to time or aspire to and therefore don't want to be photographed. About three years ago just after my retirement I walked around my neighborhood, camera in hand looking for interesting street life shots. I stopped at a photo development shop run by a large local photo processor who does cheap but lousy work IMHO as they were advertising all kinds of special deals in their window. They are located at an important shopping crossroad (Roosevelt Ave and 82 St for people who are familiar with Queens). As I stepped away from the window two husky guys in street clothes grabbed the guy standing next to me, put him on the ground and handcuffed him. By this time they had their badges out and stood the perp up. I raised my camera to take a shot and one of the cops waived me off. He didn't know if I got a shot off or not. As it happened I didn't take the shot and I told him that. He thanked me and said that undercover police shouldn't be photographed, especially as the shots frequently end up in local give away newspapers thus comromising the anonimity of under cover cops. Perhaps the fact that I had a Canon SLR in my hands had something to do with it. This was before my RFF epiphany for what its worth.
A major part of the police job in Washington Square Park is controlling drug trafficking which may explain the policeman's attitude.
Glad you enjoyed your trip, Bill, but come back around May or June when the trees are blossoming.
Kurt M.
 
I understand *why* a police officer would not want their photo taken - and I didn't take his photo. I don't agree that it is their right to demand my compliance, unless there is a law to that effect. I support law enforcement, and I want police officers to be safe as well. This does not mean they can make up laws to suit themselves and expect me to obey them.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
As far as I know there is no such law in NYC. You would not have been arrested, but you were harrassed. This should not have happened.
Kurt M.
 
Sweet! I have two brothers-in-law and one sister-in-law who live in the city, plus one uncle - but no one really has space for more than one person. I was lucky to have been able to stay at America House.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Nick R. said:
Hey, I drove by Rocky Mount Saturday evening on my way back from Ft. Lauderdale. I also took the Silver Meteor down south from NY when I was a kid. I took my Leica and and a Hexar with me this time. I'll see if there's anything worth posting.
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If you were on I-95, you went past Wilson, too. There are many photographic opportunities around here - but this trip, I was after that HCB strut, so hie'd myself off to NYC, since Paris was a bit out of the question at the moment.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Bill, this really struck a cord. I have been contemplating riding the Crescent from New Orleams to Washington and then the City of New Orleans from DC to Chicago and back to NO I may do it later this spring.
 
chenick said:
when can we see some pics Bill? :)
(I know you said you're busy this week...)
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I hate to tease, I am sorry. I want nothing more than to soup up nine rolls of film and see if I have anything worth a dang. Hey, I've seen the contest gallery - I seriously doubt I could top most of those on my best day ever; but I had to try, and I can always use any 'keepers' elsewhere.

I am busy doing something I don't really want to do - trying to make myself finish this yearly scrapbook for my KofC council - it's boring and a bit of a pain and not really my thing, but I said I'd do it.

I will get some images up just as soon as I can, I promise!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Byuphoto said:
Bill, this really struck a cord. I have been contemplating riding the Crescent from New Orleams to Washington and then the City of New Orleans from DC to Chicago and back to NO I may do it later this spring.
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Ann-Marie and I have taken the train from Albuquerque to Chicago and back, and also from Rocky Mount to Boston and back. We like riding the rails. I tend to sleep well on the train - she doesn't sleep that well - everyone is different about that.

Here's some hints if you've never taken the train long distance.

1) The sleeper car is worth it! There are several 'levels' of sleeper, but all are much better than trying to sleep in coach. If you're doing a one-day trip, then coach is by far the cheapest.

2) There are always 'codes' out there that give up to 30% discounts and more - search www.flyertalk.com for the latest codes and try them one by one to see which ones will work for you. Amtrak always has huge discount codes, but never advertises them and won't tell you about them even if you ask.

3) Be flexible with time. I didn't like it being 7 hours late, but that's life on a train. Either very much on time or very dang late. Give yourself leeway - I didn't this time, and it sucked.

The train is a blast. And here's a little-known secret outside of 'rider enthusiast' circles...Amtrak's former CEO was the guy who was really holding it all together. He got himself fired - a real shame - and the replacement is presiding over what may be the end of Amtrak. Oh, they don't talk about it that way, but may well be over and everybody knows fears it.

Every election since dot for Amtrak, they talk about forcing Amtrak to be self-sufficient and sink or swim. It's good election-year politics. But Amtrak has never been self-supporting and never will be. Passenger trains just aren't. So either we decide that passenger rail is part of the infrastructure and gets subsidized with taxes (like highways) or we let it die. At the moment, things are looking grim.

So catch a ride on the train while there is one. It's a real blast - and the food is even good - sleeper accomodations get free meals!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Well, I spent all day yesterday processing film - 10 rolls in all, Tri-X rated at EI 1250 went into the Diafine, Efke KB 100 and Fomapan 100 (Arista.EDU Ultra 100) went into the D-76 1:1. I made a few mistakes, but overall, I'm pleased with what I got.

I took only two cameras with me - an Olympus 35 RC and a Yashica Lynx 14. I used a yellow filter on the RC and a lens shade on the Lynx (because they flare badly). All shot using available light, no flash of any kind. None cropped, all composed in camera. Only work done in PS (The Gimp, actually) was levels, desaturate, remove dust and scratches. I am extremely pleased with both cameras, and I can see from close-ups of the Lynx that the lens is easily the equivalent of the best lens I own on my Bessa R (a Canon 50mm f1.4). It's just awesome.

Here are the ones I currently think are not too awful. Hope you enjoy them!

http://www.cameramentor.com/nyc.html

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed your shots from NYC. I'll be going there at the end of April, you gave me some ideas. --John/sooner
 
Bill: Wow, those are great. My favourites are #4 (045) and the last one (225)... do you know which cameras for each of those, especially #4?

I need to get me a lotta film souped. Damn.
 
They're far from "awful" (your word). Nice photos that warrant a second trip to the city.
 
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