Featured Photo: A Glimpse at the Future | NY International Auto Show >>

Posted Thursday, May 9th, 2013

Acura NSX Concept – Click to Enlarge

Hyundai Genesis Concept – Click to Enlarge

Honda Urban SUV Concept – Click to Enlarge

I think these shots pretty much speak for themselves. Three of my favorite concept cars from the New York International Auto Show a couple weeks back. I wonder what they’ll ultimately look like once they go into production? And what the price tag is on that NSX…

Enjoy,

Featured Photo: Golden Hour | Harlem, NYC >>

Posted Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

AP Randolph Campus High School – Click to Enlarge

Ever heard of the Golden Hour? It’s that time of day when the sun is just above the horizon, either on its way up in the morning, or finishing its descent in the evening. It’s a photographer’s heaven – and a driver’s nightmare (don’t you hate when the sun is too low in the sky for your visor to block it?). Colors are warmer and more vivid, shadows are long and dramatic, and the light is not as harsh as it is when the sun is directly overhead.

I snapped this shot from the AP Randolph Campus High School on 135th Street while walking home from a friend’s house the other day, and it got a lot of love on Instagram. Hopefully you like the larger version even more.

Be sure to follow me on Insatgram if you’re not already:
@ryanmsteeledotcom

…and here’s the Wikipedia article if you want to know more about the Golden Hour:
Golden hour (photogaphy) | Wikipedia

Enjoy,

Featured Photo: Times Square, Early | NYC >>

Posted Thursday, March 14th, 2013

Early Morning in Times Square – Click to Enlarge

Sometimes, when your mind is consumed by a lot of weighty thoughts, all you want is a distraction. This was my quest on Sunday morning. And what more appropriate location to find it than arguably the most distracting place in the world: Times Square.

I was there just after sunrise (and apparently while the tourists were still enjoying their free continental breakfasts) so I had much more freedom to move around and many fewer obstacles to block my line of sight. Everyone’s seen pictures from Times Square with thousands of people (think New Year’s Eve), but when was the last time you saw one with only five?

Hopefully, these additions to my collection will help inspire even more elaborate projects in the near future, especially now that we’ve Sprung Forward and the temperatures are consistently above freezing. I’ve got at least one more shot from Sunday that I’m putting the finishing touches on. I’ll try to post it before next week if I can get around to it, and hopefully I can get out and shoot some this weekend too…

Sometimes it takes a few baby steps to give you the courage to conquer bigger challenges — in life, and in photography. Stay tuned to see what I’ll take on next.

Enjoy,

Empty streets in Times Square – Click to Enlarge

Taxi! – Click to Enlarge

Featured Photo: Griffith Observatory Revisited | LA >>

Posted Monday, March 4th, 2013

Sunset at the Griffith Observatory – Click to Enlarge

I’ve got a Post-It stuck to my monitor with 2 words scrawled on it: SHOOT, DAMMIT. I think I’m going to add a second note next to it that says “…AND PROCESS!“. That’s the tradeoff when it comes to shooting HDR photos – you get some amazing results, but you’ve got to put in the hours.

Since winter hasn’t completely loosened its grip on the Northeast, and I’ve got thousands of unprocessed shots sitting on my hard drive, I’ve shifted my focus over the past couple of weeks to processing (and finishing) some of my older ones that I may have overlooked in my initial pass. This is one from the Griffith Observatory is of the many that slipped through the cracks – I didn’t start processing it until almost 2 years to the day from date it was shot (February 22, 2011).

I posted one (of the three) original images below so you can see what I saw coming out of the camera. As you can see, the colors don’t quite pop as much on the original, and the shots are tilted in what I can only assume was a failed attempt at being creative (I must have been inspired by this shot from the Disney Concert Hall).

Be sure to check out my other Griffith Park photos while you’re here.

Enjoy!

The Before Shot – Click to Enlarge

Featured Video: Skatepark at Sunset | Venice Beach >>

Posted Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

As revolutionary as the D7000 has been in my photography world, it has also opened the doors to a completely new world–HD video. I’m still just learning how to use the feature, and have shot very little footage thus far, but just having the option is a huge game changer. My old Sony point-and-shoot had video capabilities, but the quality was nothing like what the D7000 is able to capture.

This is just a quick sample video I shot the other day when I was down at the skatepark at Venice Beach. I thought the silhouettes of the skaters and the boat sailing by in the background made for a pretty cool scene so I flipped the Live View switch and hit record. I’m scheduled to shoot some material for my company’s website in the next week or so so I’m trying to master my technique before it’s time for that. I also need to get the new version of Final Cut so I can go in and color correct, straighten and edit the footage–this is straight out of the camera (including the audio, which was captured by the internal mic).

The camera has full-time autofocus but the internal mic (and Sennheiser MKE400 I bought yesterday) are too sensitive and pick up the sound of the motor working to focus the lens, so I’ve decided to manually focus for the majority of my videos.

I hope you enjoy the new Videos section of the site, and look forward to posting more content in the future as I continue to figure this whole moving picture thing out. It’s definitely new territory for me so hopefully you’ll be able to follow the progression as I continue to experiment and improve my skills. Too bad I don’t have a second D7000…then I could shoot HDR video as well!

Enjoy!