#project365 [day 92] Jupiter, Venus and their Sphinxes

December 1, 2015

From the great collection of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art I picked out these two beautiful sculptures by French "Romantic" artist Antoine-Augustin Préault. They depict Jupiter on the left and Venus on the right siting on top of two unusual looking sphinxes. Completed in 1868, they are plaster working models for monumental stone sculptures completed in 1870 and still sit in the garden of the palace at Fontainebleau. Like Venus, the companion sculpture, Jupiter has no precedent in antique iconography and is apparently the original product of Préault's deeply Romantic imagination. You can find more of his work at the Musee du Louvre and the beautiful Musee d'Orsay, and also at the iconic Pere Lachaise Cemetery.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Compositing, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 91] Domed ceiling from the Schwarzman Building

November 30, 2015

This is a detail shot of the domed ceiling on one of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building's stairwells. It depicts a glorious ornate Beaux-Arts architecture that can be found all over the main building of the New York Public Library. And although in day 84 that it would be my last image from this building, I couldn't resist adding this one to the project.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 90] Streets of New York City

November 29, 2015

Roaming the streets of the big apple.

#project365 [day 89] 115 Broadway

November 28, 2015

This is one my last doorways, and building entrances, from the visit to New York City. Located in Downtown Manhattan, a stone's throw from the Twin Towers complex, these twin Gothic Towers are a site that should be part of your itinerary. At this point they are known as the Trinity Centre, a managed office building, you can't really roam around freely, but I really liked the mood in this entrance. Also worth a visit to the Trinity Place Bar & Restaurant, which I hope to do next time.

#project365 [day 88] Triumph of Galatea

November 27, 2015

From the NY's Metropolitan Museum vast collection of musical instruments, this harpsichord designed by Michele Todini is one of the most striking. It depicts the Triumph of Galatea, reference to fresco completed about 1514 by the Italian painter Raphael, and supported by three Tritons. It originally formed part of Michele Todini's Galeria Armonica and was described in his catalogue of 1676. Todini designed several lavish mathematical and musical machines and charged admission from the aristocrats who visited his gallery. The artistic quality of the case ranks it among the finest examples of Roman Baroque decorative art; Todini's ingenuity and search for new forms of instrumental expressivity grew out of the same musical climate that led to the invention of the piano.
This was also a great opportunity to do a test run for Macphun's Aurora HDR, their latest offering, this time in conjunction with HDR master Trey Ratcliff. First impressions are great, with very simple and intuitive sliders to manipulate all the parameters and really fast feedback. I'll try to do a small review in the coming weeks.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop.
Macphun AuroraHDR: HDR photomerge and toning

#project365 [day 87] Sunset from the Top of the Rock

November 26, 2015

The last photo that I'm posting from the Top of the Rock, in Midtown Manhattan, is actually the first I took. Having arrived to the top observation deck just as the sun was going below the horizon to the west of the city. This was the the view that made me say that a visit to the top of the Rockefeller Center is obligatory for every visitor in New York City. The Empire State Building stands out in the middle of the frame, with One World Trade Center just behind it to the right. The lights from the huge adverts on Times Square spills into the frame on the far right, and in the distance the Hudson is still bathing in the dying sunlight.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF10-24mmF4 R OIS
-- Post
Lightroom : Panoramic photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening, colour blending and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 86] Manhattan Postcard

November 25, 2015

This is one of the most photographed views of Lower Manhattan. I have seen inumerous versions of this view, and always wanted to know where it was taken from. And thankfully my wanderings through Brooklyn's shoreline got me to the right place. Unfortunately not at the best time, sunrise will reward you with the loveliest of light falling on the skyline, but at least I had some very interesting sky to help me out. The abandoned pillars make for an interesting foreground. Specially with long exposures which render the water with a velvety texture, which contrast with the well defined pillars. But I was there at midday, and without a Big Stopper to help me out, so the water looks very choppy. Whenever I get the chance to back to NYC, this is on my list to retake. It was taken at the end of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, and you may want to venture even closer to the water than me.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Fujifilm XF10-24mmF4 R OIS
MeFOTO Backpacker Tripod 
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Sharpening, colour blending and clean up
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 85] Under the stars at the Grand Central Terminal

November 24, 2015

The ceiling of the Grand Central Terminal's Main Concourse is , arguably, the most striking feature of this iconic New York station. The astronomical ceiling was conceived in 1912 by Warren and French portrait artist Paul César Helleu, and executed by corps of astronomers and painting assistants working for the Hewlett-Basing Studio. The original ceiling was replaced in the late 1930s to correct falling plaster. In 1957, in an attempt to counteract feelings of insecurity spawned by the Soviet launch of Sputnik, an American Redstone missile was set up in the Main Concourse. With No other way to erect the missile, a hole was cut in the ceiling around the image of Pisces, so the rocket could be lifted into place.Historical preservation dictated that this hole remain (as opposed to being repaired) as a testament to the many uses of the Terminal over the years. By the 1980s, the ceiling was obscured by decades of what was thought to be coal and diesel smoke. Spectroscopic examination revealed that it was mostly tar and nicotine from tobacco smoke. A 12-year restoration effort completed in autumn 1996 restored the ceiling to its original luster. he starry ceiling is astronomically inaccurate in a complicated way. While the stars within some constellations appear correctly as they would from earth, other constellations are reversed left-to-right, as is the overall arrangement of the constellations on the ceiling. Though the astronomical inconsistencies were noticed promptly by a commuter in 1913, they have not been corrected in any of the subsequent renovations of the ceiling.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-PRO1
Samyang 8mm f2.8 Fisheye
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial toning and final crop
Photoshop: Manual layer blending, sharpening and colour blending
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction

#project365 [day 84] Down the corridor, at the NYPL

November 23, 2015

This is my last image from the inside of the Stephen A. Schwarzian Building, the epicenter of the New York Public Library. I just loved the paneling work of the ceiling of this corridor, showing it proved a bit more complex than what I had expected. Shooting into a dark corridor that has a strong natural light source at the end is never simple. And this was one of the busiest corridors in the building, since at the end you could find the ladies washrooms. So I decided to point my lens more upward, and get the nice stone arch to frame the ceiling, and waited until there was only enough people in the scene to give it some idea of dimensions but not to become a distraction. And of course using exposure bracketing to get enough information in the shadows and highlights for post processing.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : HDR photomerge, initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.

#project365 [day 83] On the move, Grand Central Terminal

November 22, 2015

Another one from the beautiful Grand Central Terminal in New York City. Where the main concourse is so finely detailed, even the passage to the tracks is a work of art. After you pass through this doorway though, and the industrial minimalism is king, This was another waiting game. Find a passage that had few distractions to create a nice frame, and wait until somebody gets to the position where it ties it all together.

-- Gear
Fujifilm X-T1
Fujifilm XF18-135mmF3.5-5.6R LM OIS WR
-- Post
Lightroom : Initial tone and final crop.
Photoshop: Perspective correction, clean up and sharpening.
NikCollection Color Efex Pro 4: Toning and Detail extraction.