Museum Monday

One of the great perks of living in New York City is our abundance of museums to attend. It is also one of those things that residents don't do that often. I had worked in many of the museums here as a vendor before actually visiting them as a patron. One of those museums is the American Museum of Natural History.

Tusk
Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/8, 1/80s, 3200ISO, 20mm

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the largest museums in the world, having over two million square feet. Only a small portion of their collection is actually on display. But perhaps their most recent claim to fame is serving as the backdrop for the movie "Night at the Museum" (2006) that spawned several sequels.

Skeletal Underside
Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/5.6, 1/40s, 3200ISO, 72mm

My sister and her two daughters came for a visit this summer. We took them to AMNH for a visit. My sister was disappointed that the museum wasn't laid out exactly just like the movie. I had to remind her that Hollywood always takes liberties with movie making.

Polar Bear and kids
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/2.8, 1/80sec, 3200ISO, 40mm

AMNH is one of the sites that visitors should see when they visit New York City. My wife and I signed up to become members through the idNYC program, so we will be making more frequent trips during the colder months since the museums are perfect cold weather activities. It is another massive institution that you cannot tackle all in one day.

Minerals
Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/5.6, 1/100s, 3200ISO, 18mm

#tbt Autumn in Central Park two years ago

Central Park Detail
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/125sec, 200ISO, 40mm

Two years ago in October, the company I formerly worked was illuminating a wedding at the Central Park Boathouse. My day consisted of me stopping by the venue to ensure quality was top notch, and interface with the client and the venue contacts. The event setup went well, the crew had no real issues. I can't remember if I took photos of the setup for that wedding or not, but I had taken my camera with me, and the lens of choice for that day was the 40mm pancake lens. 

Central Park Autumn Evening
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/10, 1/200sec, 640ISO, 40mm

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you will notice that I mainly use three lenses. I use the Tokina 11-16mm f2/8 lens a lot for work, and it is usually the lens for my Wide Angle Wednesday posts. When I purchased my first dSLR, it came with a kit lens, the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, which is my third most used lens at this point, it is the lens I use when I know I will want wide angle shots and a little telephoto action. But my pancake lens, the EF 40mm f/2.8, might be my favorite. 

Boats and the Boathouse
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/10, 1/250sec, 640ISO, 40mm

The small size of the shorty forty means that the 60D doesn't feel as bulky or heavy, so I am more apt to throw the camera in my bag and take it with me. I also like the challenge a prime lens offers, as I have to think more about composition, and use my feet to zoom. 

8th Ave Looking South from Columbus Circle
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/160sec, 640ISO, 40mm

That day two years ago in October, I walked from the west side of the park to the Boathouse, which is closer to the east side. Afterwards, I walked back out to the west side and down to Columbus Circle to the ACE trains, and then down to Penn Station. I was glad to have taken the camera with me, as my walk to and from work became a photo walk, allowing me to stretch my photographic muscles. I also captured a few of the photos that have become favorites of mine, such as the second one in this post, and the final one below.

LIRR Penn Station Clock and Flag Entrance
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/4, 1/160sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

Met Exterior Wide Angle Wednesday

Met Exterior
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/200sec, 320ISO, 11mm

I have lived in New York City for 14 years. I had never been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art until 2 weeks ago though. idNYC is an ID program for New York City Residents. Through this program, at least for this first year, you can sign up for a free membership at many of the cultural institutions around the city. So far, my wife and I joined the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Met. Should give us plenty to do in the winter months between the last two museums.

The Met is enormous. We went on a Sunday afternoon, and really only had time for the Egyptian Art Wing, as I had to go work a gig on the otherside of town at 6p. I hope to go back several times to spend more time in the rest of the galleries. 

Queens Museum InstaMeet Wide Angle Wednesday

The sun is starting to set behind the Museum
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/640sec, 640ISO, 11mm

A little after joining Instagram, one of the things I was hoping to achieve through it was a free helicopter tour of New York City. I still haven't obtained that, but I was invited to my first private Instameet at the end of August.

Atrium
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/3.2, 1/200sec, 1600ISO, 16mm

 One of the people I follow started a hashtag call #Queenscapes (also his screenname now). When searching through this tag, you get to see the diversity of the borough. Often times, the outer boroughs have this feeling of second class citizens since Manhattan is what everyone usually wants to see. Queenscaps celebrates Queens, my adopted home since November of 2007. 

The minute I found this project, I became a supporter of the tag. It pushed me to try to capture my viewpoint of Queens, to show the rest of the world how great my new borough was. I also live in a part of Queens that doesn't have a view of the Manhattan skyline, so I really tried to capture things that I love about this county (the county and borough have the same name). I still have a lot more to explore, and I doubt I'll ever be done.

Lines and Shades
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/5, 1/80sec, 1600ISO, 11mm

The Instameet took place after hours at the Queens Museum, located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fair. The physical structure of the Queens Museum was built for the 1939 World's Fair, and contains one of the gems of the 1964 Fair, the Panorama of New York City. You can read more about the World's Fair on a previous blog posts here and here.

It was a pleasure to meet some of the people who I follow on Instagram, to put a face to the screenname. It was nice to take our time and explore the exhibits on our own time without too many other people there. Unfortunately, I still have not really gone through my pictures from that meet to post them. I will attempt to fill up a couple of posts with some of the highlights from the displays I captured.

Goodnight Queens
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/5, 1/125sec, 1250ISO, 11mm