New York State Pavilion Open Gate on Opening Day 50th Anniversary

Springtime in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/500sec, 100ISO, 40mm

Wednesday I posted photos from April 22nd of this year through the wide angle lens (World's Fair Wide Angle Wednesday). Today, I am adding some of the photos that were captured through my shorty forty (EF 40mm f/2.8 STM), and one from an old zoom lens I inherited (EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM). 

There is a Long Island Railroad station that serves Flushing-Meadows. It opened for the first World's Fair in 1939. When I first moved to Queens, it was the Shea Stadium stop, but now it is called Mets-Willets Point. This station is only operational during the US Open, and during Mets home games. Since the fall, the LIRR has been utilizing tracks 3 through 4 as a parking lot for some of the trains during the afternoons. 

Red Bird in the wild
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/10, 1/500sec, 100ISO, 40mm

I spotted a Red Bird (9343) in the Corona Yard, the storage facility for the MTA's New York City Transit's 7 Trains. Though referred to as Red Birds, the R33 World's Fair cars were originally light turquoise and white. This car was delivered by the St. Louis Car Company in October of 1963. These cars were taken out of revenue service in November of 2003, so I did get a chance to ride the Red Birds after I moved to NYC. Some of them now serve as artificial reefs down the Atlantic Cost, a few are being preserved, and some, such as this one, serve as work cars.

Also visible in that photograph are the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the US Open is held, and the Unisphere, and the Observation Towers of the New York State Pavilion. The larger stadium is Arthur Ashe Stadium, which is the world's largest tennis specific stadium. It opened in 1997. The smaller stadium is Louis Armstrong Stadium, named after the jazz musician who lived close by in Corona, Queens. It served as the main stadium from 1978 until 1997 when Arthur Ashe Stadium opened.

Silver, silver, black and yellow
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/200sec, 100ISO, 40mm

I walked further south making my way to the Pavilion and took a quick shot of a work train at rest. It is never a good sign when you see one of these barreling through a station at night, so I prefer to observe a work train in these conditions.

Unisphere looking North towards Arthur Ashe Stadium in Springtime
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/9, 1/250sec, 125ISO, 40mm

The Unisphere is one of the most iconic images of Queens, if not New York City as well. It was built on top of the Perisphere's foundation from the previous World's Fair, and was a gift from United States Steel Corporation. It features three rings, one to represent the orbit of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space (Russian Cosmonaut), John Glenn, the first American in space, and Telstar, the first active communications satellite. 

Dry Unisphere and Queens Museum
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/400sec, 320ISO, 40mm

The Unisphere is located just outside of the Queens Museum, where I spent some of the time waiting. The thing is massive! The people in the above photograph give you a sense of the scale. It is 140' tall, and weighs 700,000lbs with a 100ton inverted tripod. 

LGA, Riker's Island, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, College Point from the "air"
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/3.5, 1/80sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

As I wrote previously, the Panorama of the City of New York is where I spent some of my time waiting. The following are some more detail shots, since they weren't taken with the wide angle lens. 

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park from the South looking North
Canon 60D, EF75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM, f/4.5, 1/320sec, 6400ISO, 40mm

When the Fair closed, the Panorama remained open to the public, and the map was updated regularly until 1970. It wasn't updated from 1970 until 1992, when 60,000 structures were added. Beginning in 2009, the Museum decided to try to keep it updated more regularly. People and organizations can donate money to adopt an accurate scale model of their building. The first updated model was the Mets' CitiField, which replaced Shea Stadium in 2009.

Downtown Manhattan
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/3.5, 1/125sec, 1600ISO, 40mm

One of the buildings that no longer exist in the skyline, the World Trade Center's Twin Towers, still remain on the map. They will be replaced when construction at the site is finished and the new buildings are complete, rather than a hole in the map.

Waiting...
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/5, 1/320sec, 125ISO, 40mm

After heading back to the gates of the Tent of Tomorrow, I waited outside for our number to be called. Hardhats were required once inside. I noticed they had placed blue decorative balls ontop of the rods just above the entrance, as it looked 50 years prior. And a flag was hung there as well.

Towers through the Tent
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/1000sec, 125ISO, 40mm

I finally made it inside! We were told we had 10 minutes, so I tried to make the most of it, capturing some images with my shorty forty and switching to the wide angle lens. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me.

West Entrance with Texaco
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 125ISO, 40mm

They had restored some of the signage, such as the Texaco sign.

 

Planters
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 125ISO, 40mm

And the Restaurant sign as well...

Stitched Together
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/250sec, 125ISO, 40mm

I took several photos and used Microsoft's Image Composite Editor to create this large image above. 15 images were combined to create the final product.

My time was up, I left and headed back to the LIRR to head home to Northeastern Queens. As I passed the Unisphere, I turned around and captured one final image of the Pavilion. One final image that day, as I have returned multiple times since April to the park and always seem to photograph it. 

Remnants of the World's Fair in Spring
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/400sec, 320ISO, 40mm

Shorty Forty

One of the things that every photographer suffers from at some point is gear lust. You want to buy every piece of gear available, more lenses, perhaps a better body, lots of accessories. I am no different. 
 

Underground
Canon EOS Rebel T3i, EF50mm f/1.8, f/1.8, 1/60s, 400ISO, 50mm

My first photography purchase was actually the Nifty Fifty, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens. I used this lens with the company's Canon Rebel T2i, before I had purchased my first body, the Rebel T3i. It was great, I could shoot wide open (aperture at f/1.8) to get that oh so desirable bokeh. It is a cheap lens, I picked it for $109 before tax.
 

Fallen Wood
Canon EOS Rebel T3i, EF50mm f/1.8, f/2.8, 1/250s, 100ISO, 50mm

The Nifty Fifty, and the Shorty Forty, are both prime lenses, meaning that they have a fixed focal length. Prime lenses are great photographers of all skill levels. They usually have faster apertures than a zoom lens, lighter, and cheaper as well. One of the things that a fixed focal length also forces a new photographer to do is think about composition. Zoom lenses allow you to be lazy, all you have to do is zoom in or out from your same vantage point. A prime lens forces you to zoom with your feet. If you want to get more of the scene in the frame, you have to physically walk back, if you want to fill the frame with your subject, you have to get closer. Sometimes, you are not able to physically get closer or further, so you will have to change your framing to compensate, look at the scene in a new way. 
 

From the Hip
Canon EOS Rebel T3i, EF50mm f/1.8, f/1.8, 1/60s, 100ISO, 50mm

I believe on of my best investements was a prime lens. Of course, when I first obtained my Nifty Fifty, I was shooting everything wide open, which at f/1.8, allows more light in, allowing for faster shutter speeds, but will create a shallow depth of field, so the part of the image in focus was minimal. When you move from a kit lens that only opens to f/3.5, you can't help yourself.

When my Rebel T3i was stolen, I had the Nifty Fifty mounted. I was glad that it was the cheap lens, though I was still bummed about the whole camera gear being stolen, I tried to look at the bright side of things and realize it could have been worse. The Rebel was replaced by a Canon 60D, so my primary lens was the Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens that was purchased with the now stolen Rebel. After Christmas about 8 months later, I had some gift cards, and decided I wanted a prime lens again.

Having owned the Nifty Fifty, I knew it was cheap, but there were somethings about it I didn't like. It felt cheap, the AF motor was noisy. My budget was low, as I only had a couple gift cards, so the EF 50mm f/1.4 was too expensive as were a few other primes.

Canon had released a pancake lens, called that because of how flat it was, and my interest was piqued.The pancake lens, the Shorty Forty, or EF 40mm f/2.8, was a little wider than the 50mm, but since I shoot on a crop body, I thought that would be fine. Many sites have said that 50mm on a full frame camera is about the equivalent of what your eye sees. On a Canon crop body, the 50mm is about 80mm, while the 40mm is about 64mm.

I ended up purchasing the Shorty Forty. Though the max aperture is f/2.8 as opposed to f/1.8, you end up stopping down the aperture anyways, so that wasn't too big of and issue. Reading reviews, time and time again they discussed how sharp it was for the price, even wide open. I decided to purchase it and am very happy I did.
 

Sunset over Manhattan from Queens
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/1000s, 100ISO, 40mm

One of the things I like most about the Shorty Forty is how small it is. I can leave it mounted to my 60D, and the camera isn't large or cumbersome to carry around when I go out with my family, or even if I just throw it in my bag on the way to work. I found myself wanting to take my camera more places. When shooting for work, I sometimes would just throw the Shorty Forty in my pocket while the camera body will have the wide angle attached, and it allows me to capture some details shots, as the minimum focusing distance is pretty close for a non-macro lens. 

Signs of Spring
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/125s, 160ISO, 40mm

There is one thing that I don't like about the lens. The lens focusing mechanics only work when the camera is on. This means that if you leave the lens protruding, though it doesn't that much, you can't manual focus it back when the camera is off. This also means that the lens can't focus when used with cheap macro extension tubes since those tubes don't have electrical contacts. Other than that though, this lens shines! 

Auburndale Snow
Canon 60D, EF40mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/50s, 640ISO, 40mm

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for their first foray outside of the kit lens their camera came with when purchased. It probably is attached to my camera more than any other lens at this point.

Another Vanishing Point

Recently received some feedback from a couple of friends that said they loved the vanishing point post. So this post is for you!

Sunrise in Queens
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/4, 1/320s, 640ISO, 16mm

Living in New York City, I am constantly seeing vanishing points. The straight railroad tracks of the commuter railroads and subways, the grid pattern of streets in Manhattan, the rising modern skyscrappers, I can't escape them!

34th Street Vanishing Point
Canon 60D, Tokina Pro DX-II 11-16mm f/2.8, f/4, 1/50s, 100ISO, 11mm

This shot of 34th Street was taken from a rooftop, about 9 stories high. This was a single image, but due to the lighting conditions, I ended up creating an HDR image out of the single RAW file. I will share this processes in a future post.

Wild Asia Monorail Wait
Canon 60D, EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6, f/8, 1/400s, 800ISO, 75mm

This shot from the Bronx Zoo is from a telephoto lens I inherited from my uncle. My family and I are members of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which grants us admission to four zoos and an aquarium. Needless to say, we take full advantage of our membership and are at a zoo a lot. 

Highline Park
Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/8, 1/125s, 400ISO, 18mm

 Highline Park is a park that was built on the remnants of a former elevated freight train line on the West Side of Manhattan in the Chelsea neighborhood. It is a recent addition to the city, the park that is, the elevated structure was completed in 1934. Interstate trucking reduced the need for the elevated line, leading to destruction of the southern section in the 60s, and the last freight train was in 1980.

Vanishing Points

Canon 60D, EF 40mm f/2.8 STM, f/4, 1/100s, 3200ISO, 40mm

I love a good vanishing point. Forced Perspective and all that jazz. Living in NYC, I am constantly seeing them, from the two tracks leading into and out of my railroad station, to the grid in Manhattan. Part of my brain loves the symmetry of a vanishing point photograph. 

Looking Up for Grace
Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/16, 1/6400s, 160ISO, 18mm

Canon 60D, EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6, f/13, 1/40s, 160ISO, 36mm

Into the Mouth of Madness
Canon 60D, EF 40mm f/2.8 STM, f/8, 1/125s, 640ISO, 40mm