Harking back to a time when we could roam the streets of NYC freely, shooting jobs and moving about……hoping everyone is still hanging in there and staying safe.
The camera tech of right now is phenomenal. It gives the photographer great leeway to just simply shoot pictures in all manner of situations and adjust on the fly, with the flick of a couple buttons. The mantra I used to hear when I first started in the business, “If I can see it, I can shoot it,” is now, finally, true. With transparency film and Tri-X, back in the day, not so much. In very dim or tough light conditions, a more accurate mantra might have been “Put your camera to your eye and hope for the best.”
Kevin Rivera is a wonderfully talented break dancer in New York City. His stage is often times the street or the subway. I spent some time with Kevin, roaming Manhattan and the Bronx, grabbing frames when I could. I saw this neon in a store, and the glow of it, and asked him to lean against the glass for a photo. I just liked the light, and Kevin has a wonderful face for a portrait. This is a 50mm lens, at f/1.8, on a Nikon Z 6, ISO 2000. In today’s parlance, ISO 2000 is not particularly extreme, but to me it is still an amazing gift as a shooter. I guess what’s still a bit stupefying to me is the intersection of this ISO rating with the quality obtained.
Quite quickly, Kevin turned from this storefront to see his grandfather walking towards him in his Bronx neighborhood. Just as quickly I pivoted, accelerated my ISO to 4000, and shot the below at f2.8 on the 24-70mm f/2.8 S lens. Life moves quickly, and now, the cameras do, as well. Again, historically speaking, I would have had to rewind my film, throw another roll of 36 in the camera, make adjustments and shoot. All while missing moments.
Then, onto an abandoned warehouse in upstate NY. Shafts of light. ISO 250, Change up to the 14-30mm lens.
The cameras keep pace. It’s a beautiful thing. For more on this shoot, head over to our YouTube channel, where terrific filmmaker Chris Hershman teamed up with Nikon to shoot a fast-paced, fun BTS film. It’s also featured over at the Nikon Learn & Explore site. Production credit on all this goes to the always amazing Lynn DelMastro here at our studio and styling kudos to the impeccable Samantha Brown. And Kevin, of course, whose moves made the day.
More tk….
Looks like you have adapted to the change in equipment like you adapt to changing light… quickly and successfully!! Very nice Mr Joe
Hello Joe! I hope you will roam again freely just as you did before. Heart-warming story and nice photos again.
Peter, your photog friend from Hungary
Thank you, Peter! Yes, fingers crossed on getting back on the streets with cameras in hand!!
Thank you, PJ….all of us have to adapt now, all the time….
You thoughts on the Z6 is exactly how I felt when shooting in low light, it’s incredible technology in the palm of our hands
Fantastic moments, captured. Beautiful.
Thank you, Kman!!! Hang in there….you’ve been shooting some great stuff lately!
Hi Joe, I just got my first DSLR Camera and I’m so excited to see where I can get. Im a dancer and I’m aiming to photograph dancers. Breaking is a dance that besides the freezes is so fast and dynamic, what is your shutter speed preference in this kind of dance?
I’m so inspired by upper blog. Thanks so much for sharing all what the world of photography can offer!
Tough to completely say, Guillermo…..but, a safe speed to stop reasonable motion is around 1/500th of a second. Lots of things impact the situation, making it variable in terms of approach, but that’s a good place to start.
Great content. I have always heard this saying “If you can see it you can shoot it”. But it definitely requires a lot of experience. I am sure I will reach this stage some time in future. Just hope to achieve it soon.
I love the shot of Kevin and his grandad. Beautiful moment!
Your an inspiration sir, incredible images!
This is going to be my new mantra! Great images as ever!