If I Can See It, I Can Shoot It

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….

Discover more from Joe McNally Photography

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Pinterest

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address Get Joe's Posts by email

News from Joe… Sign-up here to receive studio updates

Name*

Email Address*

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Email Options

Updates from Joe Workshops and Event Information

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

setTimeout(function(){var ct_input_name = "ct_checkjs_5751ec3e9a4feab575962e78e006250d";if (document.getElementById(ct_input_name) !== null) {var ct_input_value = document.getElementById(ct_input_name).value;document.getElementById(ct_input_name).value = document.getElementById(ct_input_name).value.replace(ct_input_value, '54da9d21ce6b6ba33fa12e13bb8932176c9b898cc7b38bd61e060513f89123b1');}}, 1000);

/* = 0;if(!is_postback){return;}var form_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_wrapper_1');var is_confirmation = jQuery(this).contents().find('#gform_confirmation_wrapper_1').length > 0;var is_redirect = contents.indexOf('gformRedirect(){') >= 0;var is_form = form_content.length > 0 && ! is_redirect && ! is_confirmation;var mt = parseInt(jQuery('html').css('margin-top'), 10) + parseInt(jQuery('body').css('margin-top'), 10) + 100;if(is_form){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').html(form_content.html());if(form_content.hasClass('gform_validation_error')){jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').addClass('gform_validation_error');} else {jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').removeClass('gform_validation_error');}setTimeout( function() { /* delay the scroll by 50 milliseconds to fix a bug in chrome */ }, 50 );if(window['gformInitDatepicker']) {gformInitDatepicker();}if(window['gformInitPriceFields']) {gformInitPriceFields();}var current_page = jQuery('#gform_source_page_number_1').val();gformInitSpinner( 1, 'https://joemcnally.com/wp-content/plugins/gravityforms/images/spinner.svg', true );jQuery(document).trigger('gform_page_loaded', [1, current_page]);window['gf_submitting_1'] = false;}else if(!is_redirect){var confirmation_content = jQuery(this).contents().find('.GF_AJAX_POSTBACK').html();if(!confirmation_content){confirmation_content = contents;}jQuery('#gform_wrapper_1').replaceWith(confirmation_content);jQuery(document).trigger('gform_confirmation_loaded', [1]);window['gf_submitting_1'] = false;wp.a11y.speak(jQuery('#gform_confirmation_message_1').text());}else{jQuery('#gform_1').append(contents);if(window['gformRedirect']) {gformRedirect();}}jQuery(document).trigger("gform_pre_post_render", [{ formId: "1", currentPage: "current_page", abort: function() { this.preventDefault(); } }]); if (event && event.defaultPrevented) { return; } const gformWrapperDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_wrapper_1" ); if ( gformWrapperDiv ) { const visibilitySpan = document.createElement( "span" ); visibilitySpan.id = "gform_visibility_test_1"; gformWrapperDiv.insertAdjacentElement( "afterend", visibilitySpan ); } const visibilityTestDiv = document.getElementById( "gform_visibility_test_1" ); let postRenderFired = false; function triggerPostRender() { if ( postRenderFired ) { return; } postRenderFired = true; gform.core.triggerPostRenderEvents( 1, current_page ); if ( visibilityTestDiv ) { visibilityTestDiv.parentNode.removeChild( visibilityTestDiv ); } } function debounce( func, wait, immediate ) { var timeout; return function() { var context = this, args = arguments; var later = function() { timeout = null; if ( !immediate ) func.apply( context, args ); }; var callNow = immediate && !timeout; clearTimeout( timeout ); timeout = setTimeout( later, wait ); if ( callNow ) func.apply( context, args ); }; } const debouncedTriggerPostRender = debounce( function() { triggerPostRender(); }, 200 ); if ( visibilityTestDiv && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent === null ) { const observer = new MutationObserver( ( mutations ) => { mutations.forEach( ( mutation ) => { if ( mutation.type === 'attributes' && visibilityTestDiv.offsetParent !== null ) { debouncedTriggerPostRender(); observer.disconnect(); } }); }); observer.observe( document.body, { attributes: true, childList: false, subtree: true, attributeFilter: [ 'style', 'class' ], }); } else { triggerPostRender(); } } );} ); /* ]]> */

Comments

PJ says

July 6, 2020 at 11:51 am

Looks like you have adapted to the change in equipment like you adapt to changing light… quickly and successfully!! Very nice Mr Joe
Peter Polcz says

July 6, 2020 at 12:18 pm

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
Joe McNally says

July 6, 2020 at 1:32 pm

Thank you, Peter! Yes, fingers crossed on getting back on the streets with cameras in hand!!
Joe McNally says

July 6, 2020 at 1:33 pm

Thank you, PJ….all of us have to adapt now, all the time….
Philip Betts says

July 7, 2020 at 4:52 pm

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
Mark says

July 7, 2020 at 11:27 pm

Fantastic moments, captured. Beautiful.
Joe McNally says

July 8, 2020 at 9:38 pm

Thank you, Kman!!! Hang in there….you’ve been shooting some great stuff lately!
Guillermo says

July 14, 2020 at 11:39 pm

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!
Joe McNally says

July 16, 2020 at 6:32 am

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.
John Steve says

August 6, 2020 at 2:37 pm

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.
Nicola Bushnell says

August 30, 2020 at 5:40 pm

I love the shot of Kevin and his grandad. Beautiful moment!
Steve Lowrey says

September 28, 2020 at 7:20 pm

Your an inspiration sir, incredible images!
Leon Britton says

April 3, 2023 at 5:06 am

This is going to be my new mantra! Great images as ever!
KrysPolkinophotography says

October 1, 2024 at 7:58 am

I loved your photography skills. Keep it up man!