New York City • 2023
Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, World Trade Center, Flatiron Building, Grand Central Station, Times Square, Coney Island, The Summit One Vanderbilt, Dumbo, the 911 Memorial, B&H Photo and a lot more
Workshop One: October 18th-24th, 2023 • workshop full
7 days • 6 nights Group size • 7 people • $3,100 plus hotel
Workshop Two: October 26th-24th-November 1st, 2023 • two spots open
The Big Apple!
October of 2023, I will be doing two more exciting workshops with only a handful of people in each one to some of my favorite and iconic locations in this electrifying city. New York City has so much to offer and I love showing others how to photograph the way I like to capture this amazing place. I chose the month of October for cooler weather temps and less tourists than the summer as it is considered one of the best months of the year to be in NYC!
The architecture is off the wall amazing and we will be taking subways, Ubers, taxis and even ferries to get to some of my favorite locations. Great photography will take center stage and with a limited group of 7 students for the workshop, this will provide a great atmosphere to get around and move from location to location. NYC is very much like Paris to me and my wife as the energy and excitement is going 24/7. We will take advantage of this everywhere possible throughout this workshop!
Stunning Architecture
Each day we will venture out from our stunning boutique hotel, which is very close to Times Square, Grand Central and next door to the Empire State Building. We will go to different locations with our gear and tripods and try to hit every iconic place in this one of a kind city. Photographing New York often, I know many of the best locations for incredible shooting from morning to after dark.
The first morning before we leave, we will meet in a beautiful meeting room to go over most of the places we will be shooting. This 1-2 hour meeting will help us all understand the logistics of our workshop and we will go over everything from what lenses for particular shots will be needed to how we will all travel to each location. We will go over a lot of our itineary this morning too & show many shots that we will be trying to capture.
After dark in NYC!
We will also be shooting a lot after dark as this city never sleeps and the architecture is intoxicating. Shooting the taxis in traffic in Times Square with long shutter speeds is one amazing experience. Grand Central Station day & night is also one incredible place to shoot with vantage points all over & another great place to experiment with motion blur/ long exposures.
There is also an Apple Store right in the station and we can shoot the non stop movement of the crowds below right from balcony of the store. We will walk the length of the famous High Line Railway, shoot car trails by the Flatiron, if it has reopened and even shoot in the iconic JP Morgan Library that is just breathtaking. This will be a photographers paradise for that special week.
Shooting high and low
I will be working individually with each person in the field each day, pushing you to master your camera and settings for every kind of situation. We will go over all kinds of settings that best capture this unique city and also explore shooting from high above New York in the best high rise skyscrapers!
We will shoot from atop the new spectacular Summit One Vanderbilt which is insanely gorgeous, the top of the Empire State Building and also on top of Rockefeller Center. These three high rises offer stunning views of NYC from high above and they are my three favorite high rise locations to shoot NYC from high above! We will also try capturing panoramas from our tripods and our mini tripods too in great locations wherever possible
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Gonna be one fun time!
The food in NYC is amazing and we will eat as a group all over including grabbing slices of pizza at Rays Pizza to some cool and fun restaurants. This workshop will be very loose as we will see each day how the weather is cooperating but October should be a great time to be there. October can be very cool, especially after dark and there is always the chance of showers anytime of the year in New York City so bringing rain gear is a must!
We will be shooting everything using wide angle to telephoto so a nice assortment of lenses will be key! With only 7 students, instruction will be more personalized and the logistics and transportation will be a lot easier too! We will also try to go to the infamous Coney Island and eat at world famous Nathans, home of Nathans Hot Dog eating contest.
Logistics
Workshop 1:
7 days • 6 nights • October 18th-24th • 2023
The workshop begins at 10am on Wednesday, October 18th, 2023 and ends on Tuesday, October 24th, 2023 after breakfast. This will allow people ample time to fly home.
Workshop 2:
7 days • 6 nights • October 26th, 2023 – November 1st, 2023
The newly added 2nd workshop begins at 10am on Thursday, October 26th, 2023 and ends on Wednesday, November 1st, 2023 after breakfast. This will allow people ample time to fly home.
For both workshops, we will meet in the lobby of our hotel, the Executive Hotel Le Soleil New York at 10am on the first day of the workshop. After our meet & greet, we will all move to a beautiful meeting room to go over all of the details for the workshop.
A cool Boutique Hotel
I have secured special room rates between $285 and $325 depending on your choice of room and I can will send everyone a link to get your room. You are responsible for your own reservations. Hotels are fairly expensive all over NYC and I have stayed at many all over NYC. This hotel is just awesome and I would not stay anywhere else for my workshops as they treat me and my groups like gold!
Getting There
The Executive Hotel Le Soleil New York is not far from Times Square and any of the three airports in NYC will be fine as you can easily get to the hotel from any of the airports. There are trains everywhere as well as the Air Tran and also Uber or you can take a taxi. I can help you with all of this anytime but just about any flight into NYC will work!
IN THIS WORKSHOP — WE WILL COVER:
• Great compositions all throughout New York City
• Wide angle versus panorama photography
• HDR handheld panoramas
• HDR photography in different lighting situations
• Stacking images to remove unwanted people
• Understanding what gear to use for a particular shot
• Shooting after dark including long exposures, architecture, subways, and more
• Slow shutter speeds/ motion blurs to capture people and cars in motion
• Creating images with impact
• Using a mini tripod where a regular tripod is not allowed
• Using a rubber collapsible lens shade to reduce reflections in glass
• Street shooting all over in different areas of NYC
• Learn how to do Panoramas & Vertical Panoramas
• Post processing sessions in the conference room
Workshop Limit
The workshop is limited to 7 participants so we can have a small group throughout NYC.
Skill Level
A good understanding of your camera operations including using f/stops and shutter speed is needed for this workshop. This workshop is for the intermediate to advanced photographer wanting to master street shooting, architecture, night photography, panoramas and composition and camera techniques. If I do not feel that you are the right fit for this workshop, I will let you know as you do have to have a good skill level.
Fitness Requirements
Street shooting in cities like New York involves a lot of walking although we will take the subways often and also Ubers or taxis. We will also take the ferry to cross the Hudson river and the views from the ferry are incredible! Although there is not a lot of uneven terrain, walking in the city can be exhausting with potholes all over, so be prepared!
Registration
1. To register for the New York City 2023 workshop or for more information, please contact us here. After you fill out the registration, I will send you a detailed letter with tons of info on the workshop and also what to bring.
2. Next, I will let you know how to make your reservations at the hotel and when it’s time to book your flight. You need to arrive at least one day early for the workshop, on October 17th, so we will all be set to meet at 10am on the morning of October 18th, 2023.
For the new 2nd workshop, you would need to arrive one day early to NYC on October 25th so you are all set for the 10am meeting on October 26th, 2023.
If you are taking the optional Helicopter ride over NYC, then you need to arrive two days early on October 16th, 2023 so you are all set for the October 17th Helicopter ride or for the newly added 2nd workshop, you would need to be in NYC early for the helicopter ride at sunset on October 25th.
Cost
The cost for the workshop is $3,100 because of having only 7 students. This will include location scouting all over New York, instruction day & night, helicopter instruction if you go up in a helicopter and photography & Photoshop instruction at the hotel along with some critiquing.
I will work with each person individually to make sure you are composing & capturing the best images possible from every location.
There will also be another 2 hour meeting in the gorgeous hotel boardroom, focusing on Photoshop. I will show tons of techniques and ideas to make your New York City images even more powerful! This will be very informative and we will also go over photo gear and camera settings for different situations when shooting in locations like New York City.
Items not included are: Lodging at the Executive Hotel Le Soleil New York, entrance fees to all locations including all of the high rises and transportation in and around NYC. We will eat as a group at restaurants or fast food places and be able to continue photography discussions. You can see a typical room in the above photo.
Optional helicopter flight
Shoot from high above NYC
For a select few people, there is an option to fly above NYC from a choice of two helicopters. I have shot from both of them and absolutely love shooting NYC from high above. And of course the only way to shoot is with the doors off to get the most amazing shots from so many great vantage points all across New York.
This is something I can discuss with you personally to let you know what it is like, what gear is needed and what to expect. To book a flight is not cheap as this is a serious company with professional flights unlike others that book typical tourists. But it is like no other view in all of New York City and they are the best!
When is the helicopter shoot
The shoot would be on Tuesday, October 17th or Thursday, October 25th, the night before both workshops start. We will take an Uber or private limo to the airport in White Plains NY as this helicopter company is the most professional in all of NYC.
Movie studios who shoot in NYC use their pilots and helicopters more than anyone else as they get you to just about anywhere you want at whatever time you want. I am very fussy about what I want to capture when I am up in the air and they work with me in every way possible.
Gear needed for the Helicopter shoot
Typically, it is easiest to have just one camera. I have shot with two cameras but it makes things a bit more challenging. If you are super careful, it is possible to change lenses in the helicopter but not for the feint of heart. The most important thing is Image Stabilization in my opinion. Image Stabilizers in the camera like many new mirrorless cameras have is best but also good IS in the lens you are using is crucial!
The best lens I feel for these flights is a F/2.8 24-70 IS but I wish they made a f/2.8 24-105 IS or f/2.8 24-120 IS but not so far. I would ideally like a longer reach than 70mm on my zoom but maybe one day. But we will talk a bunch way in advance about what gear to use & what to rent as we will rent gear on the morning of the flight at a new rental place that I found since Adorama Camera Rentals has moved very far away. If you own the right gear then you will not have to rent anything!
Two types of Helicopters
This company has two different types of helicopters. One is a smaller Robinson 44 that is slower and more bumpy but lots of fun and one is a Eurostar A-Star which is bigger, stunning, more pricey and more like something that James Bond would fly in. I have shot in both and both have their advatages and disadvantages and I can let you know about all of that before you book the flight. The James Bond helicopter is pictured below left and the cockpit of the Robinson 44 is on the right..
