Capturing light on New York City's Staten Island Ferry

Hey! It’s been a while! Thought I’d get back to posting images here as besides helping me sharpen my writing skills It’s a good way to keep creative and see my images laid out and grouped together. I also find that its an effective way to stay creative.

The theme here is photography on the famous Staten Island Ferry in New York City.

I now find it to be kind of cheating to do photography here because you’re always gonna come out of the session with something good because even if there aren’t any subjects to shoot there is always the amazing view of the skyline framed through the windows of the ferry. 

So if I want that satisfaction of having captured something I’ll do the 50 minute round trip.

The best time to shoot would be about two hours before sunset. The light is golden and really hits those windows with the most beautiful light.

There are often some amazing characters to be found too so it’s always a great people watching spot.

I even used the ferry as a location for a scene in a fashion shoot.

During the pandemic the ferry was running with hardly anyone on it so I settled for some Ferry still life.

Sometimes if you’re really, really lucky you end up capturing something really special. This image of a red-headed girl pressed up against the window ended up winning me an ADC Cube for Achievement in Photography at the 99th ADC awards in New York . The image is titled ‘‘In Transit’’

In reality the true subject of all these images is actually the Statue of Liberty. Never get tired of photographing it from the vantage point the ferry offers.

Hope you enjoyed this post! For more work or to purchase prints you can check out the links below.

Instagram - @ericvannynatten

Prints - ericvannynatten.com/prints

Blog: Observations part 3

I revisited these images recently from a photo walk I did back in winter 2018.

I had wanted to photograph the court houses in downtown Manhattan during a snowstorm for a while. I didn’t know exactly how I would approach photographing this location or what exactly I’d find but It’s alway a bit of an adventure and exploring options is what fascinates me most about this kind of photography.

This a walkthrough and a bit of the thought process behind each image.

All images shot on iPhone 8 Plus and processed using VSCO and Snapseed.

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It didn’t snow as heavily as I wouldn’t liked but the area was empty and quiet.

A closer look at the pillars. I wanted to include them in the composition but that will prove difficult.

Moved on from trying to include the full height of the structure. Decided to shoot from behind so the pillars could ‘‘frame’’ the subject instead.

A little more pulled back. I love the ridges and shadows so this composition gave a closer view of them which I thought worked quite well. My issue now was the fence that I didn’t like being in the shot.

Wide lens view. Waiting for different subjects to walk past as usual.

Wide lens view.

I notice the snow accumulating on the base of the pillars and it works quite well. How to incorporate it into the composition?

Closeup view of the snow. Fixes the fence problem too.

Then three subjects with colored umbrellas come by.

Got my shot!

Another option with a lone subject but I tend to prefer a pop of color.

Moving on to another spot further down the street. I always see if the same composition concept applies at another spot too. I love the Woolworth Building and I can’t help but photograph it every time I’m near.

A little more pulled back

Love the arches just around the corner.

I love the the City Hall subway entrance, especially the old steel lettering. Hard to incorporate it into a workable composition but here’s my quick attempt.

Hope you enjoyed the walkthrough and a little peak into my process. 

For more work you can check out my Instagram

Instagram - @ericvannynatten