Forest Hills--The Day After (series of 7)
lizzard_nyc
Registered Users Posts: 4,056 Major grins
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Liz A.
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Nice series. #6 is just wonderful - life goes on.
Virginia
"A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you, the less you know." Diane Arbus
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Thank you Virginia,
We are fine, this was one neighborhood away. I was walking home with my daughter when it hit. It was terrifying, there was hail coming down, and lightning all over the place and the strong wind. I lost my umbrella and picked up my daughter and ran for safety. I am in Elmhurst, one neighborhood over from Forest Hills where the eye of the storm was. My neighborhood was relatively spared. EDIT: amid the chaos, I kept wishing I had my camera, lol.
Here is a video link of someone recording the storm as it came into Forest Hills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsiJ3z3WbhM
About the shots, everybody was taking photos of the downed trees, crushed cars, etc. I am glad for everything I learned here so I knew to get the human element.
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The National Weather Service determined on Friday last night that the twin twisters and the macroburst, a sudden acceleration of wind coming out of a fast-moving storm that reached a width of up to five miles, created a 14-mile path of destruction across across Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn.
Try the "dodge" tool on the kid with the yarmulke (almost smack dab in the center of #6) and see if you can lighten his face to see some details.
Would really help that shot tremendously.
Namaste.
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I also like the couple in #2. There's a feeling of resignation in their body language. You don't have to see their face to feel their reaction.
... I'm still peeling potatoes.
patti hinton photography
I'm really sorry you folks had to go through an experience like this. Having endured a number of vicious storms here in Florida, these kind of scenes are all too common to me. It's hard to describe to someone the shear stunned horror of having a tree come crashing through the roof....as happened to me a couple of years ago. I'm so glad your family escaped the worst of this storm.
Your pictures very effectively caught the mixed reactions shown in the faces of those people.
Tom
Having lived in tornado alley before I should not have ignored the green skies and eerie calm. My gut kept saying "run" and my mind kept saying "it's NYC, there are no torandoes here".
Jenn--as to your comment, I agree. When I was processing them I thought this is the closest I've come to actual PJ instead of just street, but I knew my processing didn't jive with PJ. I think if I was submitting to a paper I would have toned it down, as is, I only submitted them to the gothamist. I think everyone here is kind of saturated with photos of the aftermath.
I have taken both Patti's and Misterb's suggestion to dodge the male int he middle of this photo? What do you think
6b
I thought the whole scene surreal. Many Jewish people were walking the neighborhood after the Yom Kippur services (it's a heavily Jewish neighborhood) and it their attire, most dressed in white, was such a contrast to the chaos.
The Park which was destroyed served as a gathering ground after the services and everyone just cleared a spot to sit and went along with normal activities amid the destruction.
here is a couple more from the little park
8. These boys made me laugh. They were in the park and saw me taking pics, they said "hey photographer come take pictures of us" so I did. The one in the middle asked me where I was going to post it and then suggested I post them in Jews.com.
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11. I ran to get a photo of the parents taking this photo (I missed it unfortunately)--they asked their son to climb on top of the tree for a photo op--I guess they never heard "safety first"
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The face looks like it's been lightened just a hair too much. I can pick out the dodging when I look at it.
... I'm still peeling potatoes.
patti hinton photography
Yeah- I didn't see it at work with the cheap monitor- but at home I can see it.
I think you have to dodge it *first*, then adjust the rest.. I'm no pro.
Secondly, I too have to go with #6 with an edit on the face somewhere between the first and second submission. The shot just screams of people's abilities to get back to normal as soon as practical.
What great post-storm shots. I have to say I'm not really digging the b/w conversion, though. What are you doing to convert to b/w? Even without any modification, you've got a great series to mark this event. Way to go.
Jesse
Confession. I still dont' know how to fully work LR3 and dont' know where the dodge function is. I processed all the shots in LR3 but I dodged in Picnik. I wasn't happy with the results either.
Thanks Patti, Misterband M38A1.
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Thanks Jesse
I process in LR3 and this is the closest I've come to processing in LR3 to how I used to process before in high contrast. I just can't get enough of it. I've tried to tone it down but...
I still post less contrasty shots now and then, but still it beckons. I do see how with this PJ series it would have benefited from a dial down or two though.
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Learn to use the LR Adjustment Brush tool. You can selectively alter the exposure or brightness of any area, among other things. It's not as powerful as the PS dodging and burning tools, but it would probably work well in this case.
I took one of my images that was dark and underexposed and then made a fast & dirty tutorial with LR3 and Photoshop screenshots.
I'm not the *best* and probably not the *worst* at this- and if you would like to add pointers or better methods- have at it.
www.mind-driftphoto.com
I do like #5 with the four all looking with emotion on the same scene, and #6 because of the quick return to "normalcy" amidst the chaos. (BTW, a simple fix here might be to just slide the "shadow" slider to brighter IF LR3 has such a function -- have this in PSE7 and DPP).
I didn't notice a "shadow" slider in LR3..