In Photos: Looking Up

Photo Challenge: Looking up

Way before I arrived here in New York City, someone told me that there was that running joke in these tourists walking around Manhattan.  Barring the obvious about only tourists wearing shorts in the summer, they’re the ones who keep looking up.  They are always awed by the concrete jungle that this part of NYC is, whether they are from another state or another country.

When I started on Instagram not too long ago, I found upward looking shots as a creative way of showcasing the obvious.  It was a different way of making the ordinary stand out.  More than that, it literally showed my world from a different perspective.  Much like stopping to smell the flowers, many of us here tend to forget how there is much to be awed by if we stop looking at what’s street level and looked up instead.  There is a totally different world many levels above us.

Below is a compilation of some of my #LookingUp posts in answer to this photo challenge.

May 19, 2014: The view from my bus stop this cold, cold early evening in NYC. #lookingup #ny #mynewyork #myny #manhattan #42ndstreet #midtown #ilovenewyork #onmywayhome #thebigapple

#LookingUp #SomewhereInTheFlatIrobDiatrict last week while waiting to go to #dinner. It’s always good to look at a different view every once in a while. It refreshes your #perspective and gives you a new way to appreciate things..

Looking up: once in a while you have to look up to put things in its proper perspective. #mynyc #mynewyork #lookingup #perspectjve #ilovenewyork #midtown

#Lookingup: running late for brunch but almost there .. Of course, had to stop and snap a pic of the #EmpireStateBuilding. #sunny day today so grab your piece of #sunshine, #nyc ! #Manhattan #mynewyork #mynyc #ilovetheempirestatebuilding

#GlassCanvas: #perfect #sunnyDay in #Manhattan. Such a #gloriousfriday it is! #weekend #Friday #NewYork #newyorkcity #skyscraper #glass #glassfacade #lookingUp

#LookingUp from #lutrellstowncastle on a #sunnydayInDublin. We’ll be back here #Wednesday for #funandgames and #dinner with the team. #ireland #Dublin #workcanbefun #loveWhatYouDo #GothamChickInDublin #sightseeingInDublin #castle #castleindublin #beckha

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC: Looking Up – We always have a grand time visiting here #Washingtondc #smithsoniannationalairandspacemuseum #lookingup #space #nasa #museum

#IGstories and why I love Instagram

I used to carry a camera everywhere, ready to pull it out when I find something picture-worthy.  These days, I clutch my iPhone and get ready to shoot when the mood hits me.  I must say I love the iPhone6 camera because it is so much better than any of its predecessors, and I’ve been trying to learn how to maximize its utility — and it IS endless.

For those who have been reading my posts here, you all know I am on Flickr and also on Instagram (see my side widgets for my feed), so my pictures don’t go to waste.  And while the former is more for photo storage (yes, I’m a paying customer!), the latter has been a very good social tool and a different means of keeping my photos and stories together.

It’s not so much to maintain an online presence.  I have several hashtags that have become a series such as #OnMyWayHome (pictures snapped at the end of the day), #LookingUp (which are photos of the camera facing up, because I think we should always try to look at things differently), and now, #IGstoriesByGothamChick.

These are photos with stories typed on them in four sentences or less.  Another hit of inspiration, I guess.  Below are the first two.

I look at the photo and think of a story, and whatever hits me at that particular moment, I try to condense into a very short blub.  It’s like how you look at strangers conversing in the park or at a distance, and you imagine what it is they might talking about.

I joined Instagram last year, and as of this writing, I have 1078 posts, 335 followers and I’m following 213 others.  I’m not really posting to get followers (just as I am not blogging to rack up readership) — but it’s nice when I find people like what I post.  The followers fluctuate only because others who decide to follow me are usually looking for commercial hits or likes back, and I am not too keen about going commercial.  (Again, even here.)

So why am I on Instagram?

I love the way Instagram allows me to show my world without revealing too many details, save for the visual.  I can whip out the phone, snap a photo on the street, put one single sentence and then some hashtags and I am done.  Some pictures don’t even need any explanation at all.  I don’t need to take more effort beyond editing the picture, perhaps, or correcting some minor flaws.  For the most part, I try not to touch the photos or deviate from the original much except when I want to emphasize a certain aspect of the photo, or when I deliberately stylize the phot and turn it into artwork.

There is a community of photographers out there who share their world on Instagram with fellow IGers like me.  And these ran the gamut of professionals to amateurs who show me another side of the world via their own posts.  It’s a community of people sharing a part of themselves through their photographs.  Like most social platforms, there are new friendships formed even if only online.  It’s a less intrusive and yet prompt way to keep up with others — be it actual friends or people whose accounts I simply bumped into randomly.

I have even gotten to know at least one professional photographer who actually requested to take pictures from my perch atop one of the highest floors of the buildings in Midtown.  His photographs are truly breathtaking, and I’m looking to get a return favor by getting access to one of my photo bucket lists in Manhattan one of these days.

I have yet to meet another online entrepreneur whose shoes I proudly wear.  One day soon, Kelly.

I have always loved to take photographs.  There is something about capturing a moment or a glimpse of time and keeping that scene immortalized in a snapshot.  Way back when I was trying to get into college, one of the educational institutions I tried out for successfully told me my test scores showed I had an eye for photography.  Or as she had put it, I had a talent for pictures.

I often see people lugging around expensive cameras and I have to admit there have been moments when I had been green with envy.  Those fancy cameras actually have a rather musical click which makes me stop and look when I hear it near me.  And yet it has been proven time and again that although the big cameras with their many adjustments CAN take very crisp pictures, those great photos are taken by someone who has a talent for composition and style, be it with a disposable camera or a DSLR with a fancy lens.

Yes, there are stories to be told on instagram.  Stories like yours and mine — and in the case of my #IGstories, pictures with stories in four sentences or less.

ps.

For those who aren’t on iphone, you can access instagram by typing  http://www.instagram.com/gothamchick to go to my account, or click on the feed to the right.

Gorgeous Sunset over Manhattan

Gorgeous sunset over Manhattan and the Empire State Building couldn’t stop dancing! The lights kept changing as if in a never-ending dance. What a glorious way to end what was a beautiful autumn day.. #empirestatebuilding #empirestate #mynyc #mynewyork

Friday Five Progress

I’m seriously thinking of renaming this the Saturday Five because I always end up doing them on a Saturday.  But it doesn’t sound quite right.

Some progress this week:

1.  Write those letters.  I will still try.

2.  Post those earrings!    I actually managed to post five items and these are now available in the shop.

Available at Gothamchick.etsy.com

3.  Work on the Thank You Postcard Project page.  Been working on it but not the the site itself iwhich s private for now and I have it as a separate blog from this, but I have started uploading to its Instagram Account.  Below is one of the first few I’ve uploaded and you can search for it via hashtag. (#thethankyoupostcardproject)  These are also available on my Pinterest account.

4.  Send some test postcards out.  I’m pulling back on this for now because I want to make some specifically to test with.  I don’t want to touch what I already have in the 200+ postcards with backgrounds ready to be worked on.

5.  Bake some polymer clay pieces this week.  I’ve been pouring a lot of work into polymer clay and so far I’ve managed to make maybe half a dozen beads and molds, but my major polymer clay experiment fell flat.  But that’s what experiments are for, so I’m glad to report that I am at least working on it.

So here goes this week’s Friday’s Five:

1.  Write those letters.  I will still try.  I am working on some handmade cards and might even come out with a tutorial in Gotham Chick (my craft blog),  so at least one card, I think will go out.

2.  Post the almost finished bracelets and necklaces in the shop.  I have some mother of pearl bead bangles that are ready for posting but need some finishing because of the extender chain with charm I wanted to add.  That should be done this weekend, and he posts up before next Friday.

3.  Finish at least one more background at the end of my altered book.  I’ve gone back to art journaling and was just finishing one layout for an entry, but I have around 20 spreads in the book that are still plain book pages.  The idea is to create journal ready spreads as I go along.  One or two more entries in the back of the bok would be nice.

4.  Destash more magazine by going through them and getting what I need.  I have been cutting out letters connected to the Thank You Postcard Project and hope to do that with the other magazines I mean to throw out.

5.  Create more polymer clay beads.  I worked on some molds last night meant to help with textures and I hope to create more this weekend.  (Has to be this weekend.)

It might seem like I’m rehashing the previous week’s list but that’s the whole point of this.  I created this list to help me focus on deliverables that are achievable, and I like that it’s kept me committed to ticking off something each week.

It was beautiful yesterday but the clouds are back.  Not a happy morning outside but I’m not complaining because the sun is going to be tolerable.  Hope everyone is having a good Saturday!

A Prayer and Homage

A prayer and homage to Him who has brought me this far. Without You, Lord, I wouldn’t be where I am right now. Thank You, Jesus, for all the blessings and for never leaving my side through the challenges life had brought my way. #prayer #sunsetinnyc #onmywayhome #thankYouLord #blessed #ny #mynewyork #gi
vingthanks #.

A terrible headache came upon me sometime midday. I stepped out to get some sun and grab a free bag of beads as part of an e-mail promotion of one of my favorite bead stores, got some chicken fajita for lunch and it hit me even before I got back up on 41. Two pain relievers later, I was just wishing for the day to end.

Getting off the bus I noticed the sky was a pinkish hue and decided to take a few snapshots. Gorgeous, don’t you think? So apt to use as a background for my prayer. You’ll find this on my Instagram and Pinterest pages. (Shameless request for followers.)

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A sight to behold: Analogia in Bryant Park

It’s entitled Analogia and it’s one of those things that make being in New York City a privilege.  This has been up for a week now and you have another week or so more to enjoy it.  Up until March 18, this epic art installation in Bryant Park by Ben Tritt, produced by Jodi Kaplan has been standing proud on the Fountain Terrace.  The picture above was taken from across Sixth Avenue, aka Avenue of the Americas.

I snapped up a picture during my noon walk and another on the way home.

Even when taken with natural lighting, the graphics were imposing and just amazing.  Although the installation is not lit, the way it was executed makes the visuals come alive, more so when viewed up close from street level, making the various levels “connect” into one flowing scene on each side.  (Just below the steps is the better angle.)

It was pure luck that I stood in the middle and then noticed the gap framed my fountain beautifully.  Just moving a few inches to center it made for the gorgeous evening shot.

Catch it if you can while it’s still in the park.