“Shaftway” Loading Dock Doors, Chelsea. New York, New York. August 24, 2011. © Copyright 2011 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Loading dock doors of a brick industrial building in Chelsea, New York City.
I made this photograph on my last morning in New York City in late August, when we visited a side street with many galleries in Chelsea. This is in an area, as I understand it, that has been shifting from more or less industrial to galleries and other more “trendy” endeavors now that the High Line park has, along with other developments, made the area more attractive.
As we walked out of (or was it into?) a doorway across the street, the “SHAFTWAY” sign on the green door caught my attention. As I look at the photograph more now I see a number of other things in it that intrigue me that I wasn’t fully aware of when I made the exposure.
G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Great question, Mark! In addition to my 5D2, here is what I took with me:
EF 35m f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 135mm f/2, 17-40mm f/4, and 24-105mm f/4. Once I got there I typically left one or more of these in the hotel, depending upon where and what I thought I might shoot.
One of my favorite combinations was the 17-40mm zoom, the 50mm prime and the 135mm prime – this gave me the largest coverage of focal lengths with the least bulk/weight. On a few occasions I would use just the 24-105mm zoom since that provided the greatest flexibility in a single lens. When I wanted to work quickly and without a lot of fuss, I often put the 50mm prime on the camera and shot with that in the majority of situations, only switching to a longer/shorter lens if I couldn’t make the subject work with the 50.
I’d have to look it up, but I’m pretty certain that this was shot with the 50mm prime. In more or less “old school” fashion, I would default to ISO 200 and f/8 as a starting point. I don’t eschew AF though, nor to I forego the opportunity to consult the histogram, make adjustments, and shoot some more!
Dan
What was your “walk around” camera/lens of choice while in NYC?