The Inaugural NYC Fall Colors and Shades workshop was an absolute triumph! Our class of five intrepid photographers crossed islands and boroughs, immersed in the brash display of predominantly yellow and deep red foliage that defined the season. This workshop was designed to challenge you to see the city in a new, integrated light, focusing on city parks (both large like Central Park & Governors Island, and micro-sized). We spent our days mastering two distinct and powerful aesthetics: the timeless drama of black & white and the stunning visual feast of fall color, capturing the narrative of the city through graphic lines, stark contrast, and the warm, rich hues of autumn.
Brandon Remler showed up and did our class picture in infra red
What an amazing three days! We concluded our journey through NYC’s most beautiful and compelling locations with a gallery-ready collection of stunning images. Our core focus on blending landscape and street photography allowed us to capture the quiet, timeless grandeur of Central Park’s massive oak trees, only to pivot and frame the fleeting, human moments of urban life. The assignments were met with incredible dedication, showing students expertly incorporating experimental techniques like ICM (intentional camera movement), Pans and specific concepts like thinking in triptych.
Day One: Park Elegance and Museum Inspiration
Using the Nikon Z9 14-24 f2.8 & 24-120 f4 made it easy to nail the “postcard” shot
Our first day was a study in classic New York elegance, beginning in Greenly Square and quickly immersing us in the golden light of Central Park. We circumnavigated the lakes, explored the iconic Bethesda Terrace, and captured the classic New York vistas. After a restful lunch, the Man Ray show at the Met provided profound inspiration, shifting our focus to stark contrast and surreal narrative. The evening culminated in capturing the warm, directional light of sunset at Cleopatra’s Needle, ending the day with dramatic, silhouette-ready images.
Day Two: Water, History, and Greenwich Village Grit
Govenors Island is a photo composition paradise
We kicked off Day Two with a nautical adventure, sailing out from the Battery Maritime Building to Governors Island. This provided essential, clear-air perspective on the Lower Manhattan skyline and Lady Liberty—a powerful exercise in urban landscape photography. Massive oaks with turning leaves in a maritime enclave was explored with an eye for ruinism. After returning, the focus shifted to “urban park” street photography in the Village. From the vibrant life inside Washington Square Park and across the village to Tompkins Square park’s skater haven, we explored the rich character to these parks, pushing our cameras to capture the fleeting moments that define New York’s personality on a perfect fall day. After dinner at Momofuko, we all began the task of editing for the next day’s critique session.
Fishermen in silhouette with Lady Liberty in the background. How much more NYC can you get?
Day Three: Chelsea and the Hudson River Canvas
Little Island is a city treasure- in all seasons but Fall is very special
Our final morning began with bagels, coffee and an inspiring critique session, where the group submitted 12 final images, demonstrating huge leaps in editing confidence. Afterwards, energized, we took to the streets of Chelsea, documenting the architecture, townhouses, and creeping foliage. The afternoon was devoted to the waterfront, starting at the modern, organic architecture of Little Island and concluding with a walk on the High Line. This blend of nature and modern design provided the perfect final challenge, allowing everyone to synthesize the week’s lessons and complete the workshop with a fresh, comprehensive portfolio.
One of the assigments was to present a triptych of the days locations.
WORKSHOP GALLERY
I was pleasantly surprised at the adoption of color to my vision. I’ve been living in a black and white photography universe exclusively for the past decade when I swore off color. I really enjoyed seeking out the color of the landscape, as opposed to the contrast. I think this workshop has opened me up to a softer stance on making color work.
Washington Square Park Legend, Joey Chess
If you were concerned about my satisfaction with working in color, I did make a series of images in black and white during the three-day workshop. Yes, black and white does have its place in the fall colors. Long live the B&W image!
Having the Man Ray exhibit anchor day one was key, because one of the assignments for day two was to make an image in homage to Man Ray. It proved to be very difficult, but the class pulled through and leveled up.
We are repeating this workshop in 2026. I’m sure it will sell out, so if the above tickels your aperture, then hop on over the NYC Fall Colors & Shades 3 Day Workshop Home and seize your spot. Limited to 6 and will sell out as it’s priced with a good value.
Abstract taken in Central Park of a Sun Bather. 90 mm 2.8 aperture priority f16 B&W conversion Nik Silver efx
This is my first A7 family camera to put to the test. I have been a big fan of the RX100 and RX10 since they came out, and had a failed Sony A6000 encounter. Meatloaf says, “two out of three aint bad”, so I planned on going in with an open mind for this camera and take it for a test shoot, or two.
Sony 90 mm f2.8 Aperture Priority f4. Super snappy autofocus made this shat a breeze. The little guy was moving bouncing around.
I’ll be honest; I wasn’t a fan of the first A7. It didn’t care for the feel, fit and finish. Of course it was Sony’s first attempt, and I always am leery of first versions. However the camera did truly put Sony on the map, and turned many photographers away from Nikon and Canon so I knew it did have merit. I was eager to put the A7rII in my camera bag on two recent shoot.
Sony 90mm f2.8 Aperture Priority F2.8 Processed in Nik Silver efx
Upon opening the camera I was taken aback about how sturdy and good feeling the camera is. The shutter has a solid quality snap to it, and is much quieter than it’s predecessor. I still wouldn’t call it quiet like a Leica, but the sound is lower and deeper. Something akin to a dulcet clunk than a tinny smack.
I ran the camera with two lenses, a 90 F 2.8 macro and a 24-70 F 4.0. I shot with the 90 more; because I am a fan of portraits and that was the current project I’m on, Throttle Portraits of bikers and thier bikes.
The photographer-motorcyclist-paintballer known as The Kingpin shot with 90 mm 2.8 wide open with one reflector off to the side.
This portrait says it all.
The auto focus is superb. The A7rII has 399 focus points. Yes, that’s 399 focus points. My wife and I hosted Brian Smith and his lovely wife Fazia over for a dinner the first day I had the camera. Brian set up the autofocus spots to be manually shifted by hitting the OK button and then navigating the plane of focus. This took some getting used to, but the camera as you move the point of focus across its generous full frame view, you can also adjust the size of the focus spot with a command dial. Brian’s findings on the camera can be found here. Focus is crisp, and the multi point auto hits it’s mark effortlessly. I would venture to say that it is the best auto focusing camera I have ever shot with. This coming from a guy who sold the Maxxum 700 camera at JC Penny when Minolta first introduced the first generation at AF SLR.
Long Live Hogs and Heifers RIP Hogs and Heifers.
An advancement with the A7rII is it’s low light capability. I really didn’t test that aspect since I was too consumed with shooting portraits. I did get the chance to bring Vincent Versace to Hogs and Heifers, a classic NY dive bar that will be closing at the end of August due to massive rent increases from a soulless corporation (that is rant you can joing me on Facebook about). I made one shot of the whole bar, with the setting sun pouring in from the east. I think it was a difficult shot to expose and the camera really handled it well. The interior shot of Hogs and Heifers was made in Aperture Priority f8 and auto out of the box auto iso. I wish I could tell you the iso it chose, but the 42 megapixel file is crippling my aging powerbook.
The Obelisk next to the Met in Central Park. Sony 90 f2.8 Processed in Nik Silver efx
I found the buttons plenty, and this is a camera that when getting used to, is a fine instrument to make digital photographs. That being said, at $3200 it better be. It is not that much smaller than a SLR, the Mirrorless aspect doesn’t shed that much size nor weight. It does, but not that much. Don’t buy this just to save weight, once you slap on the lenses it will be heavy. Buy this for the technological wonder it is. I didn’t test video, but lets make an assumption, it’s going to do very well. The only real problem I had with the camera was its viewfinder. It’s top of the line and works very well, however it is digital and I’m old school, I’ll take a digital camera and accept it and make inspired images, but I’ll be darned if I have to see the world pixilated. Come shoot with me using the Deardorff and you will see why I prefer an analog approach.
Look at that detail!
I will be moderating a panel with Colby Brown, Daniel Watson and Kenta Honjo August 12th at 2:00 pm. More info below- please join us.
Spread the Word!
Have a ball with this camera! It’s a serious contender.
It’s my ball and you’re just here in my woof world because it’s my ball.
Suspect Photography 