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.
I purchased my first drone in 2018, the original DJI Mavic Air in red. I had a co-worker at B&H show me the ropes and then took the drone to Italy. For the first few flights my hands were shaking like a hound dog passing peach pits! It was truly exciting to take a camera into the sky and then apply years of early video game training to fly it over a mile away- so far that I quickly would lose sight of the little red drone.
Castello di Montecchio Vesponi, ItalySmall Castle and Olive Grove above Punta Bella, Italy
Aside from fear of crashing I was dumbfounded by the choice of either video or still. When I started droning I leaned heavily into video and even upped my Adobe account to include Premier. I put together a Tuscan countryside video that was quite basic and filled with mistakes. However among those mistakes were gold- I was learning to see like an eagle if not fly like one.
The End- Montauk Light House, NY
Drones can see straight ahead and at any angle completely down. It was the “completely down” that blew me away. Drones are smart, in that they know where they are in space (thank you GPS satellites). They can hover and remain stationary or they can fly upwards of 40 MPH in “sport mode”. What I found most appealing from a photographic perspective is hovering in cinema mode. Cine mode makes the drone move very slowly, like a slow camera pan. In still photography it allows for precise micro adjustments of the composition.
South End of Manhattan with Staten Island Ferry, NYC 2020
So get this, you are controlling a camera in the sky (400 foot ceiling as per FAA) over a mile away and making slight adjustments for framing while using altitude as your zoom. That is very exhilarating and empowering. You are now not limited to the perspective afforded by being grounded. Technology is wonderful!
Hay Rolls in a Tuscan FieldBy lowering altitude you can “zoom” in a on detail or rotate to alter the entire composition.
During the pandemic I bought the DJI Mavic Mini and used it on the quiet streets of Manhattan to document the amazing city. The Mini is under 50 grams and no licenses are needed to fly it, so it was perfect for my urban explorations.
Brooklyn Bridge Morning, NYC 2020Brooklyn Bridge view towards Brooklyn (note the low covid traffic), NYC 2020
I’ve walked past this skate park at least 1000 times but when I viewed it from above I discovered a geometry and texture that remained unseen from the ground.
Chelsea Piers Skate Park, NYC 2021Lower Altitude with Skaters300 % Crop of the above photograph
Sometimes great surprises can occur when you are droning that being on the ground would go unnoticed like this message in the corn fields of Warwick NY in the fall of 2020.
Corn Maze, Warwick NY 2020
Much like a view camera, there are a number of steps to ensure you achieve the image you want. Forget one step and you blow you chance or worse, crash the drone. Here is my “Pre-Flight Checklist” to ensure a successful, fruitful flight with the Mavic Air first gen.
Pre-Flight Check List Done in Water Color
The Mavic Mini is my faithful companion in rural italy where I can fly it safely and see a whole new landscape from above. I keep it in Tuscany, and look forward to a new generation of Mavic to purchase soon. Each release of the Mavic series from DJI just gets better and better. I find it thrilling and what’s really amazing is that it represents a whole new way of seeing that is accessible and relatively wide open to anyone who doesn’t have a fear of flying.
Suspect Photography 