Frigid Night in Central Park

Decided to take a quick stroll around the park on a Monday evening. It’s a blustery January evening, so I won’t be out for too long.

Some daytime shots while we still have a little sunlight.

Timelapse Sunset

I wanted to capture the wind and cloud motions with a long exposure. I put on the neutral density filter and fiddled with the aperture to obtain the time exposures I wanted. Meanwhile, my fingers are half-frozen.

The first photo, and the eeriest, is an 8-second exposure at ƒ/22—I stopped down the lens about as far as it can go. In the second photo, I backed off that a bit with a 5-second exposure at ƒ/11. For the final photo, I removed the filter and captured a 15-second exposure at ƒ/11, which yielded the most light.

I like these equally. I like the muted light, and the eerie quality to them and the “fuzziness” of the branches created by the trees blowing in the wind.

Angel in Twilight

One of the most photogenic spots in the park, the Bethesda Terrace and its centerpiece, the Angel of the Waters statue, is a spot I return to over and over. I never seem to tire of this subject.

Bow Bridge

This gracefully arched cast iron bridge is one of the most photographed spots in the park. This is a 13-second exposure which captures the faint, ambient light, but also the wind in the upper, bare tree branches.