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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixty Eight: A city portrait -- impressions of New York > Skaters, Central Park, New York City, New York, 2009
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22-MAR-2009

Skaters, Central Park, New York City, New York, 2009

There has always been skating in Central Park, and the tradition continues into the 21st century. The Wollman Rink was donated to Central Park 50 years ago, and it is currently operated by Donald Trump’s organization. I emphasize the rink in this wideangle, late afternoon view by exposing for the white ice and the shooting into the sun. This allows the image to darken, and only suggest the presence of the buildings that line the park, as well as abstracting the foliage of the park itself. The sun’s glare explodes into shafts of light that magically point to the ice skaters below.

Leica D-Lux 4
1/1600s f/8.0 at 5.1mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis04-Apr-2009 18:44
Thanks, Susan -- this image took a lot of work. The little Leica D-Lux 4, which offers a spectacular wideangle focal length, and a very fine and fast lens, has a small sensor, which means it has a limited dynamic range. This caused a problem for me in this situation, because a lot of dynamic range is required to hold detail in the shadows (the buildings) yet at the same time avoid burned out highlights (the skating rink). My solution: spot meter on the rink to hold its detail. Allow the detail in the shadows to vanish, and reclaim them later in post-processing by using the shadow/highlight control in Photoshop. That was tricky as well. It took a lot of attempts to get just the right kind of color and detail on those buildings, but as you note, the color of the buildings here is crucial. It makes the rest of the image magical.
Susan Bowen04-Apr-2009 02:07
This is a beautiful image. I love the ray of light and the color of the buildings. Really wonderful.
Phil Douglis03-Apr-2009 01:08
Thanks, Tim -- this is one of my favorites, too. I love your interpretation of the rays here. The open spaces of Central Park make a strong contrast on their own to the massive city that hems it in. The rays of sun, created by glare, gave me a wonderful bonus here. And that was the city's intention, way back in the 19th century. When the park was built, there was no great city on all sides, but the planners envisioned it correctly.
Tim May02-Apr-2009 23:21
What a glorious image. I feel as if the shooting rays of the sun are the densely packed part of the city looking down benevolently on the open space.
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