May, 25th...Finaly Blog

Today I received the final copy of my book! I completed my self-evaluation and had a meeting with Patrice to go over it. We also planed my presentation.

Monday, May 24th

This morning I had a meeting with Patrice about my project so far and what still need to get done. I plan to start my end of project paper tonight and work on it Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Today I spent an hour choosing pictures that I plan to pint out and have next to my book during the exhibit. I just received the confirmation email tell me that my book is complete and is being shipped; it is supposed to arrive tomorrow!

Week Two Blog

This past week was my last week on senior project. May 19th was my last day taking pictures; I walked around New York City for six hours. I started putting my book together on May 18th because it was raining all day long so I was only able to take pictures of Yankees stadium. On May 20th I completed my book and sent it out on the morning of May 21 to Snapfish, which is the website I am using to have my book, “Inside The City That Never Sleeps” printed. Yesterday I woke up early and my father drove me back to campus.
In the beginning of senior project I made a list of places I wanted to photograph and for the most part I achieved all of them. I did not end up taking pictures of the United Nations and Ground Zero. I decided that those were not things that I felt a connection too, I realized that they were more of tourist attractions. The twin towers were such a presence in New York and the 911 a day filled with horrible memories, most New Yorkers choose not to go visit ground zero. I have never been, which is why I realized it would not play as an appropriate picture in my book. Because I decided not to take pictures of these two things I took pictures of New York City Schools. When I lived in New York I attended the Hewitt School, Manhattan school are different form others schools because they are in old brown stones and are generally very small. I also ended up taking many more pictures in central park than planed, such as pictures of statues, multiple ponds and the carousel. I thought that those had more to do with making New York a wonderful place than the more obvious things such as ground zero and the UN.
What I thought was challenging this week was putting my book together and not having enough time to go back and re-shoot sights. I did not think it was going to be so hard to edit down and decide what pictures I wanted to place in my book. I planned on my book being around fifty pages and it ended up being seventy-five. For some reason I was not able to get good pictures of Saks, the National History Museum and St Patrick’s on 5th Ave because of the construction. Over all I am extremely happy with the out come of my book, I put a lot of hard work into it. This book has made me reconnect to the city I grew up in; over the past few years I have not been able to spend time in the city. There is nothing that could have made me happier than being able to take pictures and walk around New York, rediscovering all of the amazing things that it has to offer. I cannot wait for it to arrive to see the final outcome.

Saturday, May 22nd

This morning my dad drove me back to school and tonight I went to the play, which was really fun. I ordered three more copies of my book but not on rushed delivery because I want to give one book to Patrice, my father and have a personal copy. Tomorrow I plan to relax, work on my end of week response and meet with Patrice and Dave.

Friday, May 21st

Today I completed the final touches on my book! It ended up being 72 pages, which was a lot larger than I originally intended. I put a lot of effort into my book and I am extremely excited to see the outcome of the final project. Since I have completed my book I am going to return to campus tomorrow. I am going to have meetings with Patrice and Dave next week. I also will be printing the pictures I took in New York and pictures I plan to take while in New Hampshire.

Thursday, May 19th

Today I spent most of the day creating my book. I also took pictures of three New York City school including my old school Hewitt. Even though yesterday I changed the date of sending my book I am going back to the original date again. This is because even though I spent the entire day perfecting my book it has gotten really late and I don’t think it is going to make a difference if I send it tonight or first thing in the morning. Also I think having a fresh eye to look over my book one last time on Friday before I send it, it will be a good idea. I am so excited that my book is finally done, its such a good feeling to see all your hard work pay off.

Wednesday, May 19

Today was my last day of taking pictures! I went to the financial district, took pictures of Wall St, the Federal Reserve Bank and the Brooklyn bridge. I also went to Soho to take photos of Broadway as well as Canal Street and china town. The last set of pictures I took were of Penn station as well as 42nd St/ Time Square. The website that I am using to create my book has a set price for 20 pages and an additional charge for any extras, which leads me to believe that it might take longer to print, which is why I am going to try to send my book tomorrow instead of Friday.

Tuesday, May 18th

Last night I finalized editing all the photos i have taken so far as well as spent time uploading them all to Snapfish. Today was supposed to be my last day of picture taking before I put my book together but unfortunately it was poring rain all day long. Even though it was raining I was able to go take pictures of Yankee Stadium. Since it was raining I decided to put my book together today instead of Wednesday and I plan on taking pictures tomorrow instead of today. I spent about 4 hours putting together my book, I have added about 200 pictures, as well as captions and a dedication, which has added up to 51 pages so far.

Monday, May 17th

Today and tomorrow are my last days taking pictures because I need to put together the book and send it to Snapfish to be made by Friday morning. Today was really hard because the things I was taking pictures of were not in the same area and I always walk everywhere. When I went to retake a picture of the MET it was under construction so I did not take another picture. I also ran into the same problem when I walked to the west side to photograph the Natural History Museum because there was scaffolding around the building. How ever, I was able to take pictures of two diners, the MOMA, the Apple Store, Grand Central, the Central Park Zoo, FAO Schwarz and POP burger, which is one of my favorite restaurants. I spent 6 hours walking around taking pictures and I plan to spend time working on my book after dinner.

End of Week Blog, May 16th

This week was the first week of my senior project. Over the past week I have accomplished many things. I have started research on the things I plan to photograph and have photographed so far. I also got my late birthday present from my father, which is a Cannon Rebel SXi. I spent time learning how to use my new camera because it is different from the Nikon D40 that Patrice kindly lent me. In the beginning of the week I planed out all of the things I want to photograph. I am really glad I created a written list because there is so much to photograph in New York City.
There were a few things that I found challenging this week. I did not think it was going to be so difficult to take pictures in the city but the harsh light and shadows have made it harder that I originally thought. Once I got adjusted to my new camera and figured out the correct time to shoot it became much easier. I also realized that editing down my pictures is going to be a lot more challenging because already after only one week of shooting I have around 1,000 pictures.
My favorite place I have taken pictures of so far is central park and the view of the city from the empire state building. I forgot how beautiful the park is and how many cool places there are to explore. It is really amazing that you can be lying in the grass next to Turtle Pond and Belvidere castle and have a view of the New York sky line. Even though getting up to the top of the empire state building was a challenge because of all the long lines, once I reached the top it was beautiful. I have only been to the empire state building for meetings with my mother but had never actually been to the top. The two hour wait to get to the top made it so I had a view of the city during sun set, which was beautiful and made it worth the wait.
Today I went on snap fish and started uploading pictures that I plan to put in my book as well as learning how to further use the site. I also plan to use photo shop to perfect some of my finally photos. I am extremely tired from walking around so much yesterday so I am going to rest and do work in my apartment until tonight when I plan to take night pictures.

Saturday, May 15th

I now understand why people who live in New York City do not ever go to the empire state building. It took me two hours to get to the top even after buying express tickets. Finally once I reached the top the sun started to set which allowed me to capture beautiful picture of the city. Today I walked around taking pictures from 1 in the after noon until 9 at night. I went back to 5th avenue to take a second round of photos there. I also took pictures of fruit venders, stores, churches, the Chrysler building, radio city music hall and Rockefeller center. Today was quite an adventure, in totally I spent 8 hours taking pictures.

Friday, May 14th

Today I woke up to an overcast and rainy New York. Since it was not a good day to take pictures I started editing, deleting and categorizing my work. After two hours of editing I decided that I should start creating a lay out for my book, which I did for an hour and a half, so when it comes time to print it I am not overwhelmed with work. It finally started getting nice later in the day so I decided to go take pictures. I only was able to take pictures for two hours because it was so hot and humid out. I mainly walked in the park near my house and on the boardwalk. I got photos of children playing in the playground that I spent all my spring afternoons in with my babysitter after school when I was younger. I also walked along the boardwalk talking pictures of the bridges, the FDR drive, the east river and people enjoying the sun. My favorite pictures that I took today were the pictures of people and there dogs as well as the doggy parks along the east river. Tonight I plan to go onto my roof again and shoot the city from higher up during sun set as well as after dark.

Thursday, May 13th

Today I woke up to a beautiful day, it was 66 and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I knew that tomorrow was going to be stormy so I left my apartment at 11:30 and didn’t stop walking around and taking pictures till 4:30. Once I got into central park I couldn’t stop taking pictures of things. I had previously made a list of things I wanted to photograph in the park but had forgotten how beautiful and how many amazing things there are. The only reason I stopped taking pictures today was because my memory card became full.

Things I took pictures of today: 5th ave, Barneys, Bloomingdales, Bloomingdale's subway stop, Bergdorf’s, street performers, person dressed up as the statue of liberty, hot dog venders, carriage horses, central park, Alice and wonderland statue, Balto statue, Wolman’s rink, carousel, great lawn, reservoir, parks, the pond with sail boats, turtle pond, the MET, the Guggenheim, Mr. softies, The Boathouse, and more

This evening I came home and discovered that since I have already taken over 1,000 photos there was no more space on my computer, so I went threw and deleted old photos and uploaded documents to my external hard drive to create more space on. I then spent over two hours editing and organizing the photos I have taken so far.

Wednesday, May 12

Last night I went on a cruise around NYC. While on the boat I was able to capture pictures of the empire state building, which was lit up purple for the New York University, 2010 Commencement ceremony, and the New York City skyline from the water. Today was over cast and rainy but when it wasn’t raining the light was really nice. I went down town and took pictures of St Marks place, Aster place and parts of Soho. This evening I put the past two days of pictures on to my computer and did my first set of picture editing.

Tuesday, May 11

Yesterday my dad got me a new camera, which is a Canon Rebel SXi. I spent most of the morning playing with my new camera and learning how to use it. I spent 3 hours today walking around taking pictures of the city. I captured pictures of hot dog vendors, street signs, the Whitney museum, H and H bagels, Tal bagels and many more. I discovered that it is a lot more difficult to take picture in NYC than I thought because the light is really harsh at certain times of the day and the buildings and awnings cast shadows. Tomorrow I plan to take pictures later in the day when the light is softer and there are less shadows.

Mondy, May 10th

Today is my first day on scene in New York City for senior project. Today I created a list of landmarks, restaurants, buildings, stores, ect. of places I plan to take pictures of and research during senior project. I also organized this list by the location of the sights so it will be easy for me to take the pictures. I also started my research on NYC, I found facts such as why cabs are yellow, how many cabs there are, population and size of central park. I also gathered information on the old Yankee stadium as well as the new Yankee stadium. Here is a list of some of the things I plan to take pictures of during senior project.

1) famous streets

2) Federal Reserve Bank on wall st

3) statue of liberty

4) Ellis island

5) viand dinner

6) mansion dinner

7) moonstruck dinner

8) Subways

9) Penn station

10) Grand central

11) French fry place

12) st marks place

13) taxis

14) great lawn

15) reservoir

16) central park

17) Alice and wonderland stature

18) pond in park

19) Wolman rink

20) zoo

21) Rockefeller center

22) Mr. softies

23) parks

24) nail place

25) h and h bagels

26) barney Greengrasses bagels

27) Hudson river

28) famous church

29) the plaza

30) Blarneys

31) Bloomingdales

32) Bergdorf’s

33) 5^th Ave

34) f a o shorts

35) carriage horses

36) Chrysler building

37) empire state building

38) UN

39) hot dog venders

40) east river

41) Triboro bridge

42) Brooklyn bridge

43) museums: MET, MOMA, Natural history, Guggenheim

44) Yankee stadium

45) toys r us

46) china town

47) 42^nd street

48) ground zero