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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Sixty Eight: A city portrait -- impressions of New York > Morning rush, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, New York, 2009
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19-MAR-2009

Morning rush, Grand Central Terminal, New York City, New York, 2009

The gesturing commuter appears to be leading the morning charge across the marble floor of the great station. I intensify the speed of the action by using a slow shutter speed ( 1/15th of a second) and moving the camera slowly from right to left as I made the picture. This technique is called panning – it retains detail in some of the figures, yet blurs it in others. I converted the image to black and white to give the image a less realistic, more symbolic form. The original colors in this image played no part in my message.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/15s f/4.0 at 45.0mm iso400 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis03-Apr-2009 01:57
All of which is essential for survival in New York, Tim.
Tim May02-Apr-2009 23:50
I like that he is looking over his shoulder. One would expect the drive of the image to be reflected in his looking forward. But here he glances to his side. Showing that he is aware of not only where he is going, but of where he has been.
Phil Douglis31-Mar-2009 21:44
Thanks, Chris -- such is the art of panning. You never know exactly what you are going to get. I made a lot of panning shots (moving the camera in the same direction as the subjects are moving, while using a slow shutter speed of 1/15th of a second) while shooting the morning rush hour, and this one worked the best. You have to experiment -- you just can't pick up the camera and make it happen automatically.
Chris Sofopoulos31-Mar-2009 13:31
Simply amazing photo and best choice the b&w!
I like the way you made it and how you left focused only these
couple in the centre, while the others are completely blured.
So dynamic shot!
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