Beginner New York Photography

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caitlinjade95

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caitlin
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Hello!!

I'm going to New York in January and i plan to take my canon 600d. I'm in no way a professional photographer and usually put my camera into AV mode or at least attempt manual mode for good practise!

However i have the kit lens which is 18-55mm and the 50mm 1.8 lens.

I want to take photos of the shops, famous land marks and anything i see i want my camera with me all day every day even to take photos of the most random thing but i also want to be able to take photos of the view from the empire state building.

In your opinion whats the best lens to take with me out of the two that i have, or should i really buy a seperate one. I use the two lenses i have for blogging and they are perfect for me i'm worried buying another lens will not get used. But if you think its best to get another lens then please let me know which one so i can at least reasearch it!

Any tips for a newbie new york photographer will be greatly appreciated even little tips to help me out!
 
I have been luck enough to have photographed New York several times. For street work I found my 24-105 (on full frame) my most useful lens for daytime as it gives a decent semi wide for the tall buildings and narrowish streets but a longer length for the wider spaces such as Central Park. At night, which is my favourite time to be out and about, I used a 50mm F1.4 prime. Superb for people shots and candid portraits and good too to cover the lights in say Times Square. If you want to take shots inside the great buildings, then a wider lens may be preferable, but your kit lens will be fine and dandy.

Just remember that the NYPD and security guys have a paranoid hatred of tripods, so take a bean bag instead. Above all enjoy your trip.
 
Yellowbelly said:
I have been luck enough to have photographed New York several times. For street work I found my 24-105 (on full frame) my most useful lens for daytime as it gives a decent semi wide for the tall buildings and narrowish streets but a longer length for the wider spaces such as Central Park. At night, which is my favourite time to be out and about, I used a 50mm F1.4 prime. Superb for people shots and candid portraits and good too to cover the lights in say Times Square. If you want to take shots inside the great buildings, then a wider lens may be preferable, but your kit lens will be fine and dandy.

Just remember that the NYPD and security guys have a paranoid hatred of tripods, so take a bean bag instead. Above all enjoy your trip.
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OOO I NEVER KNEW THAT ABOUT THE TRIPOD LOL!! thanks for the heads up on that one!!

It's mostly documenting my journey im not expecting amazing photos but i want a photo of every place i visit so im hoping the two lenses i have will give me a pretty decent range as i have a month to save for new york before i go lol!!

I would like a wider lens but i just don't think money is going to be in my favour for a new lens!! Photographing the lights at night is what i would like but during the day all the buildings and the malls i visit etc is what i plan to do!!
 
You will do just fine with your lenses. New York is a photographer's playground. Remember to take plenty of storage cards. And you just must visit B&H Photographic. A shop like you've never seen before and such a slick operation I guarantee you will be amazed.
 
Definitely take, and use, both. You'll want the 50mm the prime for night shots.

When i went to New York, i didn't have my own SLR at the time and borrowed a friends 300D with an 18-55mm. The 18-55mm was fine, you definitely need the 18mm to capture the huge scale of everything.

If I were you, I'd save my money and take it with me, then if i found that I was missing something, either a wider lens or a longer one, then you could always buy it there. Or actually just rent one for a day, perhaps an ulna wide angle to really emphasise the huge scale of everything.

Have fun and enjoy all the deli's, the food is amazing.
 
Yellowbelly said:
You will do just fine with your lenses. New York is a photographer's playground. Remember to take plenty of storage cards. And you just must visit B&H Photographic. A shop like you've never seen before and such a slick operation I guarantee you will be amazed.
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ooo ive noted that down!! Thankyou very much!
 
Danger_MouseUK said:
Definitely take, and use, both. You'll want the 50mm the prime for night shots.

When i went to New York, i didn't have my own SLR at the time and borrowed a friends 300D with an 18-55mm. The 18-55mm was fine, you definitely need the 18mm to capture the huge scale of everything.

If I were you, I'd save my money and take it with me, then if i found that I was missing something, either a wider lens or a longer one, then you could always buy it there. Or actually just rent one for a day, perhaps an ulna wide angle to really emphasise the huge scale of everything.

Have fun and enjoy all the deli's, the food is amazing.
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Thanks so much for your help!!
 
If you are going to buy a lens buy it there in B&H or Andromana and save yourself a lot of money.

I shot shot a lot with my 10-20mm when i went out there. Its a little wide for street work. If i went again i would just use something like a 14-35mm or better still a tokina 12-28mm and leave the rest of the lenses at home.
 
I was there 6 years ago.. turned up without a camera and a load of cash.. bought a D80 and 18-200mm VR straight away..

Go to Empire state at dusk you will get some great shots of the city. I used a gorillapod for long exposures.. plenty of others places to go. Grand central, statue of liberty etc etc.. enjoy yourself..
 
New York is an amazing place for photography! You'll do fine with those lenses as others have said. If you can beg, borrow or steal (not recommended) a long lens to take with you, then I would, you'll be amazed how much detail there is there and you might wanna pick just little bits out of the frame etc.
 
I was in New York at the end of October and it's pretty much at the top of my favourite places to take a camera, it's just an awesome, awesome city with so many things to point your lens at! For general shooting I think you'll be absolutely fine with just the 18-55. I took my 5D2 + 24-105L, and as a backup (because I was in the US for 3 weeks and didn't want my only camera to break) my 7D + 18-55 kit lens with the Sigma 10-20. In New York I took about 1500 shots on the 5D + 24-105 in the week I was there and maybe only 5-7 frames on the 7D + 10-20, I was mostly in the wider half of the 24-105's range which is the same kind of range covered by the 18-55 on your 600D.

I can imagine some people might be wanting to take architectural shots and might want something a bit longer, but I could have shot probably 90% of what I did with the 18-55 with no problem at all.

Have a great trip, post some photos when you get back! :)
 
Hey

Realise i might be a bit late as its already Jan but having a 550d, I find 18 is not wide enough for cities. I ended up getting a Tokina 11-16 which might be a little fisheye-ie for some but means you can capture most scenes without having to be a long way away. Also has the benefit of being 2.8 so works well at night.

Tip for night time: use something to brace yourself if you don't have a tripod of the bean bag, perhaps a lamppost. To further avoid shake if you can rest the camera on something, use the self timer

Sam
 
samuelhon said:
Realise i might be a bit late as its already Jan but having a 550d, I find 18 is not wide enough for cities.
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That used to be exactly how I thought about shooting around cities, I never thought 18 was wide enough on a crop sensor to fit everything into the frame so I bought a Sigma 10-20. I still use it occasionally but these days I tend to find those kinds of focal lengths too wide. Ultra-wide lenses have their place but I think using them needs careful consideration; it's all too easy to end up fitting so much into the frame the viewer doesn't know where to look, if you have a strong subject and such a wide angle can put that across well then go for it but I think a little caution should be used not to just fit everything into the frame for the sake of it. :)
 
50mm will be great for street photography stuff
 
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