Day 52 (Wednesday, August 2)

Unlike the first two days this week, I did not go running this morning. The reason is because I didn't want to use up all my energy right away. Last night I envisioned a good workout. A long walk through Manhattan enjoying what the city has to offer.

Today, I made that little vision I had last night a reality. I had a few meetings at headquarters in the morning. I also looked around as a photo stringer shot some fashion photos on the roof of the headquarters building as I tried to make my last day at headquarters a productive one.

It was hot today. So hot that, I had to go change clothes whenever I was done w/ all my morning meetings. Just taking the subway back to the hotel was a workout. Outside it the weather was into the triple digits. Underground on the subway tracks it must have been 10 degrees hotter because of the poor air conditioner.

I got to the hotel and changed into some shorts and put on my Doyer baseball hat. I then headed back toward the headquarters building. That's where I met a group of interns who were going to have lunch before they had their meetings.

During my way to and from the hotel, I talked with Oskar (L.A.) about the experience in New York. He's a cool guy that grew up in the San Francisco area. A Berkley student who is now interning at L.A. I heard a little about his girlfriend in Glendale, Calif. and about what could be some of his future plans. I shared some info as well. We walked back from the hotel because it was too nice of a day outside to be in underground. Yeah, even if it was 100-plus degrees.

I had lunch w/ Oskar (L.A.), Aaron (N.Y.), Yaosh (N.Y.), Sonia (Dallas), Gilbert (D.C.) and Anuj (N.Y.). We had some pretty good Thai food.

It was 1 p.m. and most everyone had to either go back to work or head into a meeting. I was done for the day, so I had a few hours to kill.

So, I headed west toward the water front and started a cool day of exploring.

First, I saw the New Jersey side as I got to the water front. I contemplated getting on a ferry and crossing over. But I was drawn away whenever I came across the Water Taxi station. By that time, I had been walking for about an hour and half in the heat. I didn't want to pass out so, I took the Water Taxi around the river.

It was perfect because the Water Taxi went right in front of the Statue of Liberty. I was able to make some nice images as we got up close to it. The best thing, though, was that I was inside the Water Taxi and it had good air conditioning.

The bad part is that since I was inside the Water Taxi, I couldn't get much light on myself in order to get a cool self portrait. I am in the shadow. Which might not be a total loss. It made for an interesting portrait.

Wow! I couldn't believe I was seeing the statue again. This is a place that most of us dream about seeing, but never get a chance.

The Water Taxi ride put me right at the South Street Seaport. So, from there I continued my nomadic tendencies. I walked toward the Brooklyn Bridge because I wanted to get a nice photo from below. I was going to continue walking and not getting on the bridge because I figured I'd seen the bridge and going to it would be redundant. But a few minutes later, I decided that this is a rare opportunity. So, even though the heat was coming down pretty hard, I continued my walk toward the bridge.

This is probably the first time I wish I had an NY ball cap. It would have been perfect. Then again, I am not much of a NY fan. Perhaps a cool B hat from the Brooklyn Dodgers. That would have been perfect. Oh well, I got an L.A. hat on, it's still the Doyers, so I am not complaining too much.

Last night I was on the quest for light. I wanted to play w/ light. Today I was more into the patters. So, I looked for patters. The whole time I walked around today I remembered what my AP trainer Dennis Paquin has told me this summer "see more, shoot less." So, I took my time in shooting things. The above photo shows exactly what I wanted to show. The patterns on the bridge w/ the light post fitting right in the gap between the supporting wires and the cyclist fitting right in between the central point where all lines pretty much lead to.

I also wanted to show the contrast of buildings during this hazy sunny day.

And of course, getting a photo of me w/ Manhattan in the back was something I wanted to come away w/.

Patterns, patterns, patterns. I really love the photo above because it's just that! Patterns.

I walked off the Brooklyn Bridge and jumped on the 6 train northbound. By now, it was 4 p.m. and I had been walking for three hours. I was getting pretty tired. I still had a lot more to see, but only had about an hour left before I had to go get ready for our intern get together tonight in Chinatown.

I rode the 6 train and got off at Grand Station, the place that I got off on all the time last time I was in New York when SPJ put me up at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, one of the most luxurious rooms I've ever seen.

If y'all remember from last time I was in New York, I had a tough time going into the museums that I wanted to see. Well, today I made sure I redeemed myself.

I walked into the International Center of Photography. Wow!

They had a Weegee exhibit. It's pretty fitting that they had a Weegee exhibit because he's by far my favorite photojournalist of all time. His work was and continues to be amazing. It sure influenced me back when I first read about him in 2001. Today, he's still a big influence on me.

There were other photographer's work on display, but I really did not pay much attention to them because I was so caught into the Weegee frames.

I finally headed back to the hotel to get changed for tonight's dinner at the Peking Duck House in Chinatown. As I looked out the window of my 7th floor room, I saw that there were some cool shadows down on the street. The photo above is pretty cool. I call it "Corner Reflection."

"Corner Reflection" shows a lot of lines forming corners. We got the corner of a VW Jetta, the crosswalk likes for different corners w/ different angles degrees. And the woman's body, somehow since I was shooting through the window of my room, gave a relfection right in front of her. It's pretty weird how that came out. This is one of my favorite photos of the week.

I got ready and headed downstairs to meet w/, from left, Eric (Sioux Falls), Oskar (L.A.) and Marcus (San Francisco). When I came downstairs they were waiting for me at the lobby. That's when Oskar said "I found the Easter brothers" to referr to the colors Eric and Marcus chose to wear.

Having dinner w/ the rest of the interns during our last night together was fun. It was a great experience. We had dinner at the Peking Duck House in Chinatown where we had a 10 course meal. Yes! That's right. Ten!

Of course, one of the items we had was duck. Yum. I've had duck before, but this one was especially good. Not sure what it was, but this one was good. During dinner conversations I was able to get to know a little more about the other interns w/ whom I had not had much conversation.

I surprised myself as I was shooting the photos of the duck. The reason I was surprised is because I think the above photo is pretty interesting w/ the way everything is composed. We have the server picking up the duck plates while another employee made duck wraps. In the background you see Brian (Detroit) and Sonia (Dallas) looking at the food. The interesting part of this photo is the fact that I shot this photo before.

The photo was shot in a whole different context, however. During my Al Dia internship in Dallas two years ago, I took a photo of a kid getting a vaccination on his arm. The kid was being held by his father and the nurses arms were all you can see as they came straight down onto his arm. Here's that day's journal entry so you can see the photo I am talking about.

Anyhow, I realized that having experienced w/ that angle and having success gave me a visual tool to put in my memory bank. So, whenever there will be a chance to shoot this angle, I will take my chance. Tonight it worked out. There are many layers to this photo. I know my professor Todd Bigelow might be happy right now as I work on my "layers", something that he tried diligently to get me to learn when I took his advance documentary photojournalism class in the Spring of '05.

Layers help images have dimension. They allow you to fill the frame w/ interesting things to look at. In this case, the duck, the wrap and the expressions on the people at the table. I guess I am finally getting the concept of layering photos.

Goodness!!! After having such a big meal, I was ready to explode. There was no way I would eat for the next couple of days after consuming so much food. That's how I felt right after dinner. But that feeling went away the minute Senior Recruiter Will Chang said we were taking a walk to the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory.

Knowing we were going there put a huge smile on my face and from the looks of it on the above photo, it put a big one also on Melanie (D.C.) face. Wow!

I love going to the Ice Cream Factory, last time I was in New York, I had to hit up the spot. This place was recommended to me by a good friend of mine, Liz, who I met in Dallas during my Al Dia internship. I think by now everyone knows I am a sucker for ice cream. I love ice cream and will have it at any time of day, even if it's really cold. I live for it. So, whenever I talk to people about ice cream, they always tell me where their favor places are.

For me, my favorite ice cream place is here in New York City at the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Tonight I was a little disappointed. That's because they didn't have the flavors I wanted. They were out of avocado and watermelon flavors. Yes, I did say avocado. It might sound nasty and unappealing, but I must say that it's a flavor that will surprise you. I have no idea what they put in it, but the flavor of the avocado ice cream is outstanding.

I went w/ the next best thing and I got pineapple flavor. This ice cream had big chunks of pineapple. It was very good. Later I found out that the place had "red bean flavor." I didn't see it on their list of "exotic flavors," so I didn't try it. Had I known, I would have had it. I have trust in the people working at this particular ice cream place. I'll try anything they make, because it's THAT GOOD!

I guess Eric (Sioux Falls) is an ice cream lover, too. We had a competition to figure out whose tongue was longer and bigger. Man, what's wrong w/ males? We are always trying to see who has the bigger, better things. Always in competition.

We were off to our next destination -- karaokee! So, while we made plans about where we were headed, I looked around and saw the above setting. I am seeing different things these days. I am trying to be creative and push the envelope a little. The above photo doesn't really have a focus point -- and that's the point.

I love the calm red look to it emanating from the sign and the shop across the street. The moving car on the left is so subtle that you have to look closely to see that there's an automobile there. I really like this photo for its artistic value.

We finally figured out where we were going. We had a mission to find the karaokee bar because it was no longer at the location where Will Chang had seen it before. Once we got there, the fun night kicked off. Above you can see Matt (Columbus) on the right, Kate (Atlanta) in center and her friend, whose name I cannot remember. They were enjoying one of the many songs we heard throughout the night. In all, according to Brian, we had about 100 songs.

It was really cool being there w/ the group. We had a big enough crowd that we had to switch out from a large room to a huge room in order to fit everyone. This place is cool. It has many different size rooms where you can enjoy karaokee at your own pace. So, for those who are shy to sing in public, this is one place you can do it w/o making a fool out of yourself outside of your group of friends. Above from left, Brian, Melanie, Frankie (Las Vegas) and Aaron all watch the television screen as Kate, Matt and friend sing along.

I am always looking to make a nice image. So, while I was shooting photos, I decided it would be cool to get a photo of the private room. It helped that the door to the room had a window because it allowed me to get an overview shot of the setting.

Oh no, Oscar (L.A.), left, and Aaron sang "Bye Bye Bye" by a boy band, whose name I am lucky to have forgotten.

It was really funny because the whole group joined in singing this song. haha. Even Sonia and Will got into the rhythm of things w/ the boy band song.

I am not going to admit I sang along, but I also not going to say I was an outcast w/ the group. So, I guess I am guilty of singing the boy band song. But that wasn't nearly as embarrassing as me singing all kinds of Country songs. I sang "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On," "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off," and "Alcohol." I also threw in a sappy Coldplay song by the name of "The Scientist." But I was really disappointed that their Toby Keith selection was not complete. They didn't have "What I Once Was," which is my favorite Country song of all. They also didn't have "Blue Note," so I was not happy about that. But I guess I gave the group enough torture by having them listen to my singing, so that was probably a good thing.

Tonight I got a chance to finally see a familiar face. My good friend Omar Ramirez from Cal State Univ., Northridge flew into NYC. He's out here this weekend w/ a bunch of people from CSUN and Los Angeles to participate in the Latino Alternative Music Conference. So, we hung out after I was done w/ hanging out w/ the interns.

I caught up w/ them near Houston Street and we went to a few places to get a drink and to catch up on old times. Omar is one of the coolest guys I've ever met. He's a filmmaker and he's very socially aware. He loves civil rights and equality. He's a genuine guy. As we walked toward a bar called the Library near Houston and Ave A, Omar spotted tagging on the wall that read "J to the C Yo!"

I thought it was pretty cool because of my initials. So, of course I had to get a photo.

It was cool hanging out w/ some friends from CSUN. I had a good time catching up.

It was almost 4 a.m. and we were hungry. So what better thing to eat at late night, than beer and pizza. We found a place across the street and got there just before they closed. I really don't know how I was able to eat the pizza being that I had such a large dinner just hours before. Then again, I had a beer to push the pizza down w/, so I guess it made it easier. Ha!

Gloria went and got flowers across the street and the other Omar got on one knee. We were all having a good time on Houston.

We jumped on the train northbound in order to get back to our respective hotels. The long day was coming to a close. I had another great day in New York.

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